FDA warns consumers over toothpaste from China (shipment found)

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

FDA warns consumers over toothpaste from China
Fri Jun 1, 2007 3:24PM EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health officials on Friday warned
consumers to avoid any toothpaste made in China after inspectors
found a poisonous chemical known as DEG in one shipment detained
at the border.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been scrutinizing
toothpaste imported from China after similar products in Latin
America were found to contain diethylene glycol, or DEG, often
found in solvents and antifreeze.

The FDA identified products by Goldcredit International Enterprises
Ltd., Goldcredit International Trading Co. Ltd., and Suzhou City
Jinmao Daily Chemicals Co. Ltd as containing DEG. Brands include
Cooldent, Clean Rite and Oralmax and are usually found at discount
retailers, the FDA said.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSWAT00764420070601

[Cobalt Violet]

1. How do we know if toothpaste made elsewhere is safe?

They can make it elsewhere with cheap Chinese poisonous ingredients.

[StarryNite]

2. That's right

And why are we still importing Chinese crap? Oh, yeah, * says outsourcing is good for Merica.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

3. Oh dear the Chinese are poisoning us

first our pets, then our toothpaste

Why isn't Bush saving us?

[shanti]

4. prolly 99 cent store

shtuff :eyes:

[glowing]

5. I've been purchasing "organic" toothpaste... tom's is good, made

in Maine, and is even sold at Walmart (cheapest I've found the product).

[catgirl]

6. I like Tom's too

They make great products.

[kimmerspixelated]

7. Good for you!

I go to Health Food Stores like Vitamin World for all my personal daily needs. We use a tea tree oil toothpaste by Jason. Also there is one we use from Nature's Answer. Both made in the USA.

[sarge43]

8. Heads up about Tom's products

He sold the company to Colgate's back in March.

:cry:

[glowing]

15. I'll have to make sure to continue reading the back of the ingredients

I also very at times... there's a really good one that I love at the health store (I can't remember the name).. but I was at Walmart and that is the only toothpaste I would buy from there. I've noticed in my Walmart a lot more variety of Organic foods---which means a bargain for me and supporting American producers.

[Eugene]

9. Updated Reuters story: U.S. seizes tainted toothpaste from China

Source: Reuters

U.S. seizes tainted toothpaste from China
01 Jun 2007 20:37:05 GMT
Source: Reuters

(Adds details, FDA comment)

WASHINGTON, June 1 (Reuters) - Consumers have been warned to
avoid any toothpaste made in China after inspectors found a
poisonous chemical in toothpaste seized at the border and sold at
two stores, U.S. health officials said on Friday.

-snip-

Brands include Cooldent, Clean Rite and Oralmax and are usually found
at discount retailers such as so-called dollar stores, the agency said.
No major brands are affected.

-snip-

The FDA issued its alert after seizing a batch of Cooldent toothpaste
found to contain 3 percent DEG. Inspectors also found DEG-containing
toothpaste at a Dollar Plus store in Miami and at a store called Todo
a Peso in Puerto Rico, Autor said.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N01353620.htm

[kestrel91316]

10. Cheap generics.

[AnneD]

13. But with this wonderful economy....

more folks can only afford the generic or dollar store stuff.

[Critters2]

24. Yeah, that's what you said about the pet foods at first, too

Then it turned up in foods you almost certainly sell, like Hill's. No reason the same won't be true here. Besides, don't people who buy "cheap generics" have the right to safe toothpaste?

What an elitist attitude.

[HockeyMom]

11. Is ANYTHING made in this country any more?????

:banghead:

[Tesha]

12. War. War is definitely made here. (NT)

[Kool Kitty]

27. You're right!

And it probably doesn't contain melamine OR anti-freeze. Woo-hoo! :woohoo:

[coffeenap]

14. Here is the email I received from Colgate-Palmolive upon inquiry:

Dear :

Thank you for contacting us with your question. Your interest in our company and
our products is greatly appreciated.

Colgate does not import toothpaste from China into the United States and Diethylene
glycol is not now and has never been an ingredient in Colgate Toothpaste anywhere
in the world.

Regardless of the country where we manufacture it, Colgate toothpaste is made in
strict adherence to our global safety and quality standards. These standards include
rigorous, worldwide quality checks on all incoming materials and finished goods
as well as supplier verification procedures to ensure the safety and quality of
all ingredients.

If we can be of further help, please feel free to contact us again.

Sincerely,




Emily Lowenstein
Consumer Affairs Senior Representative
Consumer Affairs

[glowing]

16. And what do the global standards include?

[polvo]

17. PR?

He Glowing, why are you so glowing with praises for third-world-labor-exploiting Walmart? Any indirect or direct affiliations with the company?

"I've noticed in my Walmart a lot more variety of Organic foods---which means a bargain for me and supporting American producers."

With lines like that, one has to ask. Anyways, you can continue to put in your plugs for the anti-labor, cost-externalizing corporation. Most of us will continue supporting our locally owned stores.

[glowing]

20. no, I don't work for Walmart. I happened to have to pick up a couple

of things the other day. In reality, I only go to a big box store as little as possible. It had actually been about 2 mo. since stepping into a Walmart. I was surprised by the number of organic things they had added. It saved me from driving across town to the Natural store and wasting gas. I generally only go to the Natural Store and hit up local produce stands. I know the whole issue with Walmart and the crap they pull, but what company these days hasn't reduced itself to Walmart standards... it seems to be the new American way. I am one person trying to do the best for my family on a tight budget.. and that budget has meant buying foods and supplements that won't harm my family, in trade for a much needed vacation or an extra second with my husband.

Don't worry, I'm not some freeptard in here to burst anyone's bubble.

[blondie58]

25. well, have you heard that their "organic" products

are just sometimes allegedly organic.

consumerist.com/consumer/food/walmart-caught-incorrectly-tagging-food-as-or...

This was a big scandal for them. I think that they just wanted to jump on the organic bandwagon, but it backfired.

Really, they are a horrible company. Not the company that Sam founded. If you look at their recent history, you will be shocked.

I understand, though- these are difficult times. Do you have any Super Target's in your neck of the woods?

I have found myself shopping more and more at the dollar store, but now, after the Chinese food scares, I think that I'll stay away from foods.

[polvo]

31. ok ok

Sounds like you passed the PR check.

what company these days hasn't reduced itself to Walmart standards... it seems to be the new American way"

Guess it depends on where you live. There are a few places in this country that have locally-owned and socially conscious stores. Having once lived in the Tupperware flats of Fairfax County, I know how in some places it's only big box stores. But I wouldn't say it's the American way, rather its the logical extreme that capitalism goes to when its fed Bush and Co's "small goberment" fertilizer and sprayed with its anti-labor/anti-consumer pesticide. And these incidents of contaminated food products will no doubt continue to worsen before any thing meaningful is done to address the problem. Read Sinclair's The Jungle for an unpleasant reminder of what happened a hundred years ago, and then Hartmann's Screwed: The undeclared war against the middle class to see how much the situation has improved.

[kurth]

21. "global" = lowest common denominator

aka the race to the bottom, or to the grave, whichever occurs first.

[HockeyMom]

18. It is being OFFSHORED

to a plant in another country, as in China, for dirt cheap wages. Again, I say. Is nothing MADE (manufactured in a plant IN this country) any more?

[BlueIris]

19. Hook yourself up with some tasty Ecodent, people.

No flouride (or other toxic shite). "Hardens teeth without flouride." Good stuff.

[KoKo]

22. I've only used Colgate Toothpaste for years...Hubby uses CREST are we under attack

from China also? WHO uses CHINES TOOTHPASTE...or do WE REALLY KNOW since American Pet Food Manufacturers were using "ingredients" they say they didn't KNOW was tainted.

should we believe that Proctor & Gamble and the rest of our Trusted US producers aren't "cutting costs" with Chinese Ingredients (not listed on the package) and are in our own BRANDS?

HOW WOULD WE KNOW if one small component comes from China that was "innocently" inclueded in our Standard US Brands? :shrug:

[NYC]

23. Write to them, and ask outright.

I don't guarantee you'll get a truthful answer, but it's worth asking.

For years, I have used Aim toothpaste with a Sonicare toothbrush. (Some toothpastes are not suitable. Aim met the requirements of no whiteners, no baking soda, etc., and I just stayed with it.)

I wrote to Church & Dwight. They said none of their ingredients came from China, and Aim is manufactured in the U.S.

Before I heard from Church & Dwight, I went looking around the internet, and found a few sources that said Aim was considered a "cheap" toothpaste. Some people said they bought it because it was cheap, and I found a marketing report that described the likely customers.

Don't forget that price is no protection. In the beginning, it seemed the cheaper pet foods had been poisoned. As time went on, we learned that expensive pet foods had also been poisoned.

Tropicana and Dole were honest about their imported ingredients when I wrote to them. They even list the countries of origin on the cartons. Someone had a bottle of Tropicana apple juice recently, and the ingredients listed many countries, including China.

[fortyfeetunder]

26. Here is where "MADE IN USA" has meaning

See if you do some of the fine print in label reading, the labels will use "Packaged", "Distributed" in the USA. But if it doesn't say a country of manufacturing, and IIRC, companies don't have to divulge where the product is made, you can't even assume it was made here...

Buy local, y'all...read the labels...it is now a matter of life or death!

[pimpbot]

28. Heres a link to a distributor, cooldent toothpaste is chinese CRAP

http://www.allproducts.com/manufacture97/toothpaste/product4.html

At least it looks like some sort of online catalog of chinese crap.

Check out the description for Cooldent toothpaste.

Cooldent toothpaste
1>can prevent teeth
2>effective whiten teeth



Cooldent toothpaste
Features:

whitn teeth^$^#
Certificate: 30 days after we receive deposit



Company INFO:

YangZhou Lierkang Daily Used Chemical Company

We are a specialized manufacturer and exporter toothpaste in china,we can supply you different toothpaste according to you request.

Profile:
Established in: 1990
Business types:
OEM Manufacturer;Exporter/Agent;

Markets:
North America;South America / Caribbean;West Europe;East Europe / Russia;East Asia;Southeast Asia;Mid-East / Africa;Australia / New Zealand;China / Hong Kong;





Ordering information:
Minimum Order: 20FT

[pimpbot]

29. Heres another of the companies mentioned.. They make human and dog toothpaste!

I wonder if they clean off the assembly line between runs. Doubt it.

http://www.alibaba.com/catalog/11696874/Toothpaste.html

[polvo]

30. Time to brush the dust off

that old copy of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle folks. I'm sure this and the pet food scare represent just the tip of the iceberg.

[blondie58]

32. now that is one that I've never read....

But I plan to read. I have reread 1984 recently and the parallels to what is going on in our country now are frightening.

And welcome to DU polvo!