FDA Slaps Hefty Fine On Distilleries That Produced Hand Sanitizer For Communities

Multiple companies that produced hand sanitizer are now being fined for their efforts to keep America germ-free during a pandemic.

As relayed by noted blogger Jacob Grier of Reason, hundreds of small distilleries that produced sanitizer for their communities -- many for free -- have been handed a $14,060 fee by the FDA for serving as a drug maker.

"When the onset of the pandemic led to a massive increase in demand for hand sanitizer this spring, many distilleries stepped up to alleviate the sudden shortage," Grier reported. "The main ingredient in sanitizer is ethanol, which they are in the business of making, albeit typically in more fun and tasty formats.

"More than 800 distilleries pivoted from spirits to sanitizer, offering it for sale or in many cases donating it to their communities free of charge. Their prompt action helped ensure supplies of sanitizer when it was otherwise unobtainable."

This takes some real nerve by the government, as most of this distilleries were just trying to do their part to keep their communities safe, as well as keep their own doors open and their own employees working.

As written on Not the Bee, the distilleries "stepped up and used their prodigious capacity to produce alcohol to provide front-line healthcare workers with the protection they so desperately needed. Many donated much of their product or sold it at cost."

And this is how the FDA rewards them?

"If you were making sanitizer for your community at a limited capacity, this should not be something you have to deal with," Becky Harris, president of the American Craft Spirits Association and of Catoctin Creek Distilling in Purcellville, Va., told Grier. "It will be a slap in the face to make it through all of this and then get hit with this bill."