Source: Xinhuanet

06-04-2007 09:39

BEIJING, June 3 (Xinhua) -- China said Saturday it was closely watching the U.S. detainment of toothpastes from China and urged the U.S. side to clarify the facts and solve the problem in a prompt and proper way.

An official with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said the U.S. importers have submitted the formula of China's toothpaste exports to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before shipment and the content level of diethylene glycol (DEG) were indicated on the packaging.

"All the toothpastes were registered with the FDA and approved to be distributed in the United States, so they contradicted themselves by warning consumers to avoid using China-made toothpastes and detaining shipments from China," said the official.

On June 1, the FDA warned consumers to avoid using tubes of toothpaste labeled as made in China, and issued an import alert to prevent toothpaste containing the poisonous chemical DEG from entering the United States.

The Chinese toothpaste exporters listed on the import alert included: 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 identified and detained one shipment of toothpaste at the U.S. border, containing about 3 percent DEG by weight. They found and tested toothpaste products from China located at a distribution center and a retail store. The highest level found was between 3-4 percent by weight.