Contaminated Toothpaste Warnings Spreads
By pyewacket
@pyewacket (43903)
United States
June 15, 2007 11:40pm CST
Not too long ago a fellow MyLotter (and forgive me if I get this wrong...Polachicago I believe) did a discussion about the contaminated toothpaste that was from China as it had diethylene glycol (DEG), a chemical found in anti-freeze....well it looks like its not just toothpaste from China but now it's being discovered that many of the brands of toothpaste commonly found in discount stores, especially those $1.00 stores, and under the so-called Colgate label are also contaminated...and many are made in South Africa, also, India, Phillipines
What's alarming about this is that I often get those brands...so out of curiosity I went to my local 99-cents store---they have tons of the so-called Colgate brand, especially the one I had been using, the Colgate Herbal--I looked at the label, and sure enough it was from South Africa!
I haven't used it in awhile but like...yikes...here I was trying to save money on toothpaste..well, never again--so went to my nearby Duane Reade and got the Tom's of Maine brand (mango-orange flavor to be exact)
Here's the story here...and click on the video as well
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/06/toothpaste_recall02.html
There's some more here as well
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6757417.stm
12 people like this
18 responses
@dragonstar13 (1465)
• United States
16 Jun 07
We were discussing this at work today. It is frightening that we are importing merchandise and food from countries that have health and safety standards so far below ours.
One co-worker pointed out how serious the pet food recall was. Imagine, she said, if it had been human food.
3 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Jun 07
Well I sometimes wonder about the quality of human foods as well--wasn't there recalls of infant formulas sometime ago...some kind of problem with them
@easy888 (10405)
• Australia
16 Jun 07
Hello,pyewacket,thank you for your information,i think those products selling in the dollar shops may have inferior quality or they cannot be sold at such low prices.The presense of toothpaste may be just a part of fact,may be we can find more harmful things in the products selling in the dollar shop.
We cannot be 100% safe even we buy toothpaste in big supermarkets,may be later some other toxic materials will be found out by researchers.
3 people like this
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
16 Jun 07
Thank you for the warning. I make my own toothpaste once a week and it takes just few seconds to make.
I don't trust mass production for anything any longer.
I make my own house cleaning products as well, because who knows what is next...
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Jun 07
Was it you that posted the first discussion about toothpaste and you gave a recipe? I was trying to find it
@GnosticGoddess (5626)
• United States
16 Jun 07
Oh wow! I was just posting what's next in another of your discussions and I see now what is next!!!
That's scary!
I don't actually buy from those places but I will be checking where my toothpaste is made in in the future!
Thanks for the information!
2 people like this
@GnosticGoddess (5626)
• United States
16 Jun 07
You know - I was wondering the same thing too after I posted that.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Jun 07
Thing is how do we know the more so-called legit products are safe in regular stores??
1 person likes this
@webeishere (36313)
• United States
16 Jun 07
Thank God I don't use toothpaste. I checked with the wife though. She uses Crest and it.s made in the USA. So she is safe there. This recall etc stuff is getting bad lately. Especially for China. They are relly turning out the stuff it seems. I wonder what their government is doing about all these products from there that have had problems etc?
HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB !!~
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Jun 07
I just have to ask...prey tell, if you don't use toothpaste, what do you use?? LOL
2 people like this
@sumofalltears (3988)
• United States
16 Jun 07
I remember reading that discussion also one about flouride poisoning from swallowing toothpaste. I just don't understand what the deal is with all this contaminated stuff....almost like it is a deliberate thing.
3 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Jun 07
Flouride is actually the pits to use...for some reason I'm remembering a scene in The Conspiracy Theory with Mel Gibson and he was yakking away how dangerous flouride is--and there are warnings on toothpaste about swallowing flouride
2 people like this
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
17 Jun 07
What surprised me most about this, is that Colgate didn't even know there were knock off brands from S. Africa and what not using their name. I find that really hard to believe.
When you looked at the box, was "not affiliated with Colgate" on the box? I had read somewhere (I think CNN) that the notice was on all of the imported toothpaste.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
18 Jun 07
Tell you the truth I never noticed that before..about the not affiliated with Colgate..good point
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
18 Jun 07
Well I thought I was saving myself money..I'm on a tight budget, so it's like do I spend only $1 or get the "regular" brands in large stores for $3 more...but for now on, believe me, I'll spend the extra money
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (85469)
• United States
16 Jun 07
It's a shame a person has to be so vigilant for their toothpaste. I already lock my car doors when I'm driving, when I'm alone in a parking lot I walk with my car keys between my knuckles just in case, and now I check my toothpaste labels to see where they were made. And here I thought I was safe in the store.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Jun 07
It's ironic no? We take all these safety precautions so we're not attacked..but we're being attacked by contaminated products
1 person likes this
@steney (1418)
• Philippines
16 Jun 07
Thank you for the heads up on this one, pyewacket! This is the first time that I've heard about the potential risk of this ingredient. I haven't bought toothpaste in a dollar store, but even in the local groceries there are Chinese toothpastes like Maxam that I was once tempted to buy because it's priced lower than the popular brands. Bu I'm glad I still choose Colgate, but not the fake one. In other stores though, a lot of cheap imported branded items like soap, toothpaste, fruit cocktail and chocolate looks real but some of then turn out to be fake. It's really hard to trust products from China, there are too many of them in the market now. You name it they have it! I'm particularly wary about purchasing items that has no english expiry date. If it's in Chinese characters, I don't buy it. It could be expired for all I know. Consumers must always be vigilant about these things.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Jun 07
I sometimes wonder about those Chinese brands...I have a lot of oriental stores near me...and they have tons of brands from China...everything including toothpaste
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
16 Jun 07
Today I went to my local 99 cent store and checked out all the toothpaste they had on the shelf and the Colgate and a knockoff brand of Pepsodent were the contaminated ones they showed on the news report. I plan on checking all the toothpastes before I buy it regardless what store it is, now I am trusting everyone less and less. Human food, animal food, toothpaste, too many thing are happening, something is just not right!
1 person likes this
@howard96h (11640)
• New York, New York
16 Jun 07
Yep that's the one and too many things are being tampered with and it's startng to appear some people are up to no good.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Jun 07
Probably the same 99-cent store I go to..the one across the street from the Jackson?? Yes I saw all the Colgate and Pepsodent toothpastes there
@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
16 Jun 07
Oh this is getting more and more scarey - think it's about time to pull out my "Fox Fire" books and start going all natural, home made with everything. These books are very old but wonderful - they teach with step by step instructions on how to do everything from build a log cabin (including cutting down the trees) to making your own soap.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Jun 07
I never heard of those books...mmm...giving me an idea here!! Might do the same and look up stuff as natural alternatives
@scarlet_woman (23465)
• United States
16 Jun 07
geez..i'm going back to good ol'baking soda.
screw that.i'm not worrying about toothpaste too with all the other contaminated things..
it's no wonder sometimes so many people have cancer..god knows what gave it to them.
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Jun 07
I'm beginning to think the same thing...how do we know what we're getting in any of the products we use or the foods we eat..seems like cancer is more prevalent than ever
1 person likes this
@rockingmom (885)
• Philippines
16 Jun 07
oh, thanks for reminding this important discussion or news, yeah anti-freeze is bad.i think..yeah..thanks...so i have to check my toothpaste..but the firm owning the brand disclaims it that all of those products are counterfeit...thanks..
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Jun 07
Still--one can't even be sure of the non=counterfeit brands
@sigma77 (5383)
• United States
16 Jun 07
I never use Colgate because I can't stand it. I haven't read the stories but I wonder is this a conspiracy to kill US citizens? You would think that these companies would be able to trace back to when these products were made. The thing I find funny about this is that so many companies have exported jobs overseas to save money and now we have these contamination scares. Will anyone want to use Colgate again? Is it worth it to these companies to go through these kind of problems and have people scared to use their products? Of course I am not laughing at the problem it creates for the users of these brands. Hmmm...Tom's of Maine sounds really interesting. Do they have a fresh pine flavor?
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Jun 07
Here's the Tom's of Maine website...they make a lot of other natural products as well..
http://www.tomsofmaine.com/
Uh--but nope,....no fresh pine flavor toothpaste...LOL---
@Katlady2 (9904)
• United States
18 Jun 07
As soon as I read your discussion and watched the video, I hightailed it into my bathroom and checked the toothpaste. Fortunately, the ones I have aren't the bad ones. I couldn't remember if I had bought them from the dollar store or not, so I figured I'd better check to be safe. Thanks so much for sharing this hon.
@charms88 (7538)
• Philippines
16 Jun 07
There are a lot of questionable products spreading around my country. Sadly,the government here wasn't able to implement a stricter rules for this thing. It is getting scary to know what this contaminated toothpaste can do for the consumers in the future.
I have long ago stopped using any local toothpaste here because of my allergies. I always buy organic toothpaste at my favorite health store. Its safer and contains natural ingredients only. Granted that the price is a little higher than the regular ones, but the organic toothpaste save me the need to take allergy medicine.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Jun 07
I just started buying Tom's of Maine..it's very expensive but it has all natural ingredients in it too
@irishmist (3814)
• United States
18 Jun 07
I have read on curezone.com, how Toothpaste is not good for you. Well natural toothpaste is very good. I've also read flouride is very bad. That is what ruins our teeth. I have been brushing with a mixture of baking soda, organic sea salt & paroixide. Also I've read about people brushing with soap. Plus I rinse with sea salt. It is not just the toothpaste that will ruin teeth. Dentists putting in all these different fillings in mouths are a problem as well. Fillings can create many health problems. May not seem so, but it is true. Also all these new products that are supposed to whitten teeth. Basically it just strips the enamel off the teeth. I never knew that the toothpaste in the discount stores were different. I just though they have some type of deal to get it cheaper, and then the store can sell it for less. ^~#@ Slapping myself in the head*~@#
