Description
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a final guidance for industry entitled “Policy for Testing of Alcohol (Ethanol) and Isopropyl Alcohol for Methanol.” This guidance is intended to alert pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmacists in State-licensed pharmacies or Federal facilities who engage in drug compounding to the potential public health hazard of alcohol (ethyl alcohol or ethanol) or isopropyl alcohol contaminated with or substituted with methanol. During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency (PHE), FDA became aware of reports of fatal methanol poisoning of consumers who ingested alcohol-based hand sanitizer products that were manufactured with methanol or methanol-contaminated ethanol. FDA is concerned that other drug products containing ethanol or isopropyl alcohol (pharmaceutical alcohol), which are widely used active ingredients in a variety of drug products, could be similarly vulnerable to methanol contamination. This guidance replaces the guidance for industry entitled “Policy for Testing Alcohol (Ethanol) and Isopropyl Alcohol for Methanol, Including During the Public Health Emergency (COVID-19)” published in January 2021.
Scope & Applicability
Product Classes
2Alcohol-based hand sanitizer products manufactured with methanol.
Products subject to methanol contamination reports
Stakeholders
5Entities intended to be alerted by this guidance.
Facilities compounding drug products pursuant to section 503B.
Personnel in these facilities should be aware of testing importance.
Entities included in the reporting requirement under section 510(j)(3)
Facilities registered under section 503B that compound human drug products; entities that compound drugs under section 503B; Entities that compound drug products under section 503B
Identified Hazards
Hazards
3Risks associated with ingredients not for pharmaceutical use.
Fatal poisoning of consumers who ingested contaminated products.; Serious health risk from ingestion of contaminated products
Reports of toxicity associated with methanol-contaminated products.
Related CFR Sections (4)
- 21CFR10.115§ 10.115 Good guidance practices.
(a) What are good guidance practices? Good guidance practices (GGP's) are FDA's policies and procedures for developing, issuing, and using guidance documents.Read full regulation →
- 21CFR211.84§ 211.84 Testing and approval or rejection of components, drug product containers, and closures.
(a) Each lot of components, drug product containers, and closures shall be withheld from use until the lot has been sampled, tested, or examined, as appropriate, and released for use by the quality control unit.Read full regulation →
- 21CFR211.160§ 211.160 General requirements.
(a) The establishment of any specifications, standards, sampling plans, test procedures, or other laboratory control mechanisms required by this subpart, including any change in such specifications, standards, sampling plans, test procedures, or other laboratory control mechanisms, shall be drafted Read full regulation →
- 21CFR211.165§ 211.165 Testing and release for distribution.
(a) For each batch of drug product, there shall be appropriate laboratory determination of satisfactory conformance to final specifications for the drug product, including the identity and strength of each active ingredient, prior to release. Where sterility and/or pyrogen testing are conducted on sRead full regulation →
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See Also (8)
- IRB Review of Stand-Alone HIPAA Authorizations Under FDA Regulations: Guidance for Industry (Status: Final)
- Acceptability of Draft Labeling to Support Abbreviated New Drug Application Approval; Guidance for Industry (Status: Draft)
- DSCSA Implementation: Product Tracing Requirements for Dispensers — Compliance Policy (Revised) Guidance for Industry (Status: Final)
- Early Clinical Trials With Live Biotherapeutic Products: Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Control Information: Guidance for Industry (Status: Final)
- Determining Donor Eligibility for Autologous Donors of Blood and Blood Components Intended Solely for Autologous Use - Compliance Policy: Guidance for Industry (Status: Final)
- Guidance for Industry: Use of the Term “Healthy” in the Labeling of Human Food Products (Status: Final)
- Revised Recommendations for Determining Eligibility of Donors of Human Cells, Tissues, and Cellular and Tissue-Based Products Who Have Received Human-Derived Clotting Factor Concentrates: Guidance for Industry (Status: Final)
- Guidance for Industry: Application of the Foreign Supplier Verification Program Regulation to the Importation of Live Animals (Status: Final)