POISONED PET FOOD AND TAINTED TOOTHPASTE TOO:

More news from the toothpaste front. The Baltimore Sun reports today that the Dollar Power store in Silver Springs Maryland was one of the stores found to have been selling counterfeit Colgate toothpaste. Twenty two out of 144 tubes present in the store had already been sold. The distributor of the counterfeit was MS USA of North Bergen NJ. Meanwhile the Houston Chronicle reports that health officials in New Zealand has advised consumers yesterday to avoid toothpastes imported from China. One brand, Excel, was found to contain diethylene glycol, but there is concern that other brands may be affected as well. Excel was being sold in the South Island Just $2 chain of discount stores. Health officials are contacting nineteen other companies importing toothpaste from China to help determine th extent of the problem.

Meanwhile a report from the Reuters' News Agency says that Shanghai White Cat Shareholding Co. Ltd, the makers of Maxam toothpaste, claim that they stopped using diethylene glycol in their product as of May 21st. Maybe yes. Maybe no. Also, according to a report from the British newspaper, The Guardian, Chinese authorities are urging that Hong Kong lift its ban on three mainland brands of toothpaste- Maxam, Sanqi and Tianqi. Though it is now part of China Hong Kong retains many of its legal rights and can thus ban products not yet banned on the mainland. This article also gives some more details about previous Chinese "research" on the addition of anti-freeze to toothpaste. According to the article a 2000 study by "Chinese experts" (whoever they are-Molly) "proved" that toothpaste containing less than 15.6% diethylene glycol was "harmless" for humans, according to a post on the website of the General Administration of Quality Supervision in China. The experimental cohort(if it existed-Molly) was apparently 1,695 people. One wonders how they got the number to the first decimal place. Who were the "volunteers" ? How long were they instructed to brush their teeth with antifreeze ? Could they spit or should they swallow ? Were they provided with water to rinse ? Etc.,etc.,etc..

This article concludes with a report of an investigation by the above named governmental organization into rice dumplings being made in China for the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival. Ten percent of 133 producers inspected nationally failed because "they contained excessive amounts of food additives". The dumplings contained huge amounts of copper sulfate or copper chloride to make the bamboo leaves in which the dumplings are wrapped bright green.

Finally, if you are interested, the Chinese Xinhau news agency has an article on food inspection problems in China. The article admits the difficulties involved even while trumpeting their "triumphs", and the article is best read with an eye as to how it contradicts itself.

Coming soon: poisoned pet food, tainted toothpaste and toxic toys and additional adventures in alliteration...Molly