JOHANNESBURG, April 10 (Reuters) - Nigeria's health

regulator is recalling a batch of Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ )

children's cough syrup after finding an unacceptably high level

of a potentially fatal toxic substance, it said on Wednesday.

Laboratory tests on Benylin Paediatric showed a high level

of diethylene glycol, which has been linked to the deaths of

dozens of children in Gambia, Uzbekistan and Cameroon since 2022

in one of the world's worst waves of poisoning from oral

medication.

The syrup is used to treat cough and congestion-related

symptoms, hay fever and other allergic reactions in children

aged two to 12, Nigeria's National Agency for Food and Drug

Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said in a notice on its

website.

"Laboratory analysis conducted on the product showed that it

contains an unacceptable high level of Diethylene glycol and was

found to cause acute oral toxicity in laboratory animals,"

NAFDAC said.

Human consumption of the substance could cause symptoms like

abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, headaches and acute kidney

injury that may result in death, the regulator added.

J&J referred a request for comment to Kenvue ( KVUE ), which

now owns the Benylin brand after a spin-off last year. Kenvue ( KVUE )

did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The batch being recalled was made in South Africa in May

2021 with an expiration date of April 2024. The regulator urged

those with bottles from the batch to discontinue use or sale and

submit them to its nearest office.