Can you believe it? It seems that some of that tainted toothpaste is still in stores! This report is from New Jersey.
Tainted toothpaste still in local stores
Monday, June 18, 2007
By DANIELLE SHAPIRO
HERALD NEWS
Counterfeit Colgate toothpaste is still being sold in some local discount stores. The tainted products are contaminated with diethylene glycol, a poison found in anti-freeze.
An informal survey of nine discount "dollar" and "99-cent" stores in Paterson, Passaic and Clifton conducted by the Herald News Sunday turned up four that were still selling potentially contaminated tubes of counterfeit Colgate toothpaste, days after a federal recall.
On June 13, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a recall order for the fake Colgate, explaining that MS USA Trading Inc. of North Bergen was recalling all 5-ounce tubes of Colgate because they may be contaminated with diethylene glycol, or DEG, a potentially poisonous chemical ingredient used in some anti-freeze. The counterfeit product was distributed in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
The Colgate-Palmolive Co. followed MS USA Trading's recall with a warning about the counterfeit toothpaste, easily recognized because the label contains several misspellings and/or says it is manufactured in South Africa. "Colgate does not import toothpaste into the United States from South Africa," according to a second FDA press release, on June 14. "Counterfeit toothpaste is not manufactured or distributed by Colgate and has no connection with the company whatsoever," the statement continued.
Results of the informal Herald News discount store survey Sunday:
Angie 99 Cents Store
611 Main St., Paterson
• Had tubes of the counterfeit toothpaste for sale.
Nickymania and More 99 Cent Store
136 4th Ave., Paterson
• Had tubes of the counterfeit toothpaste for sale.
Tom's 99 Cents & Up
350 Main St., Paterson
• Had Colgate toothpaste, but not the counterfeit.
Dollar Dream Store
327 Totowa Ave., Paterson
• Did not have the counterfeit toothpaste for sale.
Lilly 99 Cent Store
352 10th Ave. Paterson
• Closed Sunday
99 Cent Store & Plus
122 3rd St., Passaic
• Had tubes of the counterfeit toothpaste for sale.
US Dollar Green
196 Jefferson St., Passaic
• Had tubes of the counterfeit toothpaste for sale.
Family Dollar Store
215 Washington Place, Passaic
• Had real Colgate toothpaste for sale
J & M 99 Cent and Up
248 Lakeview Ave., Clifton
• Did not sell toothpaste.
The survey of local discount stores began after a Paterson resident phoned the newspaper Sunday afternoon, saying she had read the wire service story in Friday's edition and found the fake Colgate in a neighborhood store at East 19th Street and Fourth Avenue. The woman, who would not identify herself because she said she feared retribution by the storeowner, said she had complained about the toothpaste on Friday and Saturday, and been told by the owner he would remove it from the store shelves. However, when she sent her daughter to the store on Saturday, it remained on display and for sale.
When a reporter visited the Nickymania and More 99 Cent Store at 136 Fourth Ave. Sunday afternoon, she found hundreds of red boxes of Colgate marked "made in South Africa" stacked on shelves.
The cashier, who identified herself as Cynthia Guzman, said her father owned the store but did not work on Sundays. She said she had heard about the recalled toothpaste, but said she thought that it was not the kind on sale at the store. "They said it was from China or something," she said, referring to news reports. "But when I checked, they weren't from China."
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