TOOTHPASTE WARNINGS!
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF COLGATE-PALMOLIVE
April 8, 2002
Dear President:
I am writing to you as a consumer who still has a few teeth
left in his mouth, lots of "hard stuff" between the
gums and teeth (my dentist just told me), and bad breath on occasion
(don't ask!). I am seriously considering using your product, Colgate
Toothpaste, but after looking at the many boxes on the shelves
of my local Duane Reade for nearly an hour, and taking detailed
notes, I am somewhat confused about which "version"
of Colgate to buy. I also have some questions I'd like you to
answer, based on what I read on your boxes, so that I may decide
whether to become a loyal Colgate user or consider some sort of
action against you and your company on behalf of all brain-functioning
consumers who use or have ever used your successful product.
Questions
- My first question should be easy for you to answer, but it
is important to me since I am about to adopt a seven-year-old
child tomorrow. On all of your many types of boxes there is a
TOOTHPASTE WARNING. It says to keep Colgate out of reach of children
six years of age or younger, because if the child swallows at
least the amount of toothpaste needed for brushing, the adult
should contact a Poison Control Center immediately. My question
is, will a seven-year-old also possibly die from swallowing too
much Colgate, or is the cut-off point really six-years-old? As
a concerned parent-to-be, I of course want to protect my impending
arrival from harm while giving him good home dental care. Also,
related to this question, I'd like to ask (just out of curiosity,
of course), how did you determine that six years is the cutoff
point? Was that the result of a scientific study (or did you
yourself suffer a personal tragedy)? One final question about
this issue: I have a grandfather who has Alzheimer's Disease,
and I am petrified that he is going to suck down a whole tube
of Colgate one day. Will that kill him, or make him deathly ill?
Are senior citizens immune to the possible lethal effects of
your toothpaste, or is it safe to eat it after a certain age?
Does it matter whether a person ingests Colgate TOTAL or REGULAR
toothpaste?
- You market two lines of toothpaste: the TOTAL line and the
REGULAR line (for lack of a better term). Each line comes in
many variants: gel or paste, with or without "whitener,"
having or not having "tartar control," and so on (Oh,
it can make your head swim!) It seems there would be a great
difference between all these choices, yet every box has one common
active ingredient: Fluoride ("anti-cavity"). In addition,
your TOTAL line lists another active ingredient: Triclosan ("anti-gingivitis").
So why can't we just swish around some fluoride instead of buying
your product? And do adults need anti-cavity protection, anyhow?
Why don't all your product variants have Triclosan, since most
adults' gums are rotting in their mouths? Or is Triclosan only
for the hoity-toity?
- I noticed that on some of your boxes the fluoride ingredient
is called Sodium Fluoride and on other boxes it is called Sodium
Monofluorophosphate. I also noticed that sometimes you don't
give a number next to the fluoride listing and other times you
do give a number, like (.024%, 0.14% W/V Fluoride Ion), or (0.76%,
with 0.15% W/V fluoride ion). Why does the variation in listing
exist? Are you hiding something on some of your boxes? Perhaps
you've cut back a bit in some of your production units and don't
want to tell us. Or is it a typo? Please explain.
- One of your TOTAL variants says "TOTAL PLUS WHITENING."
It claims to have a "breakthrough cleaning ingredient"
to whiten teeth by gently removing surface stains. I read this
box very closely, and it had the same two active ingredients
and the same slew of inactive ingredients as the other TOTAL
variants, except for two inactive ingredients: mica and FD&C
blue no. 1. Is either or both of them responsible for the "whitening"
effect? One or both would have to be, it would seem (unless the
other TOTAL variants also "whiten," but you're just
not telling us). Which is it? A related question is, since mica
and FD&C blue no. 1 are both inactive ingredients, what is
it that produces their whitening action? Does "inactive"
have a special meaning in the toothpaste industry I may not be
aware of? Please clarify.
- A very closely related question to that above involves TOTAL
FRESH STRIPE: I notice that it makes all the same claims on the
box as generic TOTAL, including no claim about "whitening"
- yet it has same active and inactive ingredients as the "PLUS
WHITENING" box - and it even has an additional inactive
ingredient: D&C Yellow no.10. Is this inactive
ingredient responsible for the fresh stripe? And if this variant
has all the same ingredients as the PLUS WHITENING box, how come
this box does not say PLUS WHITENING? Please clarify.
- One variant of your General line promises TARTAR CONTROL.
What is that, and what produces it, since this line only lists
fluoride as the active ingredient? Is the tartar control produced
by an inactive ingredient? If so, how is that possible, from
both a chemical and a philosophical point of view?
- Your Colgate box that says TARTAR CONTROL with BAKING SODA
& PEROXIDE claims that it "deep cleans teeth."
Could you please explain what that means? Do the ingredients
seep into the dentin, and dissolve stains?
- Your different boxes list so many "inactive" ingredients,
and some boxes leave some out while adding others. Common inactive
ingredients listed are water, hydrated silica, glycerin, sorbitol,
PVM/MA copolymr, sodium lauryl sulfate, cellulose gum, flavor,
sodium hydroxide, propylene glycol, carrageenan, sodium saccharin,
titanium dioxide, mica, FD&C blue no. 1, and D&C yellow
no. 10. My question is: what do they do if they are inactive?
Do they just hold the fluoride and triclosan? Do they make the
"taste"you're so noted for? Is Peroxide an inactive
ingredient (see question 7 above)? And by the way, what is "flavor"?
Is that an ingredient?
Of course I have many other questions I could ask you about
your toothpaste, but I will stop here, and anxiously await your
answers to the above. I look forward to either becoming a loyal
Colgate user in the near future or to launching a $200 billion
dollar class action suit against you and your company.
Thank you,
Ginger "Sweetbreath" Vitis
(Alias, Richard Altschuler)