Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and other supermarkets have urgently recalled cold and flu medication for a second time - have you bought any?
Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and other supermarkets have urgently recalled cold and flu medication for the second time after a fresh labelling error.
Supermarkets have previously recalled products like cheese, baby food and chocolate over health concerns and now they are recalling some cold and flu medicine.
Thousands of packs of Tesco cold and flu sachets, which wrongly stated they were suitable for children were recalled last month.
And now the medicines regulator (MHRA) has now issued a fresh recall of cold and flu capsules from 11 retailers following a similar error.
The leaflet and carton on the affected products incorrectly state that for children 12 years and over, the dose should be two capsules every 4 to 6 hours as required, up to a maximum of 12 capsules in any 24 hour period.
As each capsule contains 300mg of paracetamol, 12 capsules would equate to 3,600mg per day - and this exceeds the MHRA recommended maximum dose for 12-15-year-olds, which is 3,000mg per day.
Such medicine is used to treat adults and children suffering from coughs and colds as they help alleviate flu symptoms.
The cold and flu capsules were sold by Wilko, Spar, Waitrose, Aldi, Asda, Superdrug, Sainsbury's, Lloyds, Morrisons, Boots, and Tesco, and customers are advised to check the following products to see if they are affected and adjust the dosage for children.
The correct dosage instructions for children aged 12 to 15 years should be 2 capsules every 4 to 6 hours as required, up to a maximum of 8 capsules (4 doses) in any 24 hour period.
Cold and flu medication recalled by Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and other supermarkets:
The affected products in the latest recall are
- Wilko Non-Drowsy Decongestant with Paracetamol
- Spar Cold Relief Capsules
- Essential Waitrose Cold & Flu Relief Capsules
- Aldi Health Essentials Cold Relief Capsules
- ASDA Cold Relief Capsules Superdrug Cold Relief Capsules
- Superdrug Non-Drowsy Decongestant with Paracetamol
- Sainsbury’s Healthcare Cold Relief Capsules
- Lloyds Cold Relief Capsules
- WM Morrison Cold Relief Capsules
- Boots Cold & Flu Relief Capsules
- Boots Blocked Nose & Headache Relief Capsules
- Tesco Cold Relief Capsules Galpharm Cold Relief Capsules
The active ingredients are 300mg paracetamol, 25mg caffeine, and 5mg phenylephrine hydrochloride.
The affected batch numbers for each product are listed on the MHRA recall notice.
MHRA chief safety officer Dr Alison Cave said, "If your child is aged 12 to 15, has recently used these capsules and hasn’t experienced any side-effects, there is no cause for concern. If you currently have one of these packets at home, please take note of the corrected dose in this age group and talk to your pharmacist if you are unsure of these changes."
If you gave your child the incorrect maximum stated dosage on the packet, it would be 600mg over the correct maximum – so just under one extra dose in a 24 hour period. The NHS says that if you give your child one extra dose (750mg) of paracetamol by mistake, wait at least 24 hours before giving them any more.
Meanwhile, the previous cold and flu product recall was for the Tesco Max All-in-One lemon sachets – which contain paracetamol, guaifenesin, and phenylephrine.
The sachet states that children aged 12 years and over can take it, but this medicine is actually only suitable for people aged 16 and over.
These Tesco sachets are being recalled at both retailer and patient level.
The batches that have been recalled are:
- 9MW0145, expiry date Nov 2022, first distributed 16 Mar 2020
- 0CW0054, expiry date Jan 2023, first distributed 7 April 2020
- 0FW0133, expiry date May 2023, first distributed 12 May 2021
People who have this product should check the batch number on the outer carton and individual sachets. Anyone with a product from one of these batches should stop using the medicine and return it to Tesco for a refund.
