Distillery in Australia recalls gin bottles filled with hand sanitizer

APOLLO BAY, Australia -- A distillery in Australia recalled bottles of gin after they were accidentally filled with hand sanitizer.

Early during the coronavirus pandemic, many alcohol distilleries switched over to make hand sanitizer to fulfill overwhelming public demand.

The Apollo Bay Distillery says nine bottles labeled as gin were actually filled with sanitizer and sold to the public June 5-7.

The bottles were labeled as 700ml of SS Casino Dry Gin and they did not have the normal shrink wrap seal provided on the company's normal gin bottles.

The company issued a recall earlier this week and has now confirmed that all nine bottles were recovered.

Poison control experts say ingesting a small amount of hand sanitizer probably won't seriously harm most adults. Possible side effects include nausea, headaches and vomiting. It can pose a more serious danger to children.

Before all the bottles were recovered, one customer reportedly drank some sanitizer and became sick with a headache and nausea.

The distillery/restaurant is located in the town of Apollo Bay, in the southwestern coastal area of the state of Victoria.

The Australia Food Standards agency's recall notice is available here.