Locally made Colgate products are ”100% safe”, the company said on Thursday. This followed a toothpaste-recall scare in the United States.
Director Russell Pallard assured consumers that locally made Colgate products were ”100% safe, guaranteed”.
This was after reports said that tubes of toothpaste were being recalled in the United States as they may contain a poisonous chemical.
The Associated Press (AP) reported on Thursday that tests conducted on the toothpaste by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had found the chemical diethylene glycol, found in antifreeze.
The product bore a Colgate label — with ”Made in South Africa” printed on the box — but the FDA was unsure whether it was Colgate or a counterfeit.
”We are aware that toothpaste is something that’s been counterfeited in the past,” Doug Arbesfeld, an FDA official told AP.
”We don’t want to alarm people unnecessarily.”
No illnesses were reported to date.
Pallard said he could not yet comment on the US report but would issue a statement later on Thursday. — Sapa