The Johnson & Johnson unit that recalled millions of bottles of liquid children’s Tylenol and other pediatric medicines last month may face criminal penalties, product seizures or other sanctions, an official from the Food and Drug Administration said Thursday.

The agency is considering further actions against McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the Johnson & Johnson unit, after a pattern of violations in manufacturing and quality control practices led to a number of recent recalls, Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, the F.D.A.’s principal deputy commissioner, said at a Congressional hearing on Thursday.

On April 30, McNeil voluntarily recalled more than 136 million bottles of liquid pediatric Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl and Zyrtec because they may have contained too much of the active ingredient of the drug, metal specks or inactive ingredients that failed testing requirements, the agency said. But McNeil’s problems go beyond those related to last month’s recall, including other forms of contamination, dating back two years.

During a session in which some committee members questioned McNeil’s integrity, Dr. Sharfstein noted lengthy delays by the company in reporting problems to the agency.