Toxic Hand Sanitizer Triggers Bankruptcy at Kimberly Unit (1)

A Mexican affiliate of Kimberly-Clark Corp. that sold hand sanitizer made with a toxic, industrial form of alcohol filed for bankruptcy, blaming the mistake on a scramble to find ingredients early in the pandemic’s supply-chain meltdown.

4E Brands Northamerica, a subsidiary of Kimberly-Clark de Mexico SAB de C.V., blamed its Chapter 11 case on a bad batch it made from methanol alcohol near the onset of the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020. Amid a shortage of hand sanitizers, 4E Brands sought new suppliers of ethyl alcohol, a federally approved ingredient, according to court papers filed Tuesday in federal court in Laredo, ...