I have long been challenged with dry eyes. My optometrist and I continue to look for ways to mitigate my scratchy eyes and blepharitis (inflammation in the eyelids where the oil glands become blocked). I had another flare of my dry eyes recently, and my doctor suggested a new product: Optase HyloNight. I was excited that not only would the product help my dry eyes, but would also help the blepharitis. Too many times, a product that helps one issue causes the other issue to get exacerbated.

I carefully read the Amazon page about the product and ordered it. I’ve learned with all of my food allergies and other sensitivities to be thorough in vetting any new product I’m going to introduce, especially if I’m going to be putting it into my eye.

When I received the eye ointment, I read the box and the Instructions for Use that was inside the box. Imagine my surprise when I read the statement, “May Contain Peanut Oil” in both places!

The first thing I did was to go back to the Amazon product page to re-read the Inactive Ingredients that were listed there to make sure I hadn’t missed the information. Here’s what I found:

As you can see in the Inactive Ingredients, there is no mention of peanut oil! I was shocked.

For those of you not versed in the language of peanut oil, there is cold-pressed peanut oil which should be avoided by anyone who has peanut allergies, such as myself. There is also highly refined peanut oil, which shouldn’t contain the protein that creates the IgE reaction in those people with the allergy. However, your doctor can best inform you whether you should refrain from ingesting either form of peanut oil, depending upon your specific circumstances.

There is no indication on the box what kind of peanut oil was used. I reached out to the seller of the product to provide feedback, and never received a response. Therefore, I decided it best to not use the product at all.

I also informed Amazon that the product page is not complete, yet I did so weeks ago and there has been no change to the information on the page. I also provided a review of this product so that other potential buyers with peanut allergies would not purchase it.

It took several phone calls and messages to get a refund on the product since a refund is not generally given from Amazon on eye ointments. I had to explain that the product page is not accurate.

This situation is a good reminder to ALWAYS read the information of any product that you’re going to use on yourself or your child with food allergies. You can never be too cautious!