Toothpaste Scare

A few months ago, it was discovered that toxic toothpaste made in China was being sold in the U.S..  The New York Times explained that the chinese-made toothpaste contained the poison diethylene glycol, used in some antifreeze.  Although no one was harmed, the U.S. was not the first country to realize it's dangerous contents within the nations border.  Australia, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Nicaragua found tainted toothpaste as well.  

The Chinese toothpaste was generally sold in bargain retail outlets under the brand names Cooldent Fluoride, Cooldent ICE, Dr. Cool, Clean Rite, and most notably, ShiR Fresh Mint Fluoride Paste.  Upon discovery, the tubes have been confiscated and destroyed by the F.D.A.  The poisoned brands were made by chinese companies Goldcredit International Trading and the Suzhou City Jinmao Daily Chemicals Company.  

Now, months after this shocking news hit, NewsWeek reports that criminal charges are being filed against Los Angeles importers for distributing this toxic Chinese product.  Allegedly, Vernon Sales Inc. and Selective Imports Corp. imported and distributed more than 70,000 tubes of this tainted Chinese Toothpaste!  Even though upon discovery, the poisoned product was voluntarily pulled from the shelves and the company's inventory, President Kamyab Toofer and VP Pejman Mossay from Vernon Sales, and President Frahad Nazarian and VP Yones Ghermezi face up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine due to selling and delivering an adulterated drug.  

This is devestating news for the reputation of not only the Chinese companies that produced the good, but also the Los Angeles companies that distributed it.  They will be in for a major crisis public relations make-over.  Not only has the public lost trust in these specific companies, but even perhaps in Chinese made products overall.  If nations all over the world has had problems with the dangerous content of Chinese made goods, who's to say we should want to consume more of their questionable products.  This could take a hit on many goods, because so many jobs and products have been outsourced to places such as China.   

To stretch it even further, this could be bad for the entire U.S. toothpaste industry.  Clearly it can't be that hard to poison a tube by adding dangerous chemicals, and this definitely gives consumers something to think about before making their next purchase.  F.D.A. officials ensure, however, that the Chinese exports of toothpaste to the U.S. make up only $3.3 million out of the $2 billion-dollar market here.  Obviously this is not a large portion of our industry, but it is enough to make people concerned.

This incident makes me think back to the classic Tylenol Scare.    When cyanide was laced inside Tylenol caplets, it turned into a PR disaster for the company Johnson & Johnson.  After occuring several times, a public apology was immediately given, the entirety of Tylenol's products were pulled from shelves, and the brand was relaunched with new triple-safety-sealed, tamper-resistant package.  Even after years of this ongoing saga, Johnson & Johnson managed to recapture 95% of its original market share.  This is perhaps one of the most important case studies in PR history.  Although in the toothpaste case, there have been no reported deaths, the toothpaste industry could still learn from this in order to take extra precautions in ensuring consumers the safety of their product.