Indian-made cold syrup tainted with toxic chemicals: Bloomberg
In March, a bottle of Cold Out purchased at a Baghdad pharmacy was found to have 2.1% ethylene glycol.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A cold syrup manufactured in India and sold in Iraq has been found to contain toxic chemicals, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
In March, a bottle of Cold Out purchased at a Baghdad pharmacy was found to have 2.1% ethylene glycol, according to a test carried out by independent US laboratory called Valisure LLC.
This amount is approximately 21 times higher than the widely accepted safe limit, the Bloomberg report added.
Ethylene glycol is a compound that can be lethal to humans even in small quantities, and it was linked to the mass deaths of children in Gambia and Uzbekistan last year, caused by Indian-made cough syrups.
The previous year in Gambia at least 70 children lost their lives due to kidney failure caused by the medicine.
In October, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned against four cough syrups made in India.
“Laboratory analysis of samples of each of the four products confirms that they contain unacceptable amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol as contaminants,” the WHO said in a press release.
“To date, these four products have been identified in The Gambia, but may have been distributed, through informal markets, to other countries or regions.”