Diethylene glycol was also implicated in a sugarless liquid expectorant cough syrup taken by people in Panama last year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The syrup was believed to be manufactured by a Chinese company called Taixing Glycerine Factory and resulted in 46 deaths.

The latest toothpaste poison case has affected many Latin American countries including Panama. Last week Nicaraguan authorities seized 40,000 tubes of Chinese toothpaste sold under the brands "Excel" and "Mr Cool." University of Panama researchers had found the suspect toothpastes to contain 2.5 per cent of diethylene glycol.

Hengxiang-based Danyang Chengshi Household Chemical Co supplies both Excel and Mr Cool toothpastes. The Chinese company defended itself saying DEG was permitted in small amounts in China. The US toothpaste market is worth around $2 billion of which Chinese imports account for $3.3 million.

The FDA has also issued an import alert and has detained one contaminated shipment. “FDA suggests that consumers throw away toothpaste with that labeling. FDA is concerned that these products may contain "diethylene glycol," also known as "diglycol" or "diglycol stearate," the agency said in its alert.

FDA has identified the following brands of toothpaste from China that contain DEG and are included in the import alert: 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; and ShiR Fresh Mint Fluoride Paste. Manufacturers of these products are: Goldcredit International Enterprises Limited; Goldcredit International Trading Company Limited; and Suzhou City Jinmao Daily Chemicals Company Limited. The products typically are sold at low-cost, "bargain" retail outlets.

The FDA said it was not aware of any cases of DEG poisoning reported in the US and added it was concerned for children because the chemical is a known toxic involved in kidney or liver disease.

Consumers can report adverse reactions or quality problems experienced with the use of these products to FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program:
www.fda.gov/medwatch/report.htm
(800) 332-1088

Acknowledgement: This story contains the brand names of the toothpastes as identified by the FDA on www.fda.gov 

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