Purell maker tells hoarders to clean up their act

Hand hygiene is in vogue because of the H1N1 influenza outbreak, but the hoarding of bottled sanitizers threatens to create temporary shortages.

Johnson & Johnson, which makes and distributes Purell for retailers, cautions that supplies may be limited in some regions because of red-hot demand.

And then there's Ohio-based GoJo Industries, which developed Purell and is a manufacturer of the product for the commercial market - offices, schools and hospitals.

GoJo anticipated that interest in its sanitizer would soar, but it is scrambling to keep pace with "unprecedented demand," running its production lines around the clock.

GoJo is telling institutions and distributors to avoid stockpiling, saying hoarding will create unnecessary shortages.

"GoJo will continue to manufacture and ship products to distributors ... so there is absolutely no need to stockpile product," the company said in a message on its website.