Out-of-date toothpaste bought in a Huddersfield bargain shop was imported into the UK without the manufacturer’s knowledge - and there’s no guarantee it is safe, according to Colgate.
The manufacturer has provided a further statement to the Examiner a week after shopper Christopher McGrath revealed his concerns about his purchase from Bargain World in the town centre .
Mr McGrath, 65, of Golcar , spotted an expiry date of October 2015 - nearly three years out of date - after buying 12 tubes of Colgate for £2.99 from the Market Street store.
He said the paste didn’t taste “quite right” and he wondered if it was safe.
Colgate has since discovered that the batch was imported to the UK from South Africa - and there was no guarantee it was safe.
A spokesman confirmed that the dates on the outer carton were indeed expiry dates.
The spokesman added: “If it is used after this date, we cannot guarantee that the product will be safe or efficacious to use.
“This particular manufacturing code was manufactured in South Africa for the South African countries and was imported into the UK without our knowledge.”
Colgate has asked Mr McGrath to forward the product to the company for further investigations.
Mr McGrath welcomed Colgate’s response to his concerns.
He said: “This is a health and safety issue and there are rules and regulations there to protect us. I think Colgate is very sensible to carry out this research. They don’t want anything to tarnish their brand which they spend money to promote.”
He added: “This (importation) has been done without their approval or permission.”
No-one was available to comment from Bargain World but last week a spokesman said Trading Standards had previously looked into the issue and hadn’t raised any objections.
“There is nothing to stop us selling out of date toothpaste,” he said. “To the best of our knowledge it’s alright."
A display sign inside the shop said it had sold over 30,000 tubes “in our other shop”.
Last week a spokesman for West Yorkshire Trading Standards said there didn’t appear to be any ‘specific offence’ relating to selling toothpaste ‘beyond the durability date’.
He added: “It is a requirement to mark cosmetic products where they are deemed to lose their specific properties within 30 months; this is there in order to give users a warning. A good example of this would be sun screen.
“Our general advice to retailers would be that by selling beyond the date, although not automatically an offence, there is a risk that the product becomes ineffective or even unsafe and therefore could potentially risk falling foul of The Consumer Rights Act 2015 regarding the goods being of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. This could vary depending on the product in question.”
