Steve Janke of Angry in the Great White North has the details of counterfeit Colgate toothpaste that has been making news in the US and that he bought in Canada.

He bought some at a dollar store in Guelph, thinking it contained what authorties were saying it did - diethylene glycol. Anti freeze.

He has the pictures of the package and his story here.

Turns out anti freeze was the least of his problems.
Testing reveals the toothpaste has high levels of Enterobacteriascease.

Two things come to mind immediately with this unexpected news of a serious bacterial contamination in what was previously suspected to be toothpaste tainted with diethylene glycol.

First, I am start to regret taste-testing the toothpaste tube I discovered. When I thought it was DEG, I wasn’t too worried. The amount of DEG in a single taste of toothpaste would be minimal. But Enterobacteriaceae? I might have swallowed a small amount, but unlike DEG, bacteria is a living thing, and it grows.

Health Canada has issued a consumer alert, the Canadian importer has pulled the South African/Chinese product. A criminal investigation has been launched.

Enterobacteriaceae is a large family of bacteria. Members of this family include such well known pathogens as Salmonella and E. Coli and Shigella dysenteriae (the last being the agent that causes dysentery).

According to Janke and the Globe and Mail (subscription required) the Canadian distributors were shown toothpaste with Canadian packaging. 
The product is falsely labelled as Colgate Fluoride Toothpaste Herbal and Colgate Fluoride Toothpaste Maximum Cavity Protection, and were placed in a dollar store in Guelph Ontario, and in Halifax Nova Scotia.

Health Canada Advisory

Genuine Colgate toothpaste approved for sale in Canada is safe and is labelled in English and French. Additionally, fluoride-containing toothpaste that has been approved for sale in Canada will contain either an eight-digit Drug Identification Number (DIN) or a Natural Product Number (NPN). None of the three counterfeit brands of toothpaste have a DIN or NPN or have bilingual packaging.

These counterfeit toothpaste products have been found in the discount chain “Everything for a Dollar Store.” Canadian distributors are cooperating in the investigation and have removed the product from their shelves.

Colgate Canada’s consumer line is: 1-800-268-6757 or you can go to their website.
The toothpaste has also been pulled from shelves in 6 US states.
The US Federal Food and Drug Administration alerted consumers June 1st. Brands in the US containing anti freeze have been sold under several different names.

Update: Health Canada has increased it’s warning, saying other forms of bacteria have been found in the counterfeit toothpaste. Canadian blogger Steve Janke of Angry in the Great White North sounded the alarm in Canada, bought some and passed it on for testing. The FDA has not updated it’s warning for states the product has been found in.