China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine thinks the FDA overreacted by advising consumers to discard all toothpaste made in China:

So far we have not received any report of death resulting from using the toothpaste. The U.S. handling (of this case) is neither scientific nor responsible.

The FDA issued its warning after seizing several shipments of Chinese toothpaste containing diethylene glycol, a poison used in paint and antifreeze. 100 Panamanians died last year after consuming cough syrup made with diethylene glycol. According to Chinese logic, poison in toothpaste isn’t as deadly as poison in cough syrup. Besides, wasn’t it Confucius who said: “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” Either him or Nietzsche. We always confuse those two. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER

China says U.S. warning on toothpaste irresponsible [Reuters]
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