Counterfeit flea treatment products are suspected to be contributing to the adverse reactions being reported by pet owners after using flea treatment products.
In the first post in this series I listed the most commonly counterfeited products along with their registration numbers.
But the question on most people’s minds is, Just how do you identify a fake flea treatment product?
Foreign sources are the main suppliers of these flea control products that could endanger, or even kill, your pet(s).
Here is a short list of tips to avoid (or identify) counterfeit flea treatment products:
1. Don’t purchase flea products from foreign suppliers.
2. Be suspicious of any flea control products that are missing the inserts with directions for the safe use of the product.
3. Beware of flea treatment products that are not sold in child proof packaging.
4. Check to see that the lot number of the insert and applicator(s) match the lot number on the outside of the package.
5. Make sure all the label information matched the requirements of the EPA.
6. Avoid cheap flea products sold on the Internet.
7. Report any counterfeit products to the right sources.
8. Safely dispose of fake flea treatment products and don’t use them on your pets.
What do counterfeit flea products look like?
Most counterfeit flea products really look similar and the differences are harder to identify. Opening the package is usually a good way to get a look to verify.
Here is a slide show of some of the counterfeit products:
Compare to this slide show of legitimate products:
Those who distribute, import, or sell counterfeit pesticides such as Advantage and Frontline are subject to civil or criminal penalties up to $27,500 per sale, one year imprisonment, or both.
Recommended Resources
- Flea Product Disposal
- EPA Disposal Counterfeit Flea Products
- EPA Counterfeit Flea Products Fact Sheet Online
- Report Counterfeit Flea Products to Your Regional EPA Office
- Report Counterfeit Flea Product Reactions to the National Pesticide Information Center
Do you have a resource that you would like to share? Please leave a comment and check out this kennel’s blog post and the photos on fake Frontline.
It would be really helpful to modify this particular post a bit – I’m having a really hard tome comparing the counterfeit photos with the legitimate photos – they cycle through so quickly and both photos don’t fit on the screen together, so there’s not enough time to compare the legitimate to the counterfeit before it changes. Maybe they should be side by side in a slide show that I can control – if I hit next when I’m ready to see the next one it would be more helpful. Just a thought