Abbott Laboratories is reported to have announced a voluntary recall on Wednesday for its glucose test strips that are used as a tool for monitoring diabetics' blood sugar. It is claimed that the recall of over 359 million glucose test strips because the strips gave inaccurate readings to the patients.

The defect was found with the help of the routine in-house testing process started by the company.

It is reported that the recall has affected six brands of testing strips retailed in the U. S. and Puerto Rico that Abbott has promised to give a replacement for with charging anything.

The company posted in a statement that the strips may not absorb enough blood so as to yield an accurate reading for the blood sugar thereby giving misleading users.

The chemically prepared paper strips are reported to have been manufactured at an Abbott facility in the United Kingdom between the months of January and May 2010, according to company spokesman Scott Davies.

“The agency is working with the company to determine if there may be additional instances where the readings were inaccurate”, FDA spokeswoman Erica Jefferson posted in his e-mail statement.