China rejects U.S. warning on toothpaste (Says DEG at safe levels) - AP

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Last updated June 3, 2007 1:13 a.m. PT

China rejects U.S. warning on toothpaste

By ANITA CHANG
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

BEIJING -- China rejected a warning issued by the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration urging consumers to avoid using Chinese toothpaste
because it may contain a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze.

Calling the FDA warning "unscientific, irresponsible and contradictory,"
China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and
Quarantine said in a statement posted on its Web site late Saturday
that low levels of the chemical have been deemed safe for consumption.

The FDA increased its scrutiny of toothpaste made in China because of
reports that the products may contain diethylene glycol, a thickening
agent used as a low-cost - but frequently deadly - substitute for
glycerin, a sweetener commonly used in drugs.

-snip-

China's main food safety regulator said in its statement that the
ingredients of toothpaste exported to the U.S. is offered to the FDA,
showing the amount of diethylene glycol. Also, the toothpaste's labeling
has already been registered with the FDA, allowing it to be sold in the
U.S, the statement said.

-snip-

Read more: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_China_US_Toothpaste.html

[no_hypocrisy]

1. China says a little poison never killed anyone?

If China refuses to stop manufacturing toothpaste with this ingredient, American companies can simply stop importing these prodcuts.

[dave_p]

3. No they can't

You assume American companies care about you. Whatever gave you that idea?

Their business is to reward owners & investors. That's how the system's supposed to work.

There's a built-in safeguard for consumers, though. You die, you stop buying, they lose a sale.

Justice prevails once again.

[Cobalt Violet]

2. Sounds like another Bu$hie has been doing "a heck of a job".

"Also, the toothpaste's labeling has already been registered with the FDA, allowing it to be sold in the U.S, the statement said."

[Rydz777]

4. Cut out the middleman: brush your teeth with antifreeze. eom

[tiptoe]

5. Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) "is used in a number of toothpastes as a dispersant; it binds water and

helps keep gum uniform throughout the toothpaste..." Polyethylene Glycol

Diols and polyols
...
Poisonings occur when the toxic DEG is substituted for the non-toxic naturally-occurring "triol" glycerine (HOCH2CH(OH)CH2OH, also called glycerol) in foodstuffs and pharmacuticals. This compound is higher melting than DEG (18 vs. -10.45 °C) and more viscous. Glycerine costs about three times the price of DEG.[citation needed]

Gee, I wonder how often Chinese producers of toothpaste (and other products) casually substitute possibly cheaper Diethylene Glycol (DEG) for more costly ingredients?

Toxicity
Diethylene glycol is toxic to humans and animals. It has been responsible for a number of mass poisonings.

• The most infamous incident was the 1937 Elixir Sulfanilamide disaster in the USA, in which 107 people died after taking sulfanilamide dissolved in diethylene glycol.<1> This episode was the impetus for the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938.<2>
  
• In recent years, deaths from medicines adulterated with diethylene glycol have been reported from South Africa, India, Nigeria, Argentina, Haiti, and Panama. In Haiti in 1996, 85 children died due to glycerine contaminated with diethylene glycol in a paracetamol syrup produced by Pharval Laboratories, a Haitian company, which did not use standard quality assurance procedures to verify the purity of the glycerine (which was supplied by a Dutch company, Vos, from a manufacturer in China, but the point of contamination with DEG was never determined).<3>
  
• In 1985 a small number of producers of Austrian wine were found to be adulterating their product with diethylene glycol in order to give the wine a sweeter and more full-bodied taste.<4> The amount added was not high enough to be immediately toxic (one would have to ingest about 28 bottles per day for two weeks); however, exports of Austrian wine collapsed. As a result of this incident, stricter regulations were imposed on Austrian wine makers, and the industry shifted its emphasis from the production of bulk, somewhat sweet wines to lower yields of higher quality, drier wines. Thus, the 'antifreeze scandal' is regarded as having been positive for the industry in the long-term.<5>
  
• In 1990, in Bangladesh, 339 children developed kidney failure, and most of them died, after being given paracetamol (acetaminophen) syrup contaminated with diethylene glycol<6>.
  
• In October 2006 the CDC and the Ministry of Health of Panama detected toxic levels of diethylene glycol in a sugarless liquid expectorant during an investigation of 46 deaths from a syndrome characterized by gastrointestinal symptoms, renal failure and paralysis. Almost all the victims were hypertension and diabetes patients in their 40s to 80s. Criminal investigations are ongoing. <7> The source of the contamination was found to be the Taixing Glycerine Factory, a Chinese company in Hengxiang, China. Taixing Glycerine sold diethylene glycol falsely labeled as pharmaceutical grade glycerine, through the state-owned Chinese trading company CNSC Fortune Way, based in Beijing. A government agency in Panama purchased the falsely labeled product containing diethylene glycol and incorporated it into 260,000 bottles of cold medicine. <8> The United States Food and Drug Administration issued an Industry Guidance Document highlighting appropriate testing procedures for use of glycerin in response to product contamination and misrepresentation.<9>
  
• In May 2007, Panamanian officials reported that toothpaste manufactured in China with "glycerine" contained high levels of DEG.<10> <11><12>
  
• Also in May 2007 the same toothpaste was found in some Costa Rican stores. Fast action by the Ministry of Health, and notification through the media, prevented poisonings due to this product. This event was linked to the death sentence of a former pharmaceuticals control officer in China, as the Costa Rican newspaper La Nación reported on its issue of May 30th. The Costa Rican Ministry of Health will file charges against the local importing and distributing companies, and reviewing licensing and permits in the stores where the product was detected.

Because of the natural sweetness of the substance, domesticated animals have often been victims of DEG poisoning after consuming spilled or leaking antifreeze from vehicles.

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