Counterfeit Toothpaste
Following up on the toxic counterfeit toothpaste news:
- Discount Counterfeits Can Be Dangerous (FORBES): Discount stores that scour the world for deals sometimes give shoppers something they didn’t bargain for: bogus products of uncertain origin that may even be dangerous. A prime example: this week’s recall of toothpaste believed to be both counterfeit and toxic.
- Lax oversight, globalization erode product safety (CNNMoney): Consumer safety advocates say not enough is being done to prevent unsafe products from reaching store shelves in the U.S.
- China sentences ex-official to death (CNNMoney): Zheng Xiaoyu, the former head of State Food and Drug Administration, was convicted of accepting bribes from drug companies. China sentenced the former head of its food and drugs agency to death for corruption in a surprise judgment as the government sought to contain a wave of scandals over health safety.
- FDA targets China toothpaste imports (CNNMoney): Move comes after shipments of product in the Dominican Republic, Panama found tainted with engine coolant chemical.
- Discount counterfeits can be dangerous (AP):Even though many bogus goods, including the toothpaste, have murky origins, signs point to overseas - and China in particular. China was the source of 81 percent of all phony goods seized in 2006, according to federal statistics. “We do not make it, we don’t import it, we just buy it from a guy,” said Chris Kim, manager of MS USA Trading Inc., the North Bergen, N.J., company that recalled the 100 cases of suspect toothpaste. A telephone message left for the source identified by Kim - a man he knows only as “Dialo” - was not immediately returned Thursday.
Discount stores in particular can be an important outlet not only for fakes but other dangerous goods as well, federal officials said.
Want stuff you put in your mouth and give to children from an importer who “just buys it from a guy”?
Is it time to revisit “most favored nation” trade status?
