Toothpaste controversy extends to Hong Kong
18/6/2007 14:06
China's quality control watchdog encouraged Hong Kong to resume sales of
three brands of domestically made toothpaste even as a controversy intensified
over whether they contained harmful levels of the industrial chemical diethylene
glycol.
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and
Quarantine said in a statement that it is closely watching Hong Kong's recall of
MAXAM Toothpaste with Fluoride, SANQI and Tianqi.
The statement said the
administration had asked Hong Kong Customs to submit a detailed report on how
and why it called back the products and informed it that tests carried out by
Chinese experts on 1,965 people in 2000 proved the products contained less than
15.6 percent of diethylene glycol, an amount it says is harmless to
humans.
Hong Kong Customs advised consumers on Monday not to buy or use
the three brands of toothpaste after tests found they contained diethylene
glycol ranging from 0.21 percent to 7.5 percent.
The Hong Kong Department
of Health advised that under certain circumstances, using toothpaste with a DEG
content of 0.21 percent to 7.5 percent daily could lead to exposure above levels
deemed safe by the European Union's Scientific Committee of Food.
The
department recommended that people avoid using the toothpastes, and sales agents
for the toothpastes were required to recall the products.
Meanwhile, New
Zealand health officials warned consumers yesterday not to use toothpaste
imported from China because they may contain "toxins."
Health Ministry
spokesman Mike Flyger said one of the imported toothpaste brands available in
shops, Excel, contained diethylene glycol, and that there may be other brands
also containing the chemical.
The importation of the toothpaste was
illegal as it had not been approved by the government's product safety agency,
Medsafe, and contained ingredients that may be harmful, Flyger
said.
Diethylene glycol is a toxic material used as a component of
antifreeze.
"It can't be sold here so we need to put a stop to it coming
in,' he said, without detailing how this would be done.
Director General
of Health Stephen McKernan said the Excel brand was being sold in the South
Island's Just $2 chain of stores.
Consuming diethylene glycol in
toothpaste could cause harm to some people, especially young children and those
with liver or kidney disease, McKernan said.
About 6,000 tubes of the
paste had been sold over the past two years, according to local
officials.
No cases of harm caused by using the toothpaste have been
reported in New Zealand.
The US Food and Drug Administration recently
identified a number of Chinese-made toothpastes containing diethylene glycol,
sparking the recall of several Chinese brands.
Xinhua/Shanghai Daily
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