China Investigates Contaminated Toothpaste (which was exported)

[UpInArms]

Source: New York Times

Chinese authorities are investigating whether two companies from this coastal region exported tainted toothpaste as more contaminated product, including some made for children, has turned up in Latin America.

A team of government investigators arrived here Sunday afternoon and closed the factory of the Danyang City Success Household Chemical Company, a small building housing about 30 workers in a nearby village, according to villagers and one factory worker. The government also questioned the manager of another toothpaste maker, Goldcredit International Trading, which is in Wuxi, about an hour’s drive southeast of here.

No tainted toothpaste has been found in the United States, but a spokesman for the Food and Drug Administration said yesterday that the agency would be taking “a hard look” at whether to issue an import alert.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic said they seized 36,000 tubes of toothpaste suspected of containing diethylene glycol, an industrial solvent and prime ingredient in some antifreeze. Included were tubes of toothpaste marketed for children with bubble gum and strawberry flavors sold under the name of “Mr. Cool Junior.”

Toothpaste containing the toxic solvent was also found in Panama and Australia in the last week.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/business/worldbusiness/22toothpaste.html?ex=1337486400&en=fd31a20be0326aad&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

[kurth]

1. Don't put anything made in China in your mouth

Headline in the near future: "Chinese Chickens Sicken Thousands; FDA Says Unknown Origin Stymies Investigation"

[Cobalt Violet]

2. No tainted toothpaste found in the US...

But how much toothpast did they test? We need country of origin labeled for each and every ingredient in everything.

[ohio2007]

12. ...for now...

Any product from China is getting tainted by this lack of safety checks

[Cobalt Violet]

14. I have no appetite for any food products from there.

But I don't know how to avoid medicines that may have dangerous or fake Chinese ingredients in them. An now cosmetics too.

It can be made in the USA with all chinese ingredients. :puke:

Now I not only have to grow my own garden (on my 3rd floor balcony) but I also have to be my own chemist

[Doremus]

3. Easy to say, harder to do. There are no country of origin label laws.

We have probably been eating/using/ingesting tainted products for some time.

Now the USDA is trying to open our borders to meat from China.

And we wonder why the incidence of kidney disease is "mysteriously" on the rise ...

[K in FL]

4. Corporate greed at its finest

After reading yet another article about dangerous poisons imported from other parts of the world, it amazes me that as Americans we haven’t demanded more protection from our government. In this age of terrorism, our enemies could easily taint foods or add other dangerous substances in any imported product (cars, electric appliances, etc.). Our FDA and NSA need to monitor these potential harmful chemicals. As the talking heads keep using phrases like ‘global economy’ and ‘free trade’ we are at the mercy (and trust) of the rest of the world. Our elected officials are nothing more than corporatists that preach our capitalistic society will take care of itself as long as business is left alone. Wake up America!

[corkhead]

8. relax, the invisible hand of capitalism will remedy this situation.

the corporations that produce and import these products will go out of business when they kill all of their customers.

:sarcasm:

[Blue_Tires]

16. welcome to the site!

makes me wonder if anything in china is safe for consumption anymore....

[MrPrax]

5. Does anyone really have

to be reminded NOT to buy a hygiene product made by a company called Goldcredit International Trading?

Buyer Beware? Or buyer go read?

I certainly hope this doesn't affect genXers who might buy Darlie brand toothpaste at discount stores because it's campy? Hate to think they might get sick or something....

[Blue_Tires]

17. 'darkie' toothpaste?

oh, dear.....:argh:

[stillcool]

6. whatever doesn' t kill you...

makes you stronger?

But Ms. Shi and other toothpaste makers in this region said that diethylene glycol had been used in toothpaste in China for years and that producers believed it was not very harmful.

Government investigators arrived here just days after customs officials in Panama said that they had discovered diethylene glycol in 6,000 tubes of toothpaste. The toothpaste was being sold under the English brand names Mr. Cool and Excel.
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Mr. Hu at Goldcredit said that while he did not produce the toothpaste shipped to Panama, diethylene glycol had been used for years at very low levels in Chinese toothpaste as a glycerin substitute. “If diethylene glycol were poisonous,” he said, “all Chinese people would have been poisoned.”

[Shallah Kali]

7. Tell congress you want Country of Origin Labeling now! - link

http://tinyurl.com/24lv2w

Also please consider lobbying for this at the state level. Some states have taken action restricting Chinese imports because of the toxins found in them. Ask your state officials for Country of Origin Labeling and labeling of state produce as well for all of us trying to eat local food whether it is for the 100 Mile Diet, for increased food safety or to support the local farmers instead of megacorporations and despotic foreign regimes. Look 'em up here if you are so inclined: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/?lvl=L

[catgirl]

9. This ingredient killed 100+ people in Colombia (mouthwash)

It came from China. Still being investigated.

[kimmerspixelated]

10. I buy my toothpaste from

the healthfood store or organics section of the grocery store, and I will start looking at their labels as well.

[kurth]

11. Chinese producers "very confident " of quality of toothpaste containing antifreeze

Chinese producers defend their exports
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

SHANGHAI, China -- It's becoming a familiar scenario: Overseas authorities warn of tainted Chinese products while Chinese producers deny any health fears and say that in any case, they're not subject to regulation.

For the second time in weeks, a Chinese drug or food product has been singled out as a threat overseas. On Monday, authorities in the Dominican Republic said they had removed 10,000 tubes of the Chinese toothpaste brands "Excel" and "Mr. Cool" from shelves after learning they contained diethylene glycol, a chemical commonly used in antifreeze and brake fluid. That came weeks after pet food ingredients from China tainted with the chemical melamine were blamed in the deaths of dogs and cats in North America, prompting a massive pet food recall.

In both cases, Chinese producers said they believed the use of the chemicals to be safe and knew of no rules regulating their use... Chinese authorities on Tuesday were inspecting a company called Danyang Chengshi Household Chemical Co. that exported the toothpaste to Panama - later shipped to the Dominican Republic - containing diethylene glycol, said Chen Yaozu, general manager of the firm. Wariness of the chemical is especially high because it was blamed for the deaths of at least 51 people in Panama last year after it was mixed into cough syrup.

However, Chen said the chemical, a thickening agent often used as a low-cost substitute for glycerin, was permitted under Chinese rules and was safe in small amounts... "I can say I am very confident about our product's quality," Chen said in a telephone interview from his company's headquarters in the eastern province of Jiangsu. That echoed claims by Chinese chemical companies and makers of animal feed who said adding melamine was safe in controlled amounts. Melamine is thought to have caused kidney shutdown in pets... "Proper amounts of diethylene glycol are not toxic if it remains uncontaminated," said Zou Jianjun of the Jiangsu-based Donghua International Trading Co...

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_China_Tainted_Toothpaste.html

[LeftyMom]

13. Much of the toothpaste sold in dollar stores is imported from other markets.

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/toothpaste.asp

That could bring the contaminated stuff into the US market.

[Eugene]

15. US FDA to monitor toothpaste from China

Source: Reuters

US FDA to monitor toothpaste from China
23 May 2007 22:49:33 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) - U.S. health officials are beginning
to check all shipments of toothpaste coming from China, following
reports of tainted products in other countries, a government
spokesman said on Wednesday.

The Food and Drug Administration has no evidence that contaminated
toothpaste has made its way into the United States but is taking the
step as a precaution, agency spokesman Doug Arbesfeld said.

-snip-

FDA's action comes after the lethal chemical diethylene glycol was
found in toothpaste sold in the Dominican Republic and Panama.

-snip-

Tainted toothpaste has also been reported in Australia, Arbesfeld said.

It was not immediately clear which brands of toothpaste sold in the
Unites States are made in China.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N23275622.htm

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Also: China calls for cooler heads over product safety - Reuters