Pearl Drops Strong White Polished Mint Flavour Toothpaste, 75ml

Product Information

It’s worth remembering that fluoride is a poison and needs treating with respect. There are many poisons that we use to our benefit that are harmful if misused. So the topical use of fluoride might be viewed as good by those who feel that the fluoridation of water is not. Toothpastes that may contain palm oil but are made by companies with our best rating for palm oil sourcing It has also been commonly used in toothpaste. Concerns over their impact on the environment and on increasing microbial resistance to antibiotics led to calls to remove triclosan from products.

A. Vogel – (A. Vogel only used palm oil in one food product and received a best rating for palm oil sourcing overall) Oral health and appearance, with its implications for disease, pain, breath odour, and self-confidence, are important consumer concerns. Corporate advertising reinforces these concerns and offers their products as the main solution, side-lining issues such as diet, smoking, genetics and the availability of affordable dental care. Truthpaste - vegan company with all products approved by the Vegan Society. Nothing Wasted - vegan company in the process of getting its products certified by the Vegan Society.

The verdict: Whitening toothpaste

In November 2016, Amnesty International reported serious human rights abuses on the plantations of Wilmar, one of the world’s largest processors and merchandisers of palm oil products. Colgate-Palmolive was said to have been sourcing palm oil from refineries where the palm oil had been directly supplied or, at the very least, had been mixed with palm oil produced on plantations where there were severe labour rights abuses. The term organic can become a bit vague, especially in cosmetics where you don’t need to certify your product to describe it as organic. Its not uncommon to see products generally described as natural and organic without it being that clear what this means, which can make it confusing for consumers. Broadly, the dental profession is almost completely in its favour and recommends the use of fluoride especially by young people. There is a small but vociferous lobby against fluoride and they believe that its use is both unnecessary and motivated by business interests. You can find lots of information about both views on the web.

Animal testing is obviously a key issue for any personal care products. The following brands received our best rating for animal testing policy because they were either certified by Cruelty Free International (Leaping Bunny) or they had a fixed cut-off date for animal testing: SLS is a foaming agent, that dissolves and disperses dirt, widely used in toothpastes. Its use has been controversial as a number of consumers have voiced concerns over its alleged effects on human health. While many companies now offer at least one type of vegan toothpaste, the entire range of the following toothpastes are clearly labelled or certified as vegan. We also state whether the whole company group is vegan, vegetarian or neither. Company typeThey cited ‘inconsistent standards, questionable enforcement and non-existent deadlines’ as such problems. Not only was the palm oil industry not working to the 2020 deadline set by brands, but it also did not even have a common timeline for delivering a palm oil supply free from deforestation and other social and environmental harms.” Alternative toothpaste brands tend to avoid fluoride in their formulations. Why is this? We asked the opinions of three different parties in this recurring debate about whether fluoride should be added to toothpaste. In favour of fluoride: The British Dental Health Foundation In March 2018 Greenpeace International released its report called “Moment of truth: time for brands to come clean about their links to forest destruction for palm oil”. At the start of 2018, Greenpeace International challenged 16 companies to demonstrate their progress towards a clean palm oil supply chain. Whilst Colgate Palmolive was one of the eight companies which had responded to Greenpeace’s challenge, they concluded, 'Although most traders had published "no deforestation, no peat, no exploitation" policies, there were serious problems with their implementation'.

When I started Kingfisher in 1988 I asked the advice of one of the health advisers to the Labour Party. He gave me a lot of reading to do and strongly recommended that we make our toothpaste with fluoride. This we did but after a year or so, when we could afford it, we introduced a fluoride-free alternative. The devastating effects the global demand for palm oil is having on our rainforests and the wildlife and people that live there has made it a highly controversial ingredient. It is also commonly found in toothpaste but it is possible to avoid it or choose companies that have better sourcing practices. Taking these variables into account, the dosage of fluoride achieved by this route of administration is highly unpredictable. Since an excess of fluoride causes mottling of teeth (dental fluorosis) and has been linked to brittle bone disease (skeletal fluorosis) we believe that a more carefully controlled dosage is required. We advise that people who are concerned about fluoride deficiency should consider taking fluoride tablets or drops from a pharmacy. When rating companies for their policies on toxic chemicals, we looked specifically at policies relating to the use of triclosan, parabens and phthalates. Rating Lavera (company group Laverana GmbH), Sarakan (company group G.R. Lane) , Urtekram (company group Midsona)It’s also worth saying that while Truthpaste’s toothpastes as a whole were not certified, it did provide full ingredients lists with its products and the majority of these were marked as certified organic. These companies also lost half a mark under Pollution and Toxics for having inadequate policies on microplastics and liquid polymers

Pearl Drops*, Sensodyne*, Aquafresh*, Arm & Hammer*, BlanX*, Clinomyn*, Theramed*, Superdrug*, Macleans*, Corsodyl*, Eucryl*, Sarakan*, Polygrip*, Dr Organic*, Biotene*, Boots*.

Although be careful as these terms can be used loosely and end up being just as misleading. For example, sometimes companies use the term ‘organic’ in a general way to refer to ingredients which are non-synthetic or plant based (rather than ones grown without chemicals) or place the emphasis on one or two natural or organic ingredients even while the rest of the ingredients might be anything but! Colgate-Palmolive, the US company behind Colgate, Sanex and Palmolive, is one of the world’s biggest cosmetics and personal care companies and has recently come under severe criticism for its palm oil sourcing.