Foreign toothpaste at U.S. discount stores-Truth!

Name Brand Toothpastes at U.S. Discount Stores Not Necessarily Meant for the U.S.-Truth!

Summary of the eRumor: It is a warning that a TV news report said that at "dollar stores," including Dollar Tree and Greenbacks, name-brand toothpastes were not "the same as from Wal-mart, grocery stores, etc," They were manufactured for other countries, which have different standards than in the U.S.

The Truth: When one TV station does an innovative investigative report, it often results in numerous stations across the country doing the same thing. In 2004 there were numerous local investigations by TV stations of discount stores across the country. An example is in May of 2004, NBC 5, which serves Dallas and Ft. Worth, Texas, broadcast an investigative report on discount stores. According to the report, tubes of toothpaste were found in local stores that had been manufactured in foreign countries. They looked like the products that U.S. customers would expect but closer inspection revealed their origins and that some did not have required U.S. labeling. They quote an expert from the Baylor College of dentistry who said that the biggest concern about the foreign toothpastes was the fluoride levels. For example, he said, one of the toothpastes from South African had 10 times the fluoride of products normally sold in the U.S. The report said that toothpastes sold in the United States should have the seal of the American Dental Association on them. We also found similar reports by NBC 4 in Columbus, WROC-TV in Rochester, New York, KXAN 36 in Austin, Texas, and many others. All of them discovered foreign toothpastes in discount or so called "dollar" stores. Last updated 3/25/06

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:
I don't know if any of you watched the News las t night, but they did an investigation on dollar stores (including Dollar Tree, Greenbacks. They discovered the Crest, Colgate and other brand name toothpastes weren't the same as from Wal-mart, grocery stores etc. The toothpastes were manufactured in many other countries and are not approved by the American Dental Association (ADA). There was even some from South Africa and the fluoride is ten times stronger than what we're allowed in the U.S. (prescription strength). They're allowed stronger because they don't have fluoridated water (like we do). So if we (or our kids) use it often and occasionally swallow it, we could be poisoning ourselves. The dollar stores declined to comment and a full investigation has begun. So stick to paying full-price at the grocery store and send this e-mail to anyone who shops at dollar stores.