More than 350,000 bottles of vitamin dietary supplements have been recalled. As reported by the Daily Mail, investigators found that the packaging posed a very serious poisoning risk.
The vitamins’ manufacturers, Vitaquest International, has issued an alert warning consumers about the risk. They found that the packaging wasn’t child-resistant. This means that if a child were to find a bottle of supplements, they could eat a large amount and poison themself. The affected vitamins contain iron, which is especially dangerous when ingested in large amounts by children.
Vitaquest International produces popular brands of dietary supplements. The brands sold by Vitaquest International that were affected by the non-child-safe packagaing include Arey, Bari Life, Bird&Be, Biote, Dr. Fuhrman, NuLife, HMR, Bariatric Pal, Noevir, Zenbean, and Sakara.
The vitamins were sold in popular retailers like Erewhon, Vitamin Shoppe, and Amazon.
The supplements were sold between April 2023 and February 2026. They were sold for between $13 and $130 a bottle. But, luckily, no injuries or illnesses have been reported. This is very lucky, especially considering the wide timeframe the vitamins were sold in.
Also, consumers have been urged to keep all their products out of the reach of children. But, if they are unable to do this, they can contact Vitaquest International for a free child-resistant cap or pouch. Another avenue they could take is returning the affected items to stores for a full refund.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission Released a Statement About the Vitamins
The Consumer Product Safety Commission also released a full list of the lot codes on their website. They also released a statement about the situation.
“The [affected] dietary supplements contain iron, which must be sold in child-resistant packaging as required by the Poison Prevention Packaging Act,” the statement read. It continued, “The packaging of the supplements is not child-resistant, posing a risk of serious injury or death from poisoning if the contents are swalleowed by young children.”
Iron poisoning is particularly dangerous in children as they don’t need as much as adults. And, if there is too much iron in the body, it can lead to life-threatening complications. Experts have warned about the early warning sgns of iron poisoning. These include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and gastrointestinal bleeding.
