Perrigo, who supplies the pain reliever to large US chain stores including Wal-Mart and Safeway, informed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that around one in 400,000 caplets may be affected. In response, the FDA began an investigation, but admitted that the possibility of adverse effects was remote. As of November 9, 2006, no illnesses have been reported.
CVS and Wal-Mart have already announced that they are taking their stock of acetaminophen off its shelves because of the possible contamination.
Perrigo said that the metal fragments ranged in size and could be due to a premature wearing down of the machine that produces acetaminophen. The company added that 383 batches with expiration dates from September 2006 to August 2009 could be affected.
Acetaminophen is also an ingredient in Johnson & Johnson’s tylenol but is not subject to the recall.