All 50ml and 200ml bottles of the children's cold and flu medicine ViralChoice have been recalled by the manufacturer because of an "impurity", the manufacturer said on Thursday.

ViralChoice junior syrup in the 200ml and 50ml packs and the ViralChoice 200ml and 50ml joint "banded" packed were named in an "urgent medicine recall" to pharmacists on the grounds that they did not comply with "our strict quality standards".

They were sent a letter asking that they remove the product from their shelves immediately.

The company, Pharmachoice, said: "Parents, child minders and health care professionals are advised not to give the syrup to children and should return their bottle to the point of purchase for a full refund or replacement with another appropriate ViralChoice product, such as the ViralChoice Effervescent or ViralChoice Junior Multivitamin Chewtabs."

The impurity is not expected to cause harm, but if any child becomes ill after taking the medicine, they should contact a doctors and report it to the company, PharmaChoice on 0800-601-228.

"Our commitment to product quality and safety requires us to withdraw a product if it does not meet our high ethical and production standards," said Dr Navin Singh, the medical director at the company marketing the product.

The impurity was identified as lactobacillus and the source Gum Tragacanth. The amount of these two ingredients was higher than they should have been, said spokesperson Mpumi Sithole.

"We are being cautious and proactive by recalling the product and informing parents and health care professionals of this development. No other presentations of the ViralChoice range (capsules, tablets and effervescent tablets) are affected by this recall."

Sapa

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