Purell’s unproven disease-fighting claims get sanitized after FDA warning

The maker of Purell hand sanitizers is washing away some unproven marketing claims that its products reduce school absenteeism and prevent infections from germs such as Ebola, norovirus, flu, and certain drug-resistant infections.

The marketing disinfection comes after the Food and Drug Administration issued

a warning letter

to Purell’s parent company, GOJO Industries. The letter, dated January 17 and released this week, stated that the company’s claims violated federal regulations and that the agency now considers Purell hand sanitizers unapproved new drugs.

The FDA also noted that it is “unaware of any adequate and well-controlled clinical trials in the published literature that support” GOJO’s claims.

The agency noted that the dubious marketing claims appeared in a variety of places on GOJO’s product websites, including FAQ pages, blogs, and social media pages. Among the questionable claims are that Purell sanitizer:

• “kills more than 99.99% of most common germs that may cause illness in a healthcare setting, including MRSA [methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus] & VRE [vancomycin-resistant enterococci]”
• “can reduce student absenteeism by up to 51%… Additionally, teachers who follow this program also experience a 10% reduction of absenteeism.”
• “may be effective against viruses such as the Ebola virus, norovirus, and influenza.”

While alcohol-based sanitizers have been shown to effectively kill many germs, that finding is different from data indicating that sanitizer use reduces infections and the spread of disease.

On an FAQ page, GOJO also says that “the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are recommending the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer as a preventive measure for flu prevention.”

But it should be noted that the WHO and the CDC emphasize hand washing as a primary method to prevent the spread of influenza (aside from vaccination). The CDC only recommends using hand sanitizer “if soap and water are not available.” Some data suggests that hand washing is more effective at preventing spread of the flu than using sanitizers. And a study in 2018 suggested that certain bacteria may develop tolerance to alcohol-based sanitizers over time.

In a statement, GOJO’s corporate communications senior director, Samantha Williams, said:

GOJO took immediate action to respond to FDA claim requirements after receiving a warning letter from the agency on January 17. The letter was related to some of our marketing around Purell Hand Sanitizer on GOJO.com and through our social media platforms.

It is important to emphasize that the FDA letter was not related to the safety or quality of our products, or our manufacturing processes.

Some of the problematic statements on GOJO’s sites have since been removed, though the company still says that the WHO and CDC recommends hand sanitizer without mentioning hand washing. Williams’ statement went on to say that GOJO has “begun updating relevant website and other digital content as directed by the FDA and are taking steps to prevent a recurrence.”