More Chinese-Made Toothpaste Recalled

Aug. 13, 2007 -- Gilchrest & Soames, a hotel toiletry supplier, today issued a worldwide recall of its complimentary toothpaste, which may contain the toxic chemical diethylene glycol (DEG).

The Indianapolis-based company is recalling its Gilchrest & Soames 0.65-ounce/18-milliliter tubes of toothpaste, which were made in China.

The voluntary recall comes after independent lab tests detected DEG in some samples of the toothpaste.

DEG (diethylene glycol) is a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze and as a solvent. Gilchrest & Soames and the FDA aren't aware of any illnesses or deaths linked to DEG poisoning from toothpaste.

Gilchrest & Soames states that it believes that the glycerin product used in its toothpaste formulation contained DEG.

But "DEG is not in our toothpaste formulation, and DEG should never have been used in the manufacture of our toothpaste," declares Gilchrest & Soames.

Gilchrest & Soames Toothpaste Recall

Gilchrest & Soames supplied the toothpaste to certain hotels in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, Barbados, Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos Islands, U.K., Ireland, Spain, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The company is asking the hotels it supplies to destroy the recalled toothpaste. Hotel guests who received Gilchrest & Soames toothpaste at a hotel should throw the toothpaste out immediately, putting it in a sealed trash container so that children or pets don't get into it.

On June 1, the FDA warned of DEG in certain toothpastes made in China.

When Gilchrest & Soames heard that news, the company contacted its two Chinese toothpaste suppliers and began independent lab tests in Hong Kong and the U.S.

The fifth round of those lab tests "showed the presence of DEG in some samples at levels exceeding FDA guidelines from one of our two suppliers," Gilchrest & Soames President Kathie De Voe says in a company news release.

For more information on the Gilchrest & Soames toothpaste recall, call Gilchrest & Soames at (866) 587-6542.