Around the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in mid-to-late February, hand sanitizer worldwide vanished. Sounds silly to think about it. This was a product readily available until one day it was not!  It was scary. In my mind, I knew companies could not just jump in and help with the shortage. The FDA and CDC came to the same conclusion. Something would need to be done quickly or there were going to be real problems. While handwashing is absolutely preferred, hand sanitizer is the next best thing, and our nation needed it.

To manufacture hand sanitizer, a facility must be cleared by the FDA as an over the counter, or OTC, drug manufacturer. This is not an easy undertaking to say the least.

The FDA and CDC developed a very specific formulation to allow distilleries and personal care companies to manufacture hand sanitizer during the COVID epidemic. Companies are required to register with the FDA and must specifically state and show their product’s ingredients, labeling, and packaging. The formulation is strict and companies that do not adhere to it may be fined or shutdown.

During the last month, there have been 59 brands of hand sanitizers recalled from the market, many imported, due to toxic and even fatal ingredients in the finished product.

I can tell you from a manufacturing perspective that it can be easy to be bamboozled into a raw material that perhaps does not meet spec. Like storm chasers, the ingredients game can be quite tricky. Companies show up from all over the place all at once clamoring for business, and they all claim to be the best. Some claim to be the cheapest, while others claim to be 100% sourced from the USA and then turn out not to be.

Enfusia is FDA registered, a step not required by most beauty industry companies, as well as NSF Certified. The NSF Certification is an exhaustive process for quality, and it is quite a high hurdle to clear. Enfusia has been certified for 2 years running and it is part of the reason that when COVID hit, we were ready.

We have long term raw goods suppliers. We have been in business for nearly 15 years, and I was not about to jeopardize our well-earned reputation to save a dime. My father taught me when I was young, “I am in charge of my integrity.” Now it is Enfusia’s integrity at stake.

With 100% certainty, our customers and their customers know what we state on our label is true. Our employees make this product in The Woodlands, Texas. It is not shipped in from an outside source. Our ingredients are safe and stamped with Enfusia’s Butterfly Promise.

As we move forward, the FDA will continue to oversee the companies manufacturing hand sanitizer. As long as they say we are cleared to manufacture hand sanitizer, we will. We have clearance until the end of 2021. I pray COVID is long gone by then!

God Bless you and your family!

Click here to see Enfusia’s full line of COVID Essentials