Certain hand sanitizer, aloe products recalled due to presence of methanol

Key takeaways:

• Aruba Aloe Balm N.V. has voluntarily recalled 40 lots of its hand sanitizer and aloe products.
• The products have been found to contain alcohol denatured with methanol, which can cause methanol poisoning.

Aruba Aloe Balm N.V. has recalled 40 lots of its hand sanitizer and aloe products due to methanol contamination, according to an FDA public service announcement.

On April 5, Aruba Aloe Balm N.V. announced that it found “alcohol denatured with methanol” in its Aruba Aloe Hand Sanitizer Gel Alcohol 80% and Aruba Aloe Alcoholada Gel products. While Aruba Aloe Balm N.V. has not yet received any reports of adverse events related to these products, the company has voluntarily recalled them both.

Consumers should cease use and discard affected products.

According to the risk statement outlined in the announcement, substantial methanol exposure can result in nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, coma, seizures, permanent blindness, permanent damage to the central nervous system or death. While consumers who use these products on their hands are at risk, children who accidentally ingest these formulas, as well as those who drink hand sanitizer as an alcohol substitute, are at an increased risk for methanol poisoning.

The first product, Aruba Aloe Hand Sanitizer Gel, is packaged in 12 fl oz dark green plastic bottles with white labels with barcode 0 82252 03300 5.

The second item, Aruba Aloe Alcoholada Gel, is packaged in two sizes: 2.2 fl oz plastic bottles with barcode 0 82252 34030 1 and 8.5 fl oz plastic bottles with barcode 0 82252 03120 9.

The affected lots were only sold online in the U.S. via the Aruba Aloe Balm N.V. website and distributed between May 1, 2021, and Oct. 27, 2023. Specific lot numbers can be found in the FDA press release.