Concerns deepen over China-made tainted toothpaste

Concerns over safety of China-made toothpastes intensified in Canada after the health authorities found more tainted products, mounting debate over the safety and security of food and other products imported from China.

Health Canada in its release on Friday said that Preliminary tests on China-made counterfeit toothpastes indicate the tainted products may contain even more harmful bacteria than authorities first suspected.

Health Canada, a government department of Canada that oversees the national public health issues, first warned consumers on June 29 to stop using Chinese-made toothpaste because 21 products in the Canadian market were found laced with harmful levels of diethylene glycol (DEG), a toxic chemical used in some antifreeze products.

The fatal substance has taken lives in several Central American countries, due to consumption of contaminated Chinese made cough medicines. In Panama, 83 people have died after taking medicines contaminated with a Chinese-made toxin last year and the death toll is expected to rise, a senior prosecutor investigating how the medicines became adulterated said on Thursday.

If consumed, the toxic solvent can cause nausea, abdominal pain, dizziness, urinary problems, kidney failure, breathing disorders, lethargy, convulsions, coma and even death.

Canadian health watchdog’s last week’s move came less than a month after the US Food and Drug Administration issued a warning against the use of China-made toothpastes, saying the products are pestiferous with diethylene glycol.

The health authorities in Canada said that so far they have identified 24 unapproved products being sold in Canada and found to contain unsafe levels of the chemical. Officials said the tests are still ongoing and they would notify Canadians of any health risks once tests had been completed. However, they advised consumers to discard the counterfeit product as well as the toothbrush used with the phoney toothpaste.

"The product should be kept out of the reach of children," Health Canada said in its yesterday’s release. "Consumers should seal the tube and put the tube in a sealed bag. They should also wash their hands after handling the tube."

The counterfeit toothpastes issue came into light when the false version of the Colgate paste was spotted in a “Dollar Store” in the northeast US. The counterfeit paste tube is labeled as "Manufactured in South Africa." In addition, the counterfeit packages have several misspellings, including: "isclinically" "SOUTH AFRLCA" "South African Dental Assoxiation."

Although, the tubes were labeled ‘Colgate’, Allison Klimerman, a spokesperson for Colgate Palmolive, the US consumer Products Company, has confirmed that the imported 5-ounce tubes were counterfeit.

New York-based company said there were indications the product does not contain fluoride and might contain diethylene glycol. Colgate-Palmolive said it does not use, nor ever has used, diethylene glycol as an ingredient in Colgate toothpaste anywhere in the world.

Meanwhile, the Canadian health agency has also found the presence of diethylene glycol in three more unapproved Chinese toothpaste products imported into the Canadian market.

In Massachusetts, the Department of Public Health said tainted toothpaste was found in stores in several stores in spite of FDA’s June import alert. "Despite FDA's efforts, suspect products continue to be found, including in Massachusetts -- mostly in small, independent dollar-type discount stores," the state health department said in a statement.