Since the first half of 2020, the DGCCRF has continued its action to ensure the effectiveness and safety of hydroalcoholic solutions and gels placed on the market. One of its investigations led to the sentencing of a French laboratory manager to six months in prison and a heavy fine.
On 30 March 2021, the correctional court of Puy-en-Velay handed down a six-month prison sentence to a laboratory manager in Haute-Loire, who had produced and sold non-compliant hydroalcoholic solutions during the first lockdown.
This conviction follows an investigation by the DGCCRF at the end of March 2020, during which its agents took samples and had the Common Laboratory Service (SCL) analyse products presented as hydroalcoholic solutions. These analyses had revealed an ethanol content of 35%, well below the minimum threshold of 60% allowing a real bactericidal and virucidal action.
As a reminder, hydroalcoholic gels and solutions are biocidal products that can be used in the fight against the spread of Covid-19 and other pathogens, as part of barrier measures when hand washing with soap and water is not possible. They are used to disinfect hands or other surfaces by eliminating micro-organisms that are harmful to humans or animals. To ensure disinfectant properties and in particular an effective action against viruses, the alcohol content of these products must be at least 60%, according to the French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES).
Nearly 2,000 bottles were sold as disinfectants when they did not have the properties to …
