Tainted Chinese toothpaste may
be dangerous to children.

Cheap Chinese toothpaste containing antifreeze ingredient.

When I about this FDA warning concerning toothpaste made in China, I was interested to see why, in this particular case, the FDA stepped in and protected the American public. It seems that it may be more political than oversight in perhaps attempting to embarrass the Chinese government. I guess this shouldn’t surprise me since the Bush administration uses the American people as guinea pigs for unsafe products. What’s so fascinating about this case is that it wasn’t the FDA who inspected and found this unsafe product, it was an alert consumer in Panama who noticed that diethylene glycol was listed as an ingredient in the Chinese toothpaste. This was after over 100 deaths were reported in Panama due to the Panamanian government inadvertently mixing the poison made in China into 260,000 bottles of cold medicine. So, how did the FDA get involved, and what does China have to say about it? It’s enough to make you sick — literally.

According to a New York Times article, diethylene glycol was not listed on the label of the toothpaste found in the Miami store but the FDA inspected it because of the discovery in Panama of tens of thousands of tubes of tainted toothpaste made in China. It appears that “counterfeiters have found it profitable to substitute diethylene glycol for its chemical cousin, glycerin, which is usually more expensive”. Glycerin is known to be a safe additive which is commonly found in food, drugs and household products and in toothpaste, and is used as a thickening agent.

The FDA said they found toothpaste containing a small amount of diethylene glycol at a Dollar Plus retail store in Miami under the name ShiR Fresh Mint Fluoride Paste. They also identified nine other brands of Chinese toothpaste that contain diethylene glycol, some with concentrations of 3 to 4 percent. The Chinese-made brands were typically sold at low-cost, “bargain” retail outlets under the names Cooldent Fluoride, Cooldent Spearmint, Cooldent ICE, Dr. Cool, Superdent, Clean Rite, Oralmax Extreme, Oral Bright, and Bright Max.

Out of the thousands of containers containing imported foods,
approximately 2 percent get get sampled

What is interesting to note is that although there are no reports of anyone being harmed by the toothpaste, the Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to use the product because it had a “low but meaningful risk of toxicity and injury” to children and people with kidney or liver disease. When I think about all the other American-made products that I have reported in my Health Alerts that have a similar “low but meaningful risk of toxicity and injury”, but for which the FDA has done nothing, it is alarming to me. It makes me think that the FDA may have another motive behind this warning for the Chinese product.

What China has to say about it is even more upsetting. According to AMERICAblog.com, China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement posted on its Web site over the weekend:

So far we have not received any report of death resulting from using the toothpaste. The U.S. handling (of this case) is neither scientific nor responsible.

So does someone have to die before the Chinese will stop polluting and contaminating its food products with poisons and dangerous substances for the sake of low cost? It’s sad, but today the FDA takes the same stand. According to another New York Times article, “China, which in one decade has become the third-largest exporter of food, by value, to the United States, sent 199,000 shipments, of which less than 2 percent were sampled.” With so little inspections, it’s no wonder that unsafe and dangerous food products are being consumed by Americans. And, what’s worse is that once a problem is detected, usually the FDA holds off on recalls until people or animals have died and even then it has been known to drag its feet. Critics in Washington are now beginning to warn that the agency is woefully understaffed and under financed to keep America’s food supply safe.

We need to regain our consumer protections that these huge government bureaucracies were created to ensure. But with a budget constrained by an administration that wants to drastically limit federal regulations of business, I don’t see it happening any time soon even though critics have come out in the open to assail the administration. So, all I can say is “buyer beware” and hope that you’re not one of those who become ill or die from the lack of oversight and just plain greed.