Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) today reported second quarter profit of $415.8 million, or 76 cents per share, compared with $283.6 million, or 51 cents a year earlier. Excluding charges, profit was 84 cents. Revenue rose 13% to $3.4 billion. Wall Street analysts had expected profit of 84 cents on revenue of $3.31 billion. Click here for the earnings release, here for the MarketWatch story and here for the AP story. More detailed post later.

The FDA has announced that it has discovered traces of antifreeze in 5-oz. tubes of toothpaste labeled with the Colgate brand and imported from South Africa by MS USA Trading Inc. The boxes containing the product are labeled "Made in South Africa," and include Regular, Herbal, Gel and Triple versions of the toothpaste.

Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) issued a statement today stating that the tainted toothpaste is counterfeit, and has been found in stores in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The company said it does not import any Colgate from South Africa, and, of course, antifreeze is not an ingredient in any of its products. Those who wonder if they have purchased counterfeit Colgate can call toll-free: 1-800-468-6502.

Just last week, the FDA announced it had found the same chemical, diethylene glycol, in toothpastes imported from China and sold at bargain retail outlets. A recall of a number of offbrands of toothpaste widely sold in Puerto Rico was announced on June 8.

Call me old-fashioned but there's something about the proposition of communists manufacturing goods for sale to the free world that just goes against my grain. It's bad enough when they send us electronics with limited usefulness and lifespan, or tools made with sub-par castings and motor windings, but when they begin to send out consumer products with the potential to kill, that's where the line has to be drawn. Sorry if I offend anyone, but in my opinion it may be time for a Big China Smack Down. Actually, I'm not sorry if that offends you.

If an American company had included a poisonous substance in a food product ingredient that then killed and sickened potentially thousands of domestic pets, as the Pet Connection Blog reveals a Chinese company has done, there would have been such a tumultuous media outcry that almost certainly that American company would have been forced to close its doors for good. What has been done in our interest to deal with the Chinese company that threatened our very lives? My guess is just about nothing.

If an American company had included a poisonous substance in an oral hygiene product with the potential to destroy human organs and eventually kill, as the Bosque Boys Blog discusses that Chinese companies have done, once again the media outcry would resound across the globe with incredible force. That American company would be immediately locked down while inspectors and investigators scrutinized every square foot of its facilities and every digit of its business records. What is happening in regard to the Chinese toothpaste debacle? Oh yeah, they closed up a cottage workshop with about 30 employees and they're conducting a "probe." How nicely communist of them.

China should feel the brunt of their sloppiness. Their lack of real-world diligence should cost them billions of dollars. Instead, our mainstream media outlets play down these situations, dilute the focus, meander around the facts, and let the whole thing die out, while a few Chinese managers get tossed into the street and everything returns to business as usual. That's my prediction for how this shall all play out.

As I leave the subject here for you to form your own opinions on, I'll give you one more thing to think about: Do you really think our Chinese friends manufacture toothpaste, antifreeze, and solvents in the same facilities?

Hey China, give me a break.

Costa Rican authorities have seized 300 boxes of Chinese toothpaste tainted with a potential deadly chemical. Costa Rica joins Panama and the Dominican Republic in pulling the deadly dental products, and the United States has also said it is looking into the matter.

The chemical contained in high concentration in the contaminated tubes, diethylene glycol, is often found in anti-freeze, and Panamanian officials said that it arrived from China mislabeled as glycerin. Whoops.

This is more bad press for China, which became the subject of national media attention after its products containing wheat gluten and rice protein were linked to the deaths of many pets, causing a national pet-food scare.

Of course, China has said it is working to improve its exporting practices to prevent further disasters. Perhaps they should start by not mislabeling deadly toxins as glycerin, which is often used as a sweetener.