TriCities.com – News – Dental toothpaste recalls

MS USA Trading, Inc. of North Bergen, New Jersey, said the toothpaste may contain diethylene glycol, a chemical found in antifreeze.

The company said the toothpaste, imported from South Africa, was sold in discount stores in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

“Made in South Africa” is printed on the box and the batch includes Regular, Gel, Triple and Herbal versions.

The trading company said the problem was discovered in routine testing by the Food and Drug Administration. It said no illnesses have been reported to date.

The same chemical has led to the recall of several brands of toothpaste imported from China in recent weeks.

Colgate-Palmolive issued a statement early Thursday saying the tubes are counterfeit.

The company said it does not use, nor has ever used, diethylene glycol as an ingredient in Colgate toothpaste anywhere in the world.

“Colgate does not import toothpaste into the United States from South Africa,” said the statement from Colgate-Palmolive Company. “In addition, the counterfeit packages examined so far have several misspellings including: `isclinically, `SOUTH AFRLCA and `South African Dental Assoxiation.

“Counterfeit toothpaste is not manufactured or distributed by Colgate and has no connection with the company whatsoever,” the company said, adding that Colgate is working closely with the FDA “to help to identify those responsible for the counterfeit product.”



  1. hhopper says:

    Americans better start reading the labels carefully since the China fiasco seems to be ongoing. Looks like this Colgate fiasco might just be the tip of the iceberg.

  2. bobbo says:

    Is this looking too hard?—-

    “The company said it does not use, nor has ever used, diethylene glycol as an ingredient in Colgate toothpaste anywhere in the world.”

    COMPARED TO—-

    “Colgate does not import toothpaste into the United States from South Africa,”

    Leaves me with the strong inference that Colgate imports toothpaste from some unknown countries? I’m sure they have our health chiefly in mind.

  3. Billabong says:

    O.K. nothing from China is going in or on my body.What Bullshit.The most controlled society on earth until 20 years ago now its the wild west.

  4. Jonathan Fox says:

    #3. I cant vouch for the US but in the UK such “Dodgy” goods are not found in mainstream supermarkets. They are often found in convenience stores in the more “Ethnic” locales.

    I for one wont stop putting Chinese food in my body… mmmmm yummy 🙂

  5. Mister Mustard says:

    That picture is just gross.

  6. Mister Mustard says:

    And who the fuck swallows toothpaste anyway? You’re supposed to brush and spit out.

  7. Rob says:

    Er, “dental toothpaste”? Is there any other kind of toothpaste?

  8. meetsy says:

    I find it funny that China is saying its all okay. To quote a reuters article ” China has branded a U.S. warning against using its toothpaste as irresponsible, saying low levels of diethylene glycol (DEG) were not harmful.

    “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,” China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement posted on its Web site over the weekend. ”

    source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSPEK7882220070603

    A lot of links regarding this nonsense is on the Consumerist.

    http://tinyurl.com/2t2xls

    [Please use TinyUrl.com – ed.]

  9. John Paradox says:

    Don’t buy toothpaste in the $0.99 stores. (the U.S. equivalent of #2’s ‘Ethnic” stores)

    J/P=?

  10. tallwookie says:

    one more reason to keep buying Toms of Maine

  11. NSILMike says:

    From China? Or from South Africa? (Or from China disguised as South African…?)

  12. ChuckM says:

    I hate when they do that, “contains an ingredient that you find in Antifreeze”. There’s a lot in Antifreeze that you actually can and do eat in other products. And just because a chemical is used in Antifreeze, doesn’t mean it can’t be used in something else.

    Heck I put stuff on my veggies that some cities put on the road.

    Next we’ll see stuff like “oh my god, it contains floride!”

    A lot of chemicals are fine for the body in moderation.

    I’m not saying this isn’t wrong, but it just irks me when I see manufactured headlines meant to grab attention.

    I think they should just stick to the point of what the

  13. Elwood Pleebus says:

    So now you can buy your Calgate toothpaste along with your Sonia cd player and your Pama shoes and your Panosaonic boom box and so on.

  14. Rob says:

    #10, just be careful you don’t buy the Chinese knockoff, Tons of Pain.

  15. raddad says:

    Has anyone come across a reliable way to avoid Chinese food products? Most of the food labels I’ve seen don’t list the sources of ingredients.

  16. Jeanne says:

    #12: Ethylene glycol IS the primary active ingredient in antifreeze. AFAIK, it is the ingredient that gives antifreeze its sweetness. I am guessing that the reason it is found as an additive here is that it is cheaper than other natural or artificial sweeteners. For poisoning info, check out
    http://tinyurl.com/2zy5qu

  17. Jonathan Fox says:

    #15 theres only one ingredient you need to look out for…. DOG

  18. raddad says:

    Heh. Dog. I’ll keep an eye open for that.

  19. moss says:

    On the other hand, polypropolene glycol is approved by the FDA.


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