Toxic Toothpaste
14 consumers sued Suh Kyung-bae, chairman of Amore Pacific, for using banned chemicals in its 11 toothpaste products. They also filed a complaint against the company’s President, Shim Sang-bae, as well as representatives from Miwon Commercial, the chemical supplier, and Sohn Mun-gi, the minister of food and drug safety, for violating pharmaceutical laws and dereliction of duty.
The consumers’ complaint came two days after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety ordered a recall of 11 Amore Pacific toothpaste brands containing methylisothiazolinone (MIT) and methylisothiazolinone (CMIT). Amore Pacific issued a public apology and halted the sales of the controversial products on Sept. 27.
On Sept. 27, the Korea Food and Drug Administration made an announcement of its findings of toxic chemicals (MIT) and (CMIT) contained in 12 toothpaste brands of AmorePacific. As soon as the incident erupted, Amore Pacific withdrew the products from retailers, offering refunds to customers. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, on the other hand, ordered the firm to recover the poisonous products from retailers.
While the ministry ordered the recall, its statement drew public criticism as it appeared to downplay the incidence. The ministry said on Sept. 26 that the products contained 0.0022-0.0044 ppm of CMIT/MIT, far below Europe's maximum permissible level of 15 ppm. Thus, they pose no significant health risks as long as consumers rinse their mouths with water. AmorePacific also made a statement to the same effect, saying the amount used was too small to have an impact on health.
However, consumers remain doubtful about their safety, as the same chemicals in humidifier sterilizers have led to over 100 deaths by causing lung problems for infants and pregnant women.
The toothpaste scandal erupted amid Amore Pacific suffering from the latest scandal relating to the company’s practice of “arbitrarily” reallocating a total of 3,686 door-to-door salesmen registered with 187 specialty shops to Amore Pacific chain stores from 2005 to 2013. The Criminal Affairs Division of the Seoul Central District Court fined Amore Pacific 50 million won (US$45,000) for charges of violating anti-competition laws on Sept. 22. Managing Director Lee of Amore Pacific was sentenced to ten months in prison, suspended for two years, for overseeing the routine corporate abuse of power. His successor, who has the same family name, received a similar sentence of six months in prison suspended for two years.