China announced on Saturday it was monitoring the US detainment
of Chinese toothpastes from China while asking US authorities to
shed more light on the facts in a rapid and proper manner.
An official with the General Administration of Quality
Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said that US importers had
submitted the precise formulas of China's toothpaste exports to the
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prior to shipping and that
the content level of diethylene glycol (DEG) were clearly indicated
on the packaging.
"All the toothpastes were registered with the FDA and passed
initial approval for US distribution, thus the FDA is now
contradicting its earlier decision by warning consumers to avoid
Chinese toothpastes and by seizing shipments thereof," said the
official.
On June 1, the FDA issued a general warning to avoid
Chinese-made toothpastes, coupled with an import alert to prevent
DEG-tainted toothpaste from entering the US market.
The Chinese toothpaste exporters affected by the import alert
are: Cooldent Fluoride; Cooldent Spearmint; Cooldent ICE; Dr. Cool,
Everfresh Toothpaste; Superdent Toothpaste; Clean Rite Toothpaste;
Oralmax Extreme; Oral Bright Fresh Spearmint Flavor; Bright Max
Peppermint Flavor; ShiR Fresh Mint Fluoride Paste; DentaPro;
DentaKleen; and DentaKleen Junior, according to the FDA
website.
FDA inspectors seized one shipment of toothpaste at the US
border, which was found to contain around 3 percent of DEG. Further
testing carried out on toothpaste found at at a distribution center
and a retail store found DEG levels at no higher than 4
percent.?
In 2000, Chinese testing of 1,965 people that toothpaste with
less than 15.6 percent of DEG was harmless to humans. It was added
that so far, there have been no reports of people poisoned by
DEG-containing toothpaste, a stance mirrored by a claim on the
FDA's website which reads that "it is not aware of any US reports
of poisonings from toothpaste containing DEG".
The official said the Chinese administration would increase
controls on imports to the US after the FDA found melamine and
related compounds in products intended for feed production use.
Responding to this issue, China has ordered quality control
organizations at all levels to maintain close watch of this type of
event and to take appropriate measures if necessary.
The safety of Chinese food and drug products has come under
media attention of late after China blamed Panamanian traders for
falsifying documents bearing the make-up of a Chinese chemical
product that killed dozens of Panamanian people who ingested
tainted cough syrup. China also stated the alleged toxic toothpaste
imported from China to Panama met safety standards. It should be
noted that for the past two years, the acceptance rate of Chinese
food exports to the US has hovered around 99 percent, a fraction
higher than the reverse.
(Xinhua News Agency June 4, 2007)
