Bragging about brushing teeth to cure stomach cancer, selling "disinfectant" as toothpaste, the price has risen 10 times-the bottom line is "anti-you toothpaste" pitted "business"
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 6th. Topic: Bragging about brushing your teeth to treat stomach cancer, selling "disinfectant" as toothpaste, and the price has risen 10 times-the bottom line of "anti-you toothpaste" pitted "business"
Xinhua News Agency reporters Liu Zhiqiang, Dai Xiaohe, Gu Tiancheng
"Using this toothpaste to improve mouth sores and prevent gastric cancer" "Using national anti-HP (Helicobacter pylori) patented technology" "Patented formula 100% kills HP to protect the safety of the whole family"... At present, the so-called "anti-you toothpaste" is used in major E-commerce platforms are selling hot, and the price is much more expensive than conventional toothpastes of the same specifications.
A reporter from Xinhua News Agency learned from the State Food and Drug Administration that Helicobacter pylori is colonized in the stomach and cannot be prevented or cured by brushing teeth with toothpaste.
At present, most of the so-called "anti-you toothpastes" on the market are under the guise of "patents" and "high-tech" to deceive consumers by placing a large number of false advertisements on some online platforms.
Regulatory authority: "Kangyou toothpaste" is suspected of falsely claiming efficacy
Helicobacter pylori (HP) is a chronic infectious pathogen with a high infection rate worldwide, which makes some businesses smell business opportunities.
The customer service of a Taobao store "assured" the reporter that a certain "anti-you toothpaste" in the store can effectively remove Helicobacter pylori, improve halitosis and mouth sores, and prevent gastric cancer. If one fake one loses ten.
The reporter found that on Taobao, Tmall, JD.com, Pinduoduo and other e-commerce platforms and some offline pharmacies, you can see the "anti-you toothpaste" known as "killing artifact" and "preventing gastric cancer", with many names and considerable sales. .
Such as You XX Star, You XX Xin, Bi X Stop, Jing X Ling, etc., the single price ranges from tens to hundreds of yuan, which is 3 to 10 times the price of conventional toothpastes of the same specifications.
According to online store data, many of them have tens of thousands of monthly transactions; some claim to be named, developed or produced by Sinopharm Group, Amendment Pharmaceutical, Southern Medical University.
Is the effect as advertised?
Guiyang Ms. Guan told reporters that after she was diagnosed with Helicobacter pylori, she spent 400 yuan to buy 4 bottles of "Be X Stop" and "Anti-Pylori Toothpaste" from the Internet. After 3 months of use, she rechecked and found that the Helicobacter pylori count did not decrease but increased. .
Her experience is not alone.
Yan Xuemin, an attending physician at the Department of Gastroenterology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, said that Helicobacter pylori colonizes the stomach, and there is no scientific basis for prevention and treatment by using toothpaste to brush the oral cavity.
Prior to this, the "Scientific Rumor Refusal Platform" sponsored by the China Association for Science and Technology and the National Health Commission had also published articles denying that "brushing teeth can cure HP."
Jiang Xuan, chief physician of the Department of Gastroenterology, Beijing Tsinghua Chang Gung Memorial Hospital affiliated to Tsinghua University, said that the current treatment for Helicobacter pylori requires a combination of acid inhibitors, bismuths, antibiotics and other drugs, and good results can be achieved after treatment for more than half a month.
According to research conducted by relevant experts organized by the State Food and Drug Administration, there may be Helicobacter pylori in the oral cavity, mainly concentrated in the periodontal pockets and gingival sulcus. It is related to periodontal disease, bad breath, gastric cancer and other digestive diseases, and lacks scientific basis.
The toothpaste claiming "anti- Helicobacter pylori" effect is suspected of falsely claiming the effect.
Unscrupulous merchants: changing tricks to "fudge" consumers
"Anti-you toothpaste is difficult to fight against you" but it is still a "money cow" for illegal businesses.
The reporter's investigation found that illegal businesses have a whole set of "business experience" for cheating people.
-Create "germ anxiety" to scare people.
Helicobacter pylori is indeed harmful to the human body.
At present, the adult infection rate in my country exceeds 50%.
Yan Xuemin said that Helicobacter pylori infection is the main cause of gastritis and peptic ulcer, and it is also a high-risk factor for gastric cancer.
However, illegal businesses wantonly hype and exaggerate these hazards, and sell goods for profit by creating a horrible atmosphere of "secure" talk.
The reporter searched on the e-commerce platform and WeChat official account and found that some "anti-you toothpastes" use "small diseases do not require doctors to recruit serious diseases, and small money does not cost catastrophes" "A toothpaste and a life are more expensive and difficult to choose?" "90% of bad breath is caused by Helicobacter pylori" and other sensational false propaganda.
-Raise one's value under the guise of "high-tech".
Self-proclaimed "patent formula", "national patent technology", "innovative technology patents" are common slogans for "anti-you toothpaste".
The reporter noticed that the outer packaging of "You XX Star HP Toothpaste" was marked with words such as "Anti-Oral Helicobacter Pylori Traditional Chinese Medicine Toothpaste National Invention Patent ZL201410168022.9", "Invention and Entrepreneurship Award", and "Experiment Report".
In this regard, the staff of the State Intellectual Property Office told reporters that the current patent application review mainly focuses on novelty, creativity and practicality. As for the effect of the product produced by the patent, and whether the product promotion by the enterprise or business is true, it is not in the patent. Within the scope of the review.
Chen Yinjiang, deputy secretary-general of the Consumer Protection Law Research Association of the Chinese Law Society, said that a company's acquisition of the so-called "anti-oral Helicobacter pylori toothpaste" patent does not mean that it must have the ability to mass-produce anti-oral HP toothpaste, let alone prove it. The toothpaste produced must have anti-HP effect.
The "test reports" provided by some businesses can only prove that they have carried out research on anti-oral HP care products, but cannot prove that their products have adopted the test results, or that they have achieved relevant results after using the results.
——Products "make a facelift" to avoid supervision.
The person in charge of the relevant work of the State Drug Administration stated that according to the "Regulations on Cosmetics Supervision and Administration" implemented on January 1, 2021, toothpaste refers to the management of ordinary cosmetics, and the application license is "makeup brand".
This means that according to Article 17 of the Advertising Law, advertisements for toothpaste products must not involve disease treatment functions, and must not use medical terms or terms that may confuse the promoted products with drugs and medical devices.
However, the reporter found that in order to evade supervision, illegal businesses often apply for the so-called "anti-you toothpaste" as a "machine name" or "elimination name".
Henan Jinkui Herbal Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. told reporters that it can produce "anti-you toothpaste" by OEM.
On the product photos provided by its salesperson, the reporter saw the official product name "You XX Xin Cold Compress Gel" printed on the "anti-you toothpaste" box produced by the company.
The salesman revealed that in the past the company used the words "Machine Brand" and "Gel", but it was stopped this year.
The clerk told reporters: "If you place an order, the company can help you apply for the'elimination size' as soon as possible, and write'oral antibacterial ointment' as the product name."
——Organizing "false advertisements" to deceive people.
Reporters searched WeChat official accounts, Xiaohongshu and other platforms and found that in addition to "hard advertisements", there are also many videos and articles promoting "anti-you toothpaste" in the name of popular science or product experience.
Some accounts have also posted links and videos of live broadcasts of well-known artists.
Comprehensive governance: two-pronged approach to strengthen supervision and popular science education
Experts generally believe that the reason why the "anti-you toothpaste" has gaps is directly related to the limited or even incorrect knowledge of Helicobacter pylori by ordinary people.
Experts from the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences told reporters that even if patients are confirmed to be infected with HP, they do not need to be overly nervous. Most people can achieve bacterial eradication through oral medication within two weeks.
There are also opinions in the medical community that germs do not necessarily need to be eradicated, and it is recommended that patients and doctors make a decision after discussing their own indications.
Liu Junhai, a professor at the School of Law of Renmin University of China, believes that market supervision departments, food and drug supervision departments, and cybersecurity and informatization departments must form a linkage mechanism to continuously increase supervision and eliminate blind spots as much as possible.
The reporter learned that the State Food and Drug Administration has studied and drafted the "Toothpaste Supervision and Administration Measures" and is actively promoting the State Administration of Market Supervision to issue regulations for this department as soon as possible.
The regulations will regulate the entire process of toothpaste products from filing, production, and operation.
At the same time, the State Food and Drug Administration will also release popular science information in the near future to guide the public to correctly understand the efficacy of toothpaste, and to dispose of toothpaste products that falsely claim the efficacy in accordance with the law.
(Participating reporter: Wu Si)