U.S. checking all toothpaste imports from China

[lily]

Don't we make anything in the USA anymore? How are they going to inspect every tube of toothpaste that comes into America?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/05/23...rss_topstories

U.S. checking all toothpaste imports from China




WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. health officials are beginning to check all
shipments of toothpaste coming from China, following reports of tainted
products in other countries, a government spokesman said Wednesday.

The Food and Drug Administration has no evidence that contaminated
toothpaste has made its way into the United States but is taking the step as
a precaution, agency spokesman Doug Arbesfeld said.

China is the second-largest exporter of toothpaste to the United States
behind Canada, according to the FDA.

The FDA's action comes after the lethal chemical diethylene glycol was found
in toothpaste sold in the Dominican Republic and Panama.

It follows a wave of concern over pet food from China containing another
toxic chemical, melamine, thought to have sickened thousands of U.S. cats
and dogs and made its way into livestock feed.

"We are going to be sampling and testing all shipments of toothpaste that
come from China," Arbesfeld said. "We're doing this as a precautionary
measure. We have no evidence that toothpaste containing diethylene glycol
has entered the country."

Tests on product pulled from shelves in Panama showed they contained high
levels of diethylene glycol, used in engine coolants. Investigators in that
country said two toothpaste brands were imported illegally from China
through a free-trade zone.

Tainted toothpaste has also been reported in Australia, Arbesfeld said.

It was not immediately clear which brands of toothpaste sold in the Unites
States are made in China.

Representatives of Colgate-Palmolive, maker of Colgate toothpaste, and
Johnson & Johnson's McNeil-PPC Inc., which makes Rembrandt toothpaste, could
not be immediately reached.

A Procter & Gamble spokeswoman said Crest brand toothpaste was
American-made. A spokeswoman for GlaxoSmithKline Plc's consumer unit, which
makes Aquafresh, had no immediate comment.

Chinese officials have said they plan to strengthen domestic food safety
even as worries grow about its manufacturers' use of toxins and fake
ingredients.

Earlier Wednesday, China called for an investigative team to probe the
toothpaste incidents.

FDA's Arbesfeld said the U.S. agency is beginning its work immediately and
will continue for 90 days, although that could be extended.

Arbesfeld added that the agency has been in contact with health officials in
the other affected countries as well as China.

[Psychoblues]

The capitalists in China will sell us anything we are wiling to buy, lilly.

Don't we make anything in the USA anymore? How are they going to inspect every tube of toothpaste that comes into America?

The corporatists on Wall Strreet reap the real rewards. Life in America isn't that complicated for you, or is it?

[lily]

The corporatists on Wall Strreet reap the real rewards. Life in America isn't that complicated for you, or is it?

Nope, not at all.....I just wish we made something in the USA, even if it is just toothpaste.

[Psychoblues]

I would be satisfied if it were only the drawers that our brave soldiers wear. Not to mention the BDU's (Battle Dress Uniforms) or the armour or the boots or the on and on and on and on.

Nope, not at all.....I just wish we made something in the USA, even if it is just toothpaste.

A country that cannot clothe and equip it's own Army/Armed Forces is no country that can competently demonstrate strength in my honest opinion.

Dig it?

[5stringJeff]

Nope, not at all.....I just wish we made something in the USA, even if it is just toothpaste.

I'd rather pay less for comparable goods.

[chum43]

haha, this is ridiculous... maybe the fda should start actually looking out for people and inspect the toothpaste for flouride, it's f'ing toxic.

the fda is so full of crap, anyone who puts any trust in them whatsoever is a moron.