Nigeria’s food and drug safety watchdog said Thursday that some Chinese-produced toothpaste contained a toxic substance and as a result ordered all foreign-made toothpaste to be pulled from shelves across Africa’s most-populous nation.
The agency also ordered the disposal of all pastes bearing the mark of Colgate, which it said were counterfeit products also found to contain the toxic ingredient, diethylene glycol. The release did not specify any brands other than Colgate, and did not say where the counterfeit Colgate was thought to have originated.
The substance, which is an anti-freezing agent, can damage the liver and kidneys if ingested and can prove fatal if taken in larger amounts.
The agency said it hadn’t cleared any foreign-made toothpaste for consumption in Nigeria, Africa’s most-populous nation of 140 million people, and said all foreign-made pastes should be taken out of commercial circulation.
It advised the public “to purchase and use only toothpaste manufactured in Nigeria and registered by Nafdac.”
Nigeria has long suffered problems with counterfeit products flooding its marketplaces, particularly rip-off drugs that are often ineffectual, and occasionally fatal. Nigeria’s food and drug agency has drawn kudos in recent years for cracking down on offenders.
Recent months have seen the discovery around the world of contaminated pet food, toothpaste, seafood and toys made in China.
Colgate-Palmolive Co., based in New York City, had no immediate comment on the apparent pirating of its brand in Nigeria.