Chinese-Made Hotel Toothpaste Recalled

Toxic Chemical Found In Complimentary-Sized Toothpaste Tubes Distributed At Luxury Hotels

(AP)  A leading supplier of toiletries for luxury hotels recalled complimentary tubes of Chinese-made toothpaste worldwide Monday after tests showed some contain a potentially toxic chemical.

It was the latest in a series of recalls of Chinese-made goods — toothpaste, children's toys, tires and pet food — because of shoddy and perhaps dangerous manufacturing methods.

Gilchrist & Soames said it is recalling its 18-milliliter or 0.65-ounce tubes with the name Gilchrist & Soames on it. The company said Monday some samples showed the tubes contained diethylene glycol, a chemical found in antifreeze that can be toxic to the kidneys and liver.

"They're just kind of the little complimentary size you get in the hotels, and it's branded Gilchrist & Soames," said Cindy Duran, a spokeswoman for the company, which is based in Indianapolis.

Gilchrist & Soames bills itself as "the only branded toiletries company dedicated to the luxury hotel market," according to its Web site. It serves The Greenbrier in West Virginia, The Properties at Pebble Beach in California and Plaza on the River in London, among other locations.

The toothpaste was made in China by Ming Fai Enterprises International Co. Ltd.

The Food and Drug Administration is not aware of any U.S. reports of poisonings from the toothpaste, according to a statement from the company.

China has come under fire in recent months after potentially dangerous levels of chemicals and toxins were found in some of its exports. A long list of products, from seafood to toothpaste, have been recalled or rejected by a number of countries worried about safety.

[rushlimpdrug]

Now I'm getting more pizzed.
Fortunately I bring my own toothpaste.
I will make sure I keep this habit.
This "business" practice of the chineeze is so immoral it is pathetic.
Guess this is part of deregulation.
We'll probably hear more of the "personal responsibility" krap.

[rushman71]

dinga-dinga-ding-ding-ding-ding-dong!!!!

Ahhhsoooo, put some special herb in your toothpaste, as well as your wanton soup. Ahhhsooo!!!

dinga-dinga-ding-ding-ding-ding-dong!!!!

[drivelphobe]

This stuff could just as well be made in America by Americans who will do the work, at a fair wage. All this recall and bad publicity can't be worth the outsourcing. Can't we make toothpaste here? "Made in America" could mean something again, like guaranteed quality, livable wages paid to the employees, product reliability,
good value, and health care for the employees. I'm sick of this outsourcing baloney. Pay our people here the correct wages and I'll pay the cost of higher prices for the goods and services. It's cheaper than all the tax money being wasted to support the "global economy" and the working poor who can't live on slave wages.

[heyitsme_76]

Forget toothpaste.. Ever wonder what *** gets served in Chinese restaurants within US ?? I bet if the FDA raids any of these places, they're gonna find hundreds of food safety violations. So, the next time you have a Chinese buffet meal, think about all the toxins that entered your body..

[hypnotoad72]

Luxury hotels can't even spend a slightly higher cost to get a proper brand of toothpaste?! Good grief...

And I've got to agree; why can't this stuff be made in the US? What's wrong with regulations and standards? The business community has to live with standards. IT is adopting ITIL everywhere else. The Chinese can't be bothered, and if we're going to offshore we may as well offshore to a country that will take pride in its work. But why can't Americans get to work and take pride in what they do? I am confused, please forgive me.

[hypnotoad72]

rushlimpdrug - personal responsibility is one thing, but with regulations removed, not many are replacing the void WITH personal responsibility. Are we a society or are we an anarchy?

And if the Chinese are so immoral (never mind the rampant piracy), why is Bill Gates eagar to deal with them? He doesn't like pirates and is a founding member of the Business Software Alliance...

[ubikvalis2]

The maximum profit motive drives everything.

Even $2000 and up dresses at Neiman Marcus and Saks 5th Avenue are made in China. They could easily be made in America or Europe. But it's more profitable to make them in China ....

[kennergirl]

Surprise! Well not really. The Chinese seem to be on a roll *** up things. I know all these things can't be coming up just now all at once. I wonder how many things we have used in the past that should have been recalled and not caught.

[jimmiema]

Daddy always said, "Don't kill the customer!" Melamine is for kitchen counters, not for dog food. Lead is for the lead shoes certain politicians should wear, not for kid's toys, and ethylene glycol, though it tastes sweet, does you in.

It's a new ethos in sheep's clothing,it's market reality, it's a brand new dance called Bushienomics. Gov'mint interference? Hell no. Product health and safety? No. No. Are you diggin it? Are you there, my friends?

In China people are junk. In the US we're semi-junk, unless you're rich (you b*tch.) "Kill the customer," is the word, and it's getting worse. It's getting absurd.

[erasmus6]

This is never going to end until WE end it. We need to start asking where things are made and where ingredients come from.

And I ain't eating chinese food anymore!

[advanceus]

It is time for the US people to wake up. This has probably been going on for years and until the pet food incident it was never brought to the public attention (it didn't have to be). The final word for this is "greed", the US companies probably never looks into the manufacture, the FDA doesn't have the personnel or equipment to properly inspect the food we get. When a company is more concerned with a 1000% or so profit we the consumer gets the shaft. I wonder how many of the CEOs, etc. use the stuff they get from China? We need to protect ourselves because the people that have those jobs apparently are not. First is China then Mexico and any other product that is not manufactured in the US.

[rikedoid]

As I've mentioned before, stop buying this stuff and insist that the govenment regulatory body check it at the dock. If it's garbage it goes back at the supplier's expense, and can accumuate in landfills there. All of this stuff needs to be inspected, not just random samples, pretty much all of it is suspect now.

[carlylaine]

Thank goodness China has MOST FAVORED NATION status with us. Can you imagine what they'd do to us if they weren't?

GAWD the humanity!!!!!

[djberson]

We need to stop supporting big-box retailers, price gougers, and imports. Just yesterday, I bought four new outdoor trash cans. I could have gone to Home-Depot and bought a can for $17.99 or more, made in China. Half the profits would have gone to China, and the rest to Wall Street. Instead, I bought a US made trash barrel at my local hardware store. Half the money went to a company in Minnesota, the other stayed in my community. And I have a great product.

[sjc_1]

It is not as if the high end hotels do not charge enough. I guess they figured that they would increase their profits by supplying Chinese tooth paste. I wonder what MBA genius came up with this idea?