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Look-alike liquids

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The bottom line

There are many types of look-alike products. It is easy for an adult or a child to mistake a cleaning product for a soft drink or a container of glue for eye drops.

Prevention Tips

  • Before using a product, read the label and follow the directions. Every time.

This Really Happened

An adult male grabbed what he thought was a bottle of fruit drink to help him swallow a pain pill. In fact, the bottle was a household cleaner. Because he was remote from medical care, he made himself throw up. This is not recommended, but the bottle did not provide advice. He developed a nose bleed and diarrhea which persisted for three days.

The full story

Is it water, soda, or something else?? If you look quickly, it's hard to tell. One of these bottles above contains imported sparkling water. Another contains a popular soft drink. The third? That one contains plant food. Drinking it may not hurt you, but it will be a nasty surprise.

ALWAYS store food separately from other products. ALWAYS read the label before eating or drinking anything. Bookmark the webPOISONCONTROL® online tool and keep the number for your poison center close by, just in case: 1-800-222-1222. Use the webPOISONCONTROL® online tool or call your poison center right away if you've swallowed something you shouldn't have. Whether online or by phone, expert guidance is always free, confidential, and available 24 hours a day.

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Rose Ann Gould Soloway, RN, BSN, MSEd, DABAT emerita
Clinical Toxicologist

For More Info

Uh Oh...That Wasn't Orange Juice! (The Poison Post®)

What Belongs in a Soft Drink Bottle? (The Poison Post®)

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