Does Alka-Seltzer Plus Contain Alcohol?

William II asked

Does Alka-Seltzer Plus have alcohol in its ingredients?

Answer

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Remember that Alka-Seltzer Plus is not one specific product, but rather a family of products. So really what we're looking at here is whether or not any Alka-Seltzer Plus product contains alcohol.

The good news is that all Alka-Seltzer Plus products do not contain alcohol. So, if you need to avoid it, you're in luck.

In general, the only over the counter medications that do contain alcohol are in liquid form and are nighttime formulations. NyQuil, for example, contains 10% alcohol by volume.

No Alka-Seltzer Plus product is available as a liquid. They are all solid dosage forms:

• Liquid Gels
• Effervescent Tablets
• Hot Drink Mixes
• Extended-Release Tablets

As mentioned, none contain alcohol (although some do contain 'sugar alcohols').

Sugar alcohols, like mannitol, are used most commonly as sweeteners but are also bulking agents. They do not contain ethanol, which is generally what we refer to when we say 'alcohol'.

If you consume sugar alcohol like mannitol, they won't raise BAC (blood alcohol concentration), they don't show up on a breathalyzer test and they don't show up in the urine as 'alcohol' (urine alcohol tests are looking for ethyl glucuronide, a by-product of ethanol breakdown).

If you are interested in Alka-Seltzer Plus products or want to know all of the ingredients in a specific product, be sure to check out their website.

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