The National Compliance and Regulatory Authority (NCRA) is assuring Jamaicans that products offered under the Fabuloso brand of multi-purpose cleaners are safe to use amid a massive recall in the United States and Canada. 

Responding to inquiries by Our Today in February, the entity revealed that manufacturing codes corresponding to the tainted Fabuloso were not identified in a weeks-long market inspection. 

“During the course of the past few weeks, the NCRA has inspected over 400 multi-purpose cleaners and from this market surveillance activity, it was discovered that the products inspected did not have codes that were being recalled in the United States and Canada,” the NCRA advised on Thursday (March 9).

“The NCRA encourages consumers to check the labels of packages prior to purchase, as informal importers or persons who purchase such items otherwise may have inadvertently bought this product. The NCRA continues to be vigilant and will continue to carry out surveillance activities in order to assure consumers that products offered for sale are safe,” it added.

The NCRA indicated further that Fabuloso bottles bearing ‘Made in Mexico’ or ‘MX’ in the manufacturing (lot) codes are not included in the recall and are thereby safe to use. 

The impacted batches will have a lot code where the first eight digits begin with 2348US78 through 2365US78, and 3001US78 through 3023US78. The lot code is etched into the plastic of the bottle either above or below the back label, but not part of the label.

Elsewhere in the Caribbean, the St Lucia Bureau of Standards (SLBS) issued an advisory to its citizens on February 11; maintaining that the recall largely affected the US-Canada market.

Parent company Colgate-Palmolive announced the recall on February 8, advising that some 5 million bottles of the popular residential cleaner were potentially contaminated. In its statement, Colgate-Palmolive advised that an unnamed preservative was not incorporated at satisfactory levels during manufacturing.

“The recall, conducted in cooperation with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), encompasses 4.9 million bottles produced from December 14, 2022, through January 23, 2023, when the manufacturing issue was corrected. Some 3.9 million of these bottles—or about 80 per cent—were never released for sale,” Colgate-Palmolive said.

The recall, as explained by the CPSC, was a necessary measure as the batch of Fabuloso products was likely to contain Pseudomonas species bacteria, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Pseudomonas fluorescens, which are environmental organisms found widely in soil and water.

People with weakened immune systems, external medical devices, or underlying lung conditions who are exposed to the bacteria face a risk of serious infection that may require medical treatment. The bacteria can enter the body if inhaled, through the eyes, or through a break in the skin.

• RELATED: 5 million Fabuloso bottles recalled for suspected contamination