FDA warns of contaminated Oil of Olay, Vicks products

[Cali]

FDA warns P&G about Olay plant lapses

Wed May 6, 2009 1:25am IST

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - Procter & Gamble failed to adequately address contamination and other manufacturing problems at a plant in Puerto Rico that produces over-the-counter drugs and Olay cosmetics, U.S. regulators said in a letter released on Tuesday.

The company said none of the issues compromised the safety of products made at the plant in Cayey, Puerto Rico.

Inspections last year found cosmetics and over-the-counter drugs "have been prepared, packed or held under insanitary conditions whereby they may have become contaminated with filth, or whereby they may have been rendered injurious to health," the Food and Drug Administration said in an April 24 letter to Procter & Gamble.

Products made at the plant include Vicks Sinex nasal spray and various hair care and skin care products including Olay Total Effects Revitalizing Daily Foam and Olay Moisture Foaming Face Wash, the FDA letter said.

The FDA said over-the-counter drugs were made with equipment the company later found to be contaminated. The company also "did not adequately address" contamination of equipment used to make cosmetics, the agency said.

The FDA asked Procter & Gamble to correct the problems and detail "specific steps that you are planning to take to ensure that your current sanitation process is adequate to prevent the growth of organisms that may be injurious to health."

Procter & Gamble spokesman Paul Fox said the company was "confident that our products in the marketplace are safe" as they are tested before being released to the public.
"At no time do we ship products that don't meet our strict standards," Fox said.

The inspection "did identify potential areas where we can and will make improvements" and the company is "taking this matter seriously and cooperating fully with the FDA," Fox added.
The FDA letter was posted on the agency's website here. (Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Tim Dobbyn, Leslie Gevirtz)

UPDATE 2-U.S. FDA warns P&G about Olay plant lapses | Industries | Consumer Products & Retail | Reuters

I saw this on MSNBC too. The report says the following products are affected:

• Olay Total Effects Revitalizing Daily Foam
• Olay Regenerist Micro Sculpting Cream
• Olay Moisture Foaming Face Wash
• Olay Moisture Rich Cream Cleanser,
  Olay Clarify & Cleanse daily scrub
• Olay Total Effects Antiblemish Cleanser
• Vicks Sinex
• Vicks Early Defense Hand Sanitizer
• Sinex Long Acting Nasal Spray
• and some Olay hair products that weren't named

[frazzled]

No Olay Definity Eye Illuminator? Thank God. I use it every morning to take some of my under-eye puffiness away.

[Cali]

It just makes me nervous about any Oil of Olay / VIck's products made in that factory. If you read the report, its because they aren't cleaning the machinery properly, and when the FDA warned them about it, their response was that preservatives in the products would kill the bacteria. The FDA responded by saying that wouldn't cut it, because that isn't the purpose of preservatives and they are distributing contaminated products.

[McJag]

This ought to wake their butts up.

[frazzled]

It just makes me nervous about any Oil of Olay / VIck's products made in that factory. If you read the report, its because they aren't cleaning the machinery properly, and when the FDA warned them about it, their response was that preservatives in the products would kill the bacteria. The FDA responded by saying that wouldn't cut it, because that isn't the purpose of preservatives and they are distributing contaminated products.

Ewww! Talk about lazy.

[Brookie]

Preservatives kill germs now?