The Saudi Food and Drug Authority has issued a warning over Rolana Baby Shampoo, while the Dubai Municipality has banned 17 imported shampoos found to contain the carcinogen Dioxane 1.4.
Locally manufactured Rolana brand shampoo was found to contain the bacteria serratia maracescens, which is thought to have made at least 13 babies sick and led to the death of one child, the authorities reported.
Bacteria that can lead to death
The bacteria can lead to a series of medical conditions, including urinary infections, meninjitus and toxemia, which can be fatal, particularly in young infants with underdeveloped immune systems.
Saudi authorities have asked anyone who has bought the shampoo to stop using it immediately, ‘until the source of the pollution is ascertained'.
According to medical staff at the King Abdulaziz University’ Medical college, where the infants have been treated, the pollution relates to a specific batch of shampoo, bearing the production number 46504058.
The company manufacturing the shampoo, Al-Hayat Factory, has denied any wrong-doing and said the shampoo has never been found to be polluted in the past.
Dubai authorities ban 17 shampoos
Meanwhile, Dubai Municipality says it has banned 17 shampoos produced by five different manufacturers from China, India and Iran because tests revealed the carcinogenic substance Dioxane 1.4, the TradeArab News Service reports.
The shampoo brands include Olive Essence, Ginseng Essence, Gornia, Eggs shampoos from China, as well as a number of Himalaya brand shampoos from India and a number of Sehat Herbal shampoos from Iran.
The authorities say they have taken all these shampoos off retail shelves in the municipality and have implemented steps to insure that all future imports are banned.
The presence of Dioxane 1.4 was discovered after routine lab tests on new consignments of the shampoo entering the municipality were found to contain the substance.