ARE CLAIMS BY TOOTHPASTE MANUFACTURERS FACT OR FICTION?

Dear Readers,

Dr Renier Putter

          How believable is this: Procter & Gamble (P&G), a huge American consumer goods multinational claims that its Oral-B toothpaste “helps rejuvenate gums and repairs enamel in just two weeks.”

          Founded in 1837 P&G employs 95 000 people and is known for brands like Olay, Pampers, Tampax, Vicks and Gillette. You surely don’t build an empire like that by hoodwinking your customers.

          Then we have Britain’s pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline telling us that its Sensodyne product is “Clinically proven to Rebuild Enamel Strength for strong healthy teeth.” And what’s more its New Sensodyne can actually “Repair sensitive teeth.”

          Another addition to the miracles being performed by toothpaste manufacturers is the red, white and blue striped Aquafresh that is also made by GlaxoSmithKline. It maintains that “when you brush with our great tasting formulation, active minerals microscopically absorb into your teeth, fortifying and strengthening them from the inside out.”

          And in an ad on South Africa’s DStv we are told that it “strengthens enamel.”

          The makers of Pepsodent Cavity Fighter, another American brand claim that it has the uncanny ability to repair holes that are so tiny they are invisible. With its Active Micro-Calcium and Fluoride it repairs these before they become cavities. How clever it that?

          No doubt there are numerous other toothpaste brands making similar amazing claims to keep up with the competition.

          So does this mean that if dentists are not yet out of business they soon will be?

          Logically these manufactures must have scientific evidence to back what they are telling us so I contacted people who one would expect to know about the proof available. Surprisingly these fundis were unexpectedly tight lipped about this aspect of what the producers are openly bragging about.

          Who better to answer my questions, you would have thought, than Dr Renier Putter the Chairperson of the South African Dental Association (SADA). After giving him some details of the claims made for both Oral-B and Sensodyne I asked in an email: “What independent scientific evidence is there that Oral-B repairs teeth?  Is there any independent scientific evidence that any toothpaste can actually restore the enamel in your teeth?”

          I also asked: “If Oral-B is so good for your teeth and gums why does it say in small print on the box that it is only for people over 12 years of age and you should ask for your dentist’s advice if it is going to be used for children over the age of 6?”

          My questions were evidently so hard to answer that I got a second hand email reply from him via Khomi Climus (KC) Makhubele, SADA’s Chief Executive Office. But Dr Putter conveniently dodged all the issues completely by telling me to contact the manufacturers; look up websites and get hold of the packaging regulator.

This is the ad on SADA's
website

          This was hardly surprising as an advertisement for Sensodyne toothpaste appears on SADA’s website.

          I also sent an email to Caitlin Morrison Oral-B’s South African brand manager in Johannesburg. My questions to her were similar to the ones I asked Dr Putter. I assumed that if he could not do it, she would be definitely  able to provide the scientific evidence that shows Oral-B can repair teeth.

          It turned out that what they are telling us about Oral-B is so true that she evidently felt it would not be prudent to reply to my email. I even phoned and asked when I could expect to hear from her, and although she mumbled something that implied she would get back to me, I am still waiting.

          Oral-B contains Propylene Glycol which was nominated in 2018 by the American Dermatitis Society as the Allergen of the Year. Even though it is only found in 2 to 3% of allergy cases the nomination was made because it is so common. This synthetic compound is added to all kinds of things such as cosmetics, certain foods like bread and even brake fluid, as well as some types of antifreeze  

          At GlaxoSmithKline’s Johannesburg’s office they went one worse. I got the complete brush off. The woman on the switchboard refused to give me the name or contact details of the Sensodyne brand manager. She asked for my contact details and said she would pass them on. I’m still waiting to hear from somebody there.

This is obviously not true unless the manufacturer can prove
it has canvassed ever dentist in the world. And if you lie about
one thing how can anybody believe anything else you claim?

          The United Kingdom's Advertising Standards Authority ordered P&G to change its advertisement promoting its Oral-B Gum and Enamel Repair toothpaste. This was as a result of seven complaints it received about the ad that appeared on TV in 2017. In it viewers were told that its active repair technology “helps rejuvenate gums and repair enamel in just two weeks.”  

          Among the complainants was a qualified dental nurse.

          The ASA decided that as the toothpaste was not licensed as a medicine P&G could not be allowed to make any medicinal claims about it. The authority stated that consumers would have got the impression that the toothpaste could reverse damaged enamel within two weeks and the use of the words “repair” and “restore” implied that it could do much the same thing for gum disease.

          P&G argued that its claims were not medicinal as weakened enamel was not a disease. Its product also contained stannous fluoride, which has an antibacterial ingredient that controls the growth of bacteria and toxins.

Katharine is a South African journalist who writes news stories mainly about health.
My experience with this type of company was much the same as hers so they mustn't
complain if they are not properly represented in this post of mine.

          If everything is above board with these toothpaste claims why all the secrecy?   Unfortunately nobody in authority in South Africa does anything to stop the way the public is being misled.

          Regards,

          Jon, a Consumer Watchdog, who found that the more he investigated the toothpaste world the more he realised it was a Hell of a B….. trying to work out who is actually telling the truth. There are more tall stories about toothpaste than the average person has teeth. The tooth fairy would be more likely than some of these multinationals to come up with plausible promotion material for their toothpaste.

P.S. Ironically toothpaste brand owners even fight among themselves about what is true. Last year Colgate-Palmolive complained to Britain’s ASA that Sensodyne’s True White did not whiten teeth any more than its normal toothpaste.  For this reason the ASA decided that the True White ad was “misleading.” Colgate-Palmolive itself has had the truth of its own advertising seriously question by the ASA. In 2018 it upheld six complaints about Colgate’s Sensitive and Repair toothpaste. The advertising watchdog found that the claim that this “repairs teeth instantly” could not be substantiated. Other Colgate ads banned previously included one that showed an endorsement from a woman, who said she was a nurse, when in fact she was an actress.

P.S. Most, if not all the brands I have mentioned can be bought at South Africa's supermarkets and pharmacies.

  

FRESHENING UP FOOD LOVER'S MARKET'S 'BEST IN FRESH GUARANTEE'

Dear Readers,

Brian Coppin

          I don’t know if you shop at any of the 105 Food Lover’s Markets in South Africa, because if you do I wonder if you have had similar experiences to mine regarding their 'Best in Fresh Guarantee.'

          Founded by brothers Brian and Mike Coppin in 1993 they brashly claim their group holds ‘the honour of being South Africa’s undisputed leaders in fresh.’

          I’m sure you’ll agree with me that a brag like that takes a lot of living up to especially when you are in the business of selling fresh fruit and vegetables, products that can so easily go off.

          For some years now I have been buying our fruit and veges almost every Friday, first at the Food Lover’s, Tokai branch in Cape Town and more recently at the Long Beach Mall one from when it opened in 2012.  And being the conscientious Consumer Watchdog that I am I usually email the CEO Brian, if I notice anything that is obviously wrong.

          I believe that no business can be expected to put something right if you just complain to your wife and friends instead of a top executive, who can do something about it.

          As far back as March 2011 I emailed Brian saying that I had bought some pre-packed beetroot and carrots from his Tokai store in packets that you could not easily see through. "When we opened them at home," I went on, "the beetroot was of a very poor quality and the carrots were mostly rotten because they were so wet. I also bought five loose grapefruit and while picking these out I came across four others that were rotten. You badly need better quality control."

          He apologised, giving poor stock rotation as the probable reason. He described this as "inexcusable" and told me that they sell about 70 tons of these two products every week with very few complaints.

          “All our pre-packed products should have a sell-by date on to ensure good quality and I have instructed the Buyers and Regional Managers to investigate why this was not done, and to immediately ensure this practice is adhered to,” he assured me.

          Seven months later in November 2011 I told him that nobody seemed to be taking any notice of him because I was having a job finding any sell-by dates in the Tokai store. "This no doubt explains why there are pre-packet items like mealies on the shelves with black mould on the ends," I added.     

In July this year I raised a series of questions with Brian in an emailed letter. Here they are together with his reply and one from Regional Manager Demetri Gaffley.

I began by saying to Brian: "If your Long Beech Mall branch is anything to go by it seems your stores are not living up to the very impressive undertakings your group claims to live by.

"What’s the point in your stores promoting the slogan ‘The Best in Fresh guaranteed’ when, at least one of them, puts obviously vrot fruit and vegetables on the shelves at very reduced prices, as if that suddenly makes them fresh. And if your Long Beach Mall branch keeps doing this, is this the general policy adopted by all your 105 South African branches, as well as the others outside the country?

"On Friday 12/07/2019) when I was at your Long Beach branch pre-packed, clearly rotten bananas were for sale at the knock down price of R10 for two. Some time ago this store had punnetts of what were obviously rotting waterblommetjies on the shelf with the price reduced by 50%. They were removed after I complained.

"Your website tells us that your business was built by you and your brother Mike on ‘traditional family values of trust, honesty and integrity.’ You also claimed to be ‘South Africa’s undisputed leader in fresh.’ How does discounting what anybody can see is rotting food gel with any of these family values you are so proud of? 

"Then there is the case of the pears that are too fresh to ripen. I have twice bought two different types of pears that were just as hard weeks later, as when I bought them. But like the rotting fruit and vegetables your staff was fully aware that there was a problem with the pears concerned yet they still had them on the shelves. On the first occasion many months ago I got the manager to come down from his upstairs office and when I pointed to the tray of loose pears he immediately said: ‘Yes I know they don’t get ripe.’ This was before I told him what the problem was. More recently when I bought a different variety of pears that were pre-packed a similar thing happened. This time it was another member of staff who told me that these do not get ripe. If your staff know that there is this problem with particular pears why are they still kept on the shelves?

"On another subject: Friday is billed as ‘Pie Day’ at your Long

Beach branch, when pies are usually sold on the basis of buy two and get one free. It strikes me as being very bad business if you have a regular promotion like this and by around 11.30 in the morning the pie warmer is just about empty.

          "After I complained to you on May 31 about the fact that there had not been any steak and kidney pies for weeks you replied saying you could not believe ‘we are offering service like this’ and you would personally get hold of Demetri as well as the baking supplier to solve this problem of ‘piss poor service.’

          "Your intervention brought back the steak and kidney pies but the service was as bad as ever on ‘Friday the pie day’ (12/07/2019) with the pie warmer being just about empty at 11.30 in the morning. I bought the last three steak and kidney pies, which left the warmer devoid of pies. All that remained were some sausage rolls at the bottom.

          "On the outside of your stores there are notices which tell us you have ‘Best Quality’ and under a ‘Best Service’ heading it says that if the staff don’t live up to ‘your expectations tell us about it and you’ll receive a R100 FLM shopping voucher.’

          "Well for some time now I have been telling you about how the your stores have not lived up to my expectations and not once has anybody even suggested that I should be given any kind of shopping voucher. My complaints to you were not motivated by the possibility of getting a voucher as I only noticed this undertaking a couple of days ago."

          I also asked: "Does anybody ever get one of these vouchers?"And : "Is the Long Beach Mall branch a franchise operation or one of your own?"

          Here’s Brian’s reply: "Thank you for your support and letter. I am obviously very upset that the Fresh Produce team continuously disappoints you. We at both Head Office and throughout the DC’S had a massive drive around our guarantee for over 15 months now, and it’s disappointing that you haven’t experienced any of the ongoing work being done. 

          "I can only once again apologize for the above and promise you that every Buyer, Regional Manager, Distribution Manager and Marketing Team will visit this store and get to the bottom of this. They are not living up to the guarantee.

         "I have also copied the Speciality GM, and Buyer and Baker Specialist on the pie issue.

         "I don’t know why you didn’t receive a voucher, but please accept one of R300 for your inconvenience.

          "We have given, and still give out 20/30 vouchers per month and will continue to do so to live up to our guarantee.

          "Long Beach is a corporate store and that disappoints me even more.

          "I trust we can win you over as a satisfied customer once again.

           "Kind Regards,

           "Brian Coppin." (He copied this to Karriem Fredericks; Demetri Gaffley; Paul Rauch (FNV); Warren Minnaar; Vito Polera; Sandro Gastaldi; Robin Wainright; Cecelia Wainright; Travis Coppin; Roxy Norman and Bonita van Niekerk).

          Shortly afterwards I received this email from Demetri Gaffley: "I would like to answer the last two 2 questions that Brian has not answered, and hopefully satisfy you.

Question: Is it acceptable to have pears on the shelf that the manager and staff know don’t get ripe?

The answer is NO.

Question: Is it your firm’s policy to discount fruit and vegetables that are going off?

The answer is YES, and at this stage up to the discretion of the store manager, but can be overruled by store visits/inspections from Head Office. We reduce and markdown to clear, which should be visible on price boards. As for the bananas, the exact opposite, unacceptable for sale and not at any price."

          He then thanked me for my valued feedback.

          After receiving those two emails I decided to pay a special visit to the Long Beach branch to see if there had been any improvement in the sell-by date situation compared to 9 years ago, when Brian first raised the subject.

          They were few and far between I can tell you. There were none on very perishable items like pre-packed strawberries, kiwi fruit or papaya, whereas the same fruit at Pick n Pay a little further down the Mall all had sell-by dates on their labels.

And this is at a Group that trails behind Food Lover’s in the fresh league, if the Coppin brother’s boast can be believed.

A member of Food Lover’s staff told me they only have sell-by dates on fruit salad and similar items that they make themselves, but not on pre-packed product they get from their suppliers.

Founders Brian & Mike
Coppin

I accept that fruit and vegetables tend to go off quite quickly and that if you are in this kind of business it’s inevitable that some items might not be up to standard on the shelves now and again. But that’s very different from trying to sell something at a reduced price because you know it has gone off.

          Also as a shopper you have to wonder why one group doesn’t have sell-by dates on certain items and another one, that has been in existence far longer, does.

          Regards

          Jon, the Consumer Watchdog who was extremely impressed with the frank way Brian and Demetri dealt with my criticisms. It seems that running a business like theirs is not as simple as pie.

P.S. They got the value of the R300 worth of vouchers they gave me back with interest because I put them towards the R360 I spent on 12 R30 hamburgers. I handed these out to men waiting forlornly at street corners in the rain for jobs that would never materialise.

P.P.S. It looks as though the Long Beach Mall manager Karriem Fredericks either doesn’t get the boss's emails; he ignores them or he can’t get the message through to his staff. When I was at this branch today (Friday 16 August) the pineapple shelf was half full with the most horrible looking fruit. When I showed him two he said they were unacceptable. Half an hour later when I was back in the store to buy something else somebody was busy removing these. He had a trolley completely full, both top and bottom with ones he was about to take away.