Japanese importers are withdrawing more than five million tubes of tainted, Chinese-made toothpaste, officials said Wednesday.

Tests on the toothpaste distributed to inns and hotels throughout the country showed the presence of diethylene glycol, a poisonous chemical used to make antifreeze.

Cosmetics company Soshin is recalling 620,000 toothpaste sets sold under the name "Twinkle Toothpaste" and "Powdered toothpaste for Children with a taste of strawberry." The Nihon Grande Champagne Co. is pulling three million of its "MTK Toothpaste" sets, while the cosmetics maker Korai is withdrawing 1.3 million of its "Toothpaste" sets.

Earlier this month, U.S. government officials warned consumers to avoid using toothpaste made in China, for fears it may contain DEG.

Officials force 180 Chinese factories to shut down

'These are not isolated cases.'—Han Yi, director of quality control and inspection

Meanwhile, Chinese officials have forced 180 factories to cease operations after inspectors discovered formaldehyde, illegal dyes and industrial wax were being used to make the products, according to the China Daily newspaper.

"These are not isolated cases," said Han Yi, director of China's quality control and inspection department.

China's food and drug safety record has come under scrutiny in recent months as tests on the country's exports have detected the presence of potentially harmful ingredients.

Early in June, RC2 Corp. issued a North American recall of about 1.5 million Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway toys manufactured in China because they contained high levels of lead.

Canada's food watchdog is holding and testing all shipments of vegetable proteins being brought into the country. Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials in late May said they had intercepted one shipment of corn gluten imported from China that tested positive for melamine and cyanuric acid.

 

With files from the Associated Press