China rejected a warning by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging consumers to avoid using Chinese toothpaste because it may contain a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze.
Calling the warning ``unscientific, irresponsible and contradictory,'' China's food regulator said in a statement late on Saturday that low levels of the chemical have been deemed safe for consumption.
The FDA increased its scrutiny of toothpaste made in China after reports that some brands contained diethylene glycol (DEG), a thickening agent used as a low-cost -- but frequently deadly -- substitute for glycerin, a sweetener commonly used in drugs.
The FDA was not aware of any poisoning, but found toothpaste with the chemical in a shipment at the US border and at two bargain retail stores in the US.
In its statement, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said a list of ingredients in toothpaste exported to the US is offered to the FDA, showing the amount of diethylene glycol.
Also, the toothpaste's labeling had already been registered with the FDA, allowing it to be sold in the US, the statement said.
Experts from the Health Ministry have deemed DEG a ``low-level'' poison that does not accumulate in the body, it said, adding the regulator found no evidence that the substance caused cancer or deformities.
EU standards allow for a certain amount of the chemical, it said, and a Chinese study in 2000 found toothpaste containing less than 15.6 percent of diethylene glycol was not harmful.
``Therefore the warning issued by the FDA ... is unscientific, irresponsible and contradictory,'' the Chinese agency said, noting it was ``highly concerned'' by the move.
The agency ``requests the US clarify the facts in a scientific manner as soon as possible and properly handle the issue.''
The FDA alert on Friday said it found DEG in three products manufactured by Goldcredit International Trading in China: Cooldent Fluoride, Cooldent Spearmint and Cooldent ICE. Analysis of the products revealed they contained between 3 percent and 4 percent DEG.
The FDA also found DEG in one product manufactured by Suzhou City Jinmao Daily Chemical Co (蘇州市金茂日用化學品公司), Shir Fresh Mint Fluoride Paste, and discovered it contained about 1 percent DEG.
Phones at both companies rang unanswered yesterday.
Companies that make brands previously found with DEG will have to prove the toothpaste is free of the chemical before being allowed into the US, the FDA said. Meanwhile, imports of all other brands of Chinese-made toothpaste are being stopped for testing from May 23.
A slew of Chinese exports have recently been banned or turned away by US inspectors, including wheat gluten tainted with the melamine that has been blamed for dog and cat deaths in North America; monkfish that turned out to be toxic pufferfish; drug-laced frozen eel; and juice made with unsafe color additives.
Latin American nations have removed tens of thousands of tubes of Chinese-made toothpaste from stores amid concerns that they contain DEG.
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