ACEP says, “It’s not just tasty, it’s Fabuloso!”
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
Probably one of, if not the, most common cleaning products in Mexico is Fabuloso. It used to come in only purple and had a distinctive, deodorizing scent. It was such a “fabulous” product, that family members on the border would always come back from a trip across with some before it was also available in the US. Well, it’s been stateside for a while, and now that the packaging looks like a bottled beverage (here too), and that it now comes in several scents and colors (flavors?), ED visits for people who have mistakenly ingested Fabuloso have been on the rise, especially in Texas:
In less than four months, the Texas Poison Center recorded 112 cases of accidental ingestion of Fabuloso, apparently because consumers mistook it as something good to drink, a sports beverage, for instance.
So reported Michael A. Miller, M.D., of the Darnall Medical Center in Fort Hood, Tex., at the American College of Emergency Physicians meeting here. Fortunately, he and colleagues added, the product is only a mild gastrointestinal irritant and is unlikely to cause any serious illness. One of the authors even tasted it, and found it “fruity with a pleasing aroma,” but with a bitter aftertaste.
“Apparently it’s a very good cleaning product,” said co-author Marc E. Levsky. M.D. “The issue with it is that it looks like a fruit beverage. It has a nice purple or orange color. It comes in a bunch of different colors, or aromas, and it’s packaged in a bottle that makes it look like Gatorade or Powerade.”
What shocked me the most was the fact that people wouldn’t immediatley spit it out. OK, so it doesn’t have that piquant burning sensation that Drano has or that je ne sais quoi that is so characteristic of Mr. Clean, but c’mon people, you GOTSTA know that it ain’t right after a swig or two!
(Thanks to Jenna for the link.)
In the News, Medical and Health | enrico | 
October 20, 2006 11:51 pm
By Jon Mikel, October 21, 2006 @ 1:48 am
Weird story!!!
How could be possible that people are drinking this. At least I smell everything before I drink it.
By claudia, October 21, 2006 @ 10:07 am
I hate the way it smells, as you know. I can tell a place uses it the moment I walk in the door. What the hell is wrong with people that they drink it? Come on, even if you know no Spanish, just smell it!
What is next, Pine Sol cocktails?
By Jenna, October 23, 2006 @ 6:28 pm
Thanks for the fabulous shout out (no pun intended). This article was so ridiculous when I read it. I’m going to agree with Claudia and also say that I was expecting some Fantastick Coladas.