Practice English with NewsPractice with News
BusinessScience239 words2 min read

US Company Recalls 40,000 Bottles of Eye Drops

A store shelf filled with lots of milk
Photo by Ranch on Unsplash
0:00 / 0:00

Listen to the story

Prestige Brand Holdings has voluntarily recalled nearly 40,000 bottles of its Clear Eyes eye drops across the US.

The company took this step after receiving an alert from the Food and Drug Administration, known as the FDA.

The FDA is the US government agency responsible for checking the safety of food and medicine.

The recall involves concerns about sterility, which means whether a product is free from harmful germs.

If eye drops are not sterile, they could pose a risk to people who use them.

A recall happens when a company removes a product from stores because of a possible problem.

In this case, the recall is voluntary. That means Prestige Brand Holdings decided to act on its own.

The company did not wait for the FDA to force it to remove the product.

Prestige Brand Holdings is based in Tarrytown, a town in the US.

It is not yet fully clear how the possible contamination occurred.

Contamination means something harmful may have gotten into the eye drops during production.

The affected bottles belong to a specific batch, which is a group of products made at the same time.

Not all Clear Eyes products are necessarily part of this recall.

The FDA often issues alerts like this to warn the public about safety concerns.

People who have bought Clear Eyes eye drops recently are advised to check for more details from the company or the FDA.

Vocabulary10 words

voluntarily
doing something by choice, not because someone forces you
FDA
the US agency that checks if medicine and food are safe
sterility
being completely clean, with no harmful germs
recall
removing a product from stores because of a problem
based
having a main office or headquarters in a place
contamination
when something harmful gets into a product by accident
batch
a group of products made together at one time
alert
an official warning about a possible danger
affected
changed or involved by something, usually a problem
agency
a government organization with a specific responsibility

Quiz

1. Who issued the alert that led to the recall?
2. What does 'sterility' refer to in this story?
3. True or False: The FDA forced Prestige Brand Holdings to recall the eye drops.

Fill-in-the-blank listening

Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.

Prestige Brand Holdings has _____ recalled nearly 40,000 bottles of its Clear Eyes eye drops across the US.

The company took this step after receiving an alert from the Food and Drug Administration, known as the _____.

The recall involves concerns about _____, which means whether a product is free from harmful germs.

A _____ happens when a company removes a product from stores because of a possible problem.

In this case, the recall is voluntary. That means Prestige Brand Holdings decided to act on its own.

Prestige Brand Holdings is _____ in Tarrytown, a town in the US.

It is not yet fully clear how the possible _____ occurred.

The affected bottles belong to a specific _____, which is a group of products made at the same time.

The FDA often issues _____ like this to warn the public about safety concerns.

People who have bought Clear Eyes eye drops recently are advised to check for more details from the company or the FDA.

More Business stories

Next story · Medium

Shedeur Sanders to Lead Browns Offense in Preseason Week 2

→