US blocks tainted Chinese toothpaste
Following reports that imports of toothpaste from China to Central America and Australia may have contained a potentially lethal chemical, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has blocked all consignments of toothpaste from China.
Following reports that imports of toothpaste from China to Central America and Australia may have contained a potentially lethal chemical, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has blocked all consignments of toothpaste from China.
Thousand of tubes of toothpaste, marketed under the brand names Excel and Mr Cool, were pulled from shelves in Panama and the Dominican Republic after it was discovered to contain potentially deadly chemical, diethylene glycol, an ingredient commonly used in the production of anti-freeze.
According to the New York Times a Chinese chemical maker had sold the industrial-grade chemical as glycerine, which is often used as a moistener in products from toothpaste to soap and cosmetics.
The FDA has stated that China is the second-largest exporter of toothpaste to the US after Canada.