A Health Canada Recall Of Eye Drops Hits During Allergy Season

With springtime in Quebec comes higher temperatures, more pollen, and an uptick in sneezing and itchy eyes associated with allergies. When searching for relief from those symptoms, you'll want to keep an eye out for Teva Canada eye drops on shelves — or rather, you'll want to keep them out of your eyes. The company is recalling several products that could trigger allergic reactions in users.

Compliments and Pharmasave brand eye drops are being pulled from shelves due to a packaging error.

"Some bottles may contain ingredients that are not listed on the label and may pose health risks to people allergic to these ingredients," Health Canada warned in a statement.

The recall follows a complaint from a consumer. Both products have an expected expiry date of March 31, 2024, and share lot numbers AR21C03 and RL21D01.

Pink box of Compliments Advanced Relief Eye Drops with yellow text and an eye graphic. Right: The bottle found inside the box.Health Canada

"The company found that some bottles of Pharmasave and Compliments products may have been packaged with another ophthalmic product containing different active ingredients," said Health Canada.

Some products were labeled with dextran 70 0.1%, povidone 1%, polyethylene glycol 400 1% and 0.05% tetrahydrozoline. But naphazoline hydrochloride or glycerin in the products could cause allergic reactions and users may get a rash, itching or swelling, mainly of the face, tongue, and throat.

The pollen is expected to be very high in Montreal starting on Monday and through the rest of the week.