Chinese Toothpaste Scare Hits Colgate

Remember the Chinese toothpaste scare that broke 2 weeks ago? At the time, the Food & Drug Administration noted that only off-brand products might carry the toxic tainting with diethylene glycol (DEG). Well, now comes word that products carrying the Colgate name might also be affected.

FDA announced that it had confirmed it had identified "counterfeit" toothpaste, imported from South Africa, carrying the Colgate name. It wasn't made by Colgate, but had been fraudulently labeled as such, according to spokespersons for the company. Colgate doesn't have manufacturing plants in South Africa or import toothpaste from there.

Yesterday, Colgate-Palmolive reported that the misbranded product "has been found in several dollar-type discount stores in four states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. There are indications that this product does not contain fluoride and may contain Diethylene Glycol." Clues that will help recognize these fakes: they're labeled as coming from South Africa and contain misspellings, such as South Afrlca and South African Dental Assoxiation.

DEG, as you may recall, is a solvent commonly used as an anti-freeze. It's poisonous and doesn't belong in anything that makes contact with the mouth. In some developing countries, low-cost DEG is substituted for the more costly glycerin, a popular sweetener used in liquid over-the-counter and prescription-drug products—and now, apparently, in toothpastes as well.

Just a month before the DEG-toothpaste link made news, FDA warned drug manufacturers and health professionals that unscrupulous foreign firms had occasionally been swapping the toxic DEG for glycerin. In one episode last September, in Panama, DEG tainted medicines resulted in 40 deaths.

"Colgate is working closely with the US FDA to help to identify those responsible for the counterfeit product," a company press release announced yesterday. It recommended that consumers who suspect they may have purchased such a fake to call Colgate's toll-free number at (800)-468-6502.