People who have food allergies always have to read ingredients labels to make sure none of the things they are allergic to is in the product. Some of the most common allergens are milk, eggs, peanuts, seafood, and gluten. Those with allergies to any of these items could suffer health threatening reactions.
One would never suspect that any of these ingredients was contained in a toothpaste, let alone a kids toothpaste. When one scrutinizes the Aquafresh for Kids label, it seems perfectly safe and appropriate for kids with allergies.
*MOUSE PRINT: According to this video news story from WCVB-TV, Kids Aquafresh contains peanut oil, but there is no disclosure of this life-threatening ingredient on the label.
A mother discovered this hidden ingredient the hard way when her child became ill.
GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of Aquafresh, says that the peanut oil is not listed on their label because they are not required to — only food products must list major allergens, not health and beauty aids.
On the Aquafresh website, in a FAQ, they say the product does not contain gluten, and the tube does not contain latex. But, there is no disclosure there about peanut oil.
The worst mouse print is the mouse print that is missing. Whether the law requires it or not, companies that market products that may cause a serious allergic reaction, particularly for children’s products, should disclose that possible threat.
UPDATE: August 4, 2006
On the website for the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, GlaxoSmithKline says they told consumers that Aquafresh for kids had peanut oil to “be on safe side” since they didn’t know for sure. Now they say it has no peanut oil. Here is their statement:
“The health and safety of the consumers who use our products is of utmost importance, and we would like to assure them that no Aquafresh toothpaste products contain flavors with peanut oil, peanuts or peanut derivatives.
“We were recently contacted by several consumers requesting information about the possibility of trace amounts of peanut oil in our Aquafresh toothpaste products.  It was our belief that trace amounts of peanut oil could be present in certain flavor blends purchased by Aquafresh from external flavor suppliers. Consequently, we responded to those consumers that there was a possibility that trace amounts of peanut oil may be present in some Aquafresh products.
“Subsequently, we have contacted our flavor suppliers to confirm this information. We are pleased to learn that all of the flavor blends currently used to manufacture Aquafresh toothpaste contain no peanuts, no peanut oil and no peanut derivatives.
“Until we were able to validate our flavor blend information, we chose to err on the side of caution and told consumers that the products may contain trace amounts of peanut oil. In light of how serious some allergies can be, we felt that was the right thing to do. As an additional assurance, we are arranging to have independent tests of our toothpaste conducted.
“We apologize if this has caused any confusion or concern among our loyal customers. If consumers have additional questions, they may contact us toll free at (800) 897-5623.â€Â    Â
AGAIN! Integerty shoot to hell!!
Corporate greed raises its ugly head again – aren’t lawyers wonderful?
I guess they think it would be cheaper to pay $1,000,000.00 for 1 dead child than to loose millions by printing a disclaimer that their toothpaste may be harmful to kids. I’ll bet the execs wouldn’t give it to their kids who had food allergies!
Does no one in Corporate America have a conscious anymore? Then, they make up stories to cover their butts so we will keep buying their products? And that’s acceptable? What will become of us all?
I am totally appalled! Doesn’t anyone care that they might kill someone?? Those of us with a peanut allergy have enough trouble with what is labeled let alone what is NOT labeled.
Peanut exposure can literally kill.
These companies are potential murderers and should be treated as such. In addition to fines, someone should do time.
Just remember: one death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic.
Consumers are nothing more than statistics to businesses. The only way
this will change is when we march on Washington, throw every incumbent
out of political office, and start over by demanding accountability.
Congress is the only watchdog left to protect the consumer, since
businesses don’t really care about us, and haven’t been required to
since Reaganomics. But Congress is full of people we – WE – elected.
We send them to office and don’t demand accountability. So everyone
is fiddling as the oligarks burn Rome around us for their own enrichment
and entertainment. Keep in mind, we haven’t had a democracy since
Jimmy Carter. Now its just a rule by the rich.
Actually, looks like in this case the folks at Aquafresh behaved admirably. Although they could have denied that their products contained peanut oil, they erred on the side of caution and admitted the possibility even when it was more doubtful than likely that it was true. Now that it’s clear they don’t use peanut oil at all, hopefully they’ll be spared any long-term repercussions from this story. I mean, if you want to really attack the consumer monsters when it comes to food, the meat industry in general is an excellent place to start.
Wow… 8 comments from people that didn’t even have the decency to read the entire article.
I think GlaxoSmithKline did the right thing. They were charged with a serious allegation,
something that couldn’t be readily verified since third party suppliers were involved. They
issued a statement to the public saying (basically) that they could not confirm or deny the claim
and that anyone with this allergy should not use their product. They then chased down the facts
and were able to determine that this was not an issue with their product, and made a subsequent
press release to straighten the entire issue out. If anyone should be condemned, it should be the
mother that made the false claim in the first place. Everything GlaxoSmithKline did took into account
the safety of their customers first. Anyone that actually has a company that uses third party suppliers
knows what it’s like trying to get information from them when time is of the essence.
For all you tinfoil hat wearers and conspiracy theorists out there, Aquafresh had no idea there were allergens in their product. As you may know, they buy stuff from ingredient companies and put it together. One flavor company had a tainted production, and shipped off product
to Aquafresh. Upon realizing this, they informed consumers of the problem. This is in no way their fault.
This reminds me a bit of the “spider eggs in BubbleYum” scare. It appears that there is no evidence of peanut oil in Aquafresh toothpaste but the company is charged with not disclosing the presence of the peanut oil. Let’s not rush to judgement without some facts.
I did read the whole article, and until I see their independent test results, I
wouldn’t buy their product if I had a kid with peanut allergies.
I read it all and find the wording of their response quite interesting. Note that they focused on the flavors only instead of the toothpaste as a whole. Its like they are trying to hide something that if disclosed properly would actually save them a lot of money in the legal department. Their actions are quite unusual as they seem to be dodging the idea of just saying yes or no while thinking it will actually save them money somehow…
This kind of thing REALLY gets your back up doesnt it ? But arent we, the consumer to blame even a little for this kind of deception ? The shareholders of these corporations are interested in ONE thing ……. profit. If that comes from cutting costs or raising prices – no one cares. Yes it’s lies, yes it’s deception but hey – an extra buck on the share price is ok by me. We inadvertantly created this mess and this is the fallout. Yeah it sucks but …….
“Spider eggs in BubbleYum”? Now HOW did I miss that! Geez, what IS this world coming too?
Why would a toothpaste have peanut oil in it? I have another question? What is sodium saccharin doing in childrens toothpaste? I called and ask this question and I was told that it wasn’t really saccharin it was a blend. I asked if it wasn’t saccharin, why is it called saccharin? I was told she couldn’t discuss it any further with me. I guess this is what we get when we allow so much latitude.
Most toothpastes have sodium saccharin in them (as do many
Mouthwashes) since you’re not going to swallow them, any
cancer risks are virtually non-existant. Fragrances and
flavors are made in factories where peanut products may also
be manufactured so it makes sense that would be their primary
focus.