About 1,100 tubes of fake toothpaste laced with a toxic ingredient have been sold in Ireland since February, the Department of Health and Children said yesterday.
The tubes of fake Sensodyne toothpaste contain an industrial solvent called diethylene glycol which is toxic when injested, and has the potential to cause renal failure if consumed in sufficient quantity.
But since most toothpaste is spat out, the department said there was only a small public health risk. "The main health concern would be if a toddler got a tube of toothpaste and ate a lot of it," said Eamon Corcoran, principal officer of the department's medicines unit.
Diethylene glycol is normally used to make antifreeze, and is used as a substitute for harmless glycerine by criminals who want to make fake toothpaste for a fraction of the cost of the real thing.
The product entered the UK earlier this year and was sold in public markets and car boot sales in Britain. Until last Friday, it was thought that Ireland had largely escaped the scam, as just one store - a Mayo discount shop - was identified as having received the tainted toothpaste.
But the department has now discovered that an Irish wholesaler, which has not been named, had sold a large batch of the paste to about 70 pharmacies, most of them small, owner-operator establishments.
The wholesaler recalled the toothpaste in mid-July, but health authorities were informed of the problem only last Friday.
"We would have preferred if either ourselves or the Irish Medicines Board had been notified," said Mr Corcoran. The department placed newspaper advertisements yesterday to warn the public of the tainted toothpaste.
Mr Corcoran said the manufacturer of the real Sensodyne, GlaxoSmithKline, was blameless, as was the Irish wholesaler.
The fake Sensodyne is identifiable because of Arabic writing on the 50ml tubes of Sensodyne original or Sensodyne mint. Consumers should throw it away or return it to its place of purchase, said Mr Corcoran.