Is It Really Safe to Use Chinese Toothpaste?

①          , the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ②__________ people in the U.S. to avoid using toothpaste made in China and increased its ③__________ of Chinese toothpaste because of reports that the products may contain a poisonous chemical called diethylene glycol or DEG.

However, China said the reports were unscientific, irresponsible and contradictory. China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement ④__________ on its website on June 2 that low levels of the chemical have been ⑤__________ safe for consumption.

It also said experts from the Health Ministry had deemed diethylene glycol a low-level poison that does not ⑥__________ in the body and found no evidence the substance caused serious diseases such as cancer or deformities.

It also said European Union standards allow for a certain amount of the chemical and ⑦__________ a 2,000 Chinese study that found toothpaste containing less than 15.6 percent diethylene glycol was not harmful.

However, Latin American countries have removed tens of thousands of tubes of Chinese-made toothpaste from stores amid concerns that they contain DEG.