Binaca is an American brand of
breath spray
Breath spray is a product sprayed into the mouth for the purpose of temporarily eliminating or at least covering up bad breath. The masking effect is short-term and reported to last for 4-6 hours. Breath sprays are occasionally advertised as being ...
distributed by Ranir, LLC, a subsidiary of
Perrigo
Perrigo Company plc is an American Irish–registered manufacturer of private label over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, and while 70% of Perrigo's net sales are from the U.S. healthcare system, Perrigo is legally headquartered in Ireland for tax ...
. The sprays contain
ethyl alcohol
Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a hyd ...
and
isobutane
Isobutane, also known as ''i''-butane, 2-methylpropane or methylpropane, is a chemical compound with molecular formula HC(CH3)3. It is an isomer of butane. Isobutane is a colourless, odourless gas.
It is the simplest alkane with a tertiary carbon a ...
, the latter used as a propellant.
History
In 1971, Binaca promoted its breath freshener products by selling a recipe booklet titled ''The Antisocial Cookbook'' for , which contains 150 recipes "extolling the virtues of garlic, onions, cheese
.. and other ingredients known to cause breath odors; the reasoning for this was that Binaca's breath products would "make you socially acceptable" after eating such dishes.
In 1974, Binaca was estimated to be worth .
That year,
Air Wick
Air Wick is an American brand of air freshener owned by the British multinational company Reckitt. It was first launched by creator Guy Paschal in 1943 in the United States, and is now sold worldwide.
History
Air Wick was first introduced in 19 ...
was acquired by
Ciba-Geigy
Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loca ...
, and Binaca was moved into Air Wick's consumer products unit.
Safety
Alcohol misuse
In October 1993, articles in ''
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' and ''
The Tribune ''The Tribune'' or ''Tribune'' is the name of various newspapers:
United States Daily California
*''Oakland Tribune''
* ''The Tribune'' (San Luis Obispo)
*'' San Gabriel Valley Tribune''
Indiana
*''Kokomo Tribune''
*'' Peru Tribune''
* ''The Trib ...
'' reported that children and teenagers were supposedly inhaling Binaca in order to induce
intoxication
Intoxication — or poisoning, especially by an alcoholic or narcotic substance — may refer to:
* Substance intoxication:
** Alcohol intoxication
** LSD intoxication
** Toxidrome
** Tobacco intoxication
** Cannabis intoxication
** Cocaine i ...
.
The administration of Los Osos Middle School in
Los Osos, California
Los Osos (Spanish language, Spanish for "the bears") is an unincorporated area, unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in San Luis Obispo County, California. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California ...
, prohibited students from possessing Binaca, citing safety concerns.
Then-principal Greg Pruitt stated, "The kids were misusing it, spraying other kids and just horsing around.
..Some years it's frogs and butterflies. One year it was
Silly String. This year it was Binaca."
Some stores and pharmacies in the Los Osos and Boston areas began storing Binaca products behind the counter and refusing to sell them to minors.
In the season 4 episode 'The Opera' of television sitcom
Seinfeld
''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...
, Elaine sprays 'Crazy' Joe Davola’s face with Binaca.
References
Dentifrices
Oral hygiene
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