China bans toothpaste companies from using chemical

BEIJING (AFP) - China has banned toothpaste companies from using diethylene glycol -- also used in antifreeze -- after a number of countries banned products, the official Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine was quoted as saying a ban on imports and exports of toothpaste containing the substance, also known as DEG, an industrial solvent used for brake fluid and antifreeze, started Wednesday.

The move comes amid rising international concern about the quality of goods that China exports.

Health scares have swirled around a range of Chinese-made exports, from toxic toothpaste ingredients to faulty tyres, pet food and toxic seafood.

Spanish authorities this week ordered two Chinese-made toothpaste brands be pulled from the market because of fears they might be contaminated, the European Commission said.

The United States, Japan and Canada have all recently banned the sale of toothpaste containing DEG, Xinhua said.

At least 80 people in Panama died, most of them late last year, after taking medication imported from China contaminated with DEG.

China executed the former chief of its food and drug watchdog, Zheng Xiaoyu, 62, on Tuesday.

Zheng was sentenced to death in late May after being found guilty of accepting 6.5 million yuan (850,000 dollars) in bribes in exchange for granting approvals for hundreds of medicines, some of which proved dangerous.