By Tom Spalding and John Russell
John.Russell@indystar.com
           
Gilchrist & Soames, which supplies high-end toiletry products for hotels in over a dozen countries, said today it is initiating a worldwide recall of a toothpaste manufactured in China.

The product is Gilchrist & Soames, 0.65-ounce tube made by Ming Fai Enterprises International Co., LTD.

Independent tests showed some samples of the toothpaste contained diethylene glycol, or DEG. Among DEG’s uses is as a coolant in automobiles.

Kathie De Voe, president of Indianapolis-based Gilchrist & Soames, said in an interview today that the company contacted its two Chinese toothpaste suppliers and initiated a series of independent lab tests in both Hong Kong and the United States after receiving an FDA alert June 1 about tainted toothpaste manufactured in China.

“We’re just concerned about getting this problem cleaned up and we’ll deal with the financial impact later, De Voe said. “But we’re a global company, and financially very stable, and this isn’t anything that will change any of our business strategies. We’re more concerned right now with the safety of our hotel guests.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is not aware of any U.S. reports of poisonings from toothpaste containing DEG, but is concerned because of a “low but meaningful” risk of toxicity and injury to children or individuals with kidney or liver disease.

Hotels in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, Barbados, Dominican Republic or Turks & Caicos as well as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates are being asked to destroy any remaining inventory.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 14th, 2007 at 7:53 pm and is filed under Holding China Accountable. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.