It’s not vodka! The FDA warns of hand sanitizer in booze bottles

You’d better take a second look at that bottle of vodka.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning that hand sanitizer is now being sold in packaging that makes it look like drinks and foods.

The product, widely used in the response to COVID-19, is also masquerading in beer cans, water bottles, and children’s food pouches and sometimes contains food flavors, such as chocolate or raspberry.

Manufacturers have to be on top of their product packaging and marketing to ensure people don’t mistakenly think their products are consumable, the FDA says. Hand sanitizer can be toxic if a person ingests it, and it’s potentially lethal for a child.

The FDA says that it “continues to see an increasing number of adverse events with hand sanitizer ingestion, including cardiac effects, effects on the central nervous system, hospitalizations, and death, primarily reported to poison control centers and state departments of health.”

The best way to keep hands clean is to wash them with soap and water, but when that option isn’t available, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says to use hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol.