Imports of kids’ Tylenol differ from what Canadians are used to. Here’s what we know

Imported children's Tylenol has differences in non-medicinal ingredients, English-only labelling, a larger product size and some differences in warnings and precautions.

Imports of Children’s Tylenol Oral Suspension from the United States have some differences when compared to its Canadian equivalent, said Tylenol’s manufacturer Johnson & Johnson Inc. in an email to Global News Wednesday.

Health Canada confirmed on Nov. 18 that imported pain and fever products for kids will be available in pharmacies this week, as the country faces a nationwide shortage of children’s acetaminophen and ibuprofen.

However, imported children’s Tylenol is somewhat different than their Canadian counterparts, Tylenol stated in a supply update.

The differences include but are not limited to non-medicinal ingredients; English-only labelling as opposed to bilingual labelling on Canadian packages; a difference in product size; and some differences in warnings and precautions.

According to Health Canada, non-medicinal ingredients are substances added to a medicine formulation to confer suitable consistency or form to the medicinal ingredients.

Although non-medicinal ingredients do not adversely affect the safety or efficacy of the medicine, they might cause allergies in some patients.

The imported children’s Tylenol from the U.S. also has a larger product size of 120 millilitres, compared to Canadian products that are 100 millilitres in size.

More than 1 million bottles of children’s pain and fever medications were expected to be imported into Canada by this week for hospitals, community pharmacies and retail outlets, according to Health Canada.