Canadians Advised to Examine the Authenticity of their Toothbrushes

Canadian consumers along with retailers that sell oral hygiene products have been advised by Health Canada to verify the authenticity of their toothbrushes. Counterfeit replicas of the following popular brands of toothbrushes have been identified:

• Colgate Massager
• Colgate Navigator
• Colgate 360
• Oral B Classic 40
• Oral B Contura

This is not the fist time counterfeit toothbrushes made their way onto Canadian retailer’s shelves. Health Canada issued a public advisory July 18, 2008 for consumers to be cautious when using potentially counterfeit models of Oral B’s Classic 40 toothbrush. Fortunately, only one incident was reported when an unsuspecting individual had the bristles from the counterfeit brush dislodge and become caught in their throat. The individual, thankfully, did not require medical care for the incident.

In a press release, Health Canada states that they, along with AG Liquidation (the Canadian importer for the authentic questioned toothbrush brands) are working to “ensure that the counterfeit toothbrushes are removed from sale. AG Liquidation has voluntarily recalled all manual toothbrushes that have been labelled as Oral B Classic 40, Oral B Contura, Colgate 360, Colgate Navigator, and Colgate Massager that are being sold throughout Canada. Health Canada is also taking action to prevent these counterfeit toothbrushes from entering the Canadian market. Health Canada is collaborating with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).”

The overall safety and quality of the counterfeit toothbrushes cannot be assured. If you suspect you may own one of the above mentioned brushes, immediately discontinue its use and visit Health Canada's website for more information, on how to identify authentic Colgate and Oral B toothbrushes, along with examples of the counterfeit brushes.