A recent test commissioned by Bloomberg News revealed a cold medication made in India and sold in Iraq is tainted with toxic chemicals.

According to an independent US laboratory, Valisure LLC, a bottle of ‘Cold Out’ purchased at a pharmacy in Baghdad in March contains 2.1 per cent ethylene glycol, which is about 21 times the widely accepted limit.

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“The compound is lethal to humans in small amounts and played a role in mass child deaths caused by Indian-made cough syrups in Gambia and Uzbekistan last year,” the report said.

Bloomberg has shared the test results with the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as Iraqi and Indian officials.

On the report, WHO told Bloomberg that it found Valisure’s test results to be acceptable. It also mentioned about issuing an alert if the Iraqi government confirms the product was sold there.

However, no public alert or recall has been announced yet.

The Cold Out label indicates it was made by Fourrts (India) Pvt. Ltd., a Chennai-based manufacturer. The company exports medicines to over 50 countries, including the UK, Germany, and Canada.

As reported, Valisure tested the Cold Out sample five times. In its results, it found, on average, the presence of an ethylene glycol content of 2.1% and a diethylene glycol content of 0.25%.

It is to be noted that the diethylene glycol content is more than twice the limit.

This is the fifth time in a year that testing has found an Indian exporter’s drugs to contain excessive levels of ethylene glycol.

Government laboratories have identified other contaminated products in the Marshall Islands, Liberia, Gambia, and Uzbekistan, although there were no reported illnesses associated with those drugs.