08-10-2015, 03:23 PM
grading and standardisation of colgate toothpaste
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grading and standardisation of colgate toothpaste
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grading and standardisation of colgate toothpaste
13-10-2015, 02:34 PM
grading and standardisation of colgate toothpaste
Tooth pastes
Toothpaste advertising has been at a feverish pitch. While giants like Colgate, Pepsodent and Close-Up battle it out, its the cheapest brand that is not really in the reckoning which steals the thunder from the much-hyped toothpastes.
Mouthcare has come a long way in the past half century. From the humble neem datun to dozens of attractive toothpaste brands in the market today - consumers have never had such a wide variety of mouth-care products, especially toothpastes, to choose from. There are over 16 brands of toothpaste in the market. Some are fluoridated, others are non-fluoridated, while yet others claim to be "ayurvedic medicines”. Our tests on leading 14 brands of toothpastes, cover the above-mentioned types. All toothpaste brands are either the “white paste” or “gel type”. In addition to this, all toothpastes (except for “Amar Strong” and “Vicco Vajradanti” which claim to be in the “Ayurvedic Medicine” category) are the “foaming” type.
Perhaps the most significant result of our comparative test is that the more popular and much touted brands like Colgate, Aquafresh, Pepsodent, and Close-up have been pipped to the post by “Cibaca Top” and “Amar Strong” - brands that are considered rather downmarket and unassuming. “Cibaca Top” is the cheapest of all brands in our test and its number one position in our tests proves that high price does not always match quality. “Amar” comes in the “ayurvedic medicine” category but we found that the ayurvedic medicine tag is no guarantee for quality as the only other such category toothpaste - Vicco Vajradanti - came out second last in the test. The good news is that no brand has any major violations of the BIS standards for toothpastes. In fact, all brands perform much better than what the standards demand.
But having said that, no brand really bothers to provide any additional information or quality other than the bare minimum required, either. For instance, no toothpaste carries the ISI standardisation mark or provides any directions for use in terms of quantity of toothpaste. Of the 14 brands, only 6 give the “best before date”/”date of expiry” and only two declare their key ingredients. Consumers are left groping in the dark when it comes to their right to have some basic information about the toothpaste they are using. We also discovered a very interesting market strategy, which is in regard to the seemingly innocuous toothpaste tube nozzle. With no standards to follow (BIS does not lay down any specifications for size of the nozzle), each manufacturer has decided upon its own size for the nozzle which results in speedy consumption of the paste when the diameter of the nozzle is increased, without the consumer really being aware of it.
"White Paste & Gel type Toothpaste: The Difference
The paste form essentially consists of precipitated calcium carbonate with additives like synthetic detergent, flavours, methol, astringent, antacids, foaming agents, deodorants, borax, saccharin, medicating agents, glycerine, and preservatives. On the other hand, the gel-type toothpaste consists of sodium lauryl sulphate - a detergent base with a gelling agent like carbapol along with colours, carrageen (a seaweed), flavours, menthol, foaming agents, astringents, deodorants, antacids, saccharin, medicating agents, glycerine, and preservatives.
Gel-type toothpastes have gained popularity due to intense marketing campaigns in the recent past, and also due to the following reasons:
They have lower density, i.e. lower volume per unit weight paste, which means that the same weight of paste can be used for a longer time that the normal paste.
Aroma and flavours used in the gel-type pastes are more effective and are also used in lower amounts than the normal pastes.
Gel-type pastes have more cleaning power because of their detergent base.
Where the white paste toothpaste have negligible or no detergents at all, the gel-based pastes rely heavily on the use of detergents for their ingredient-base. As yet, the BIS has not laid down any methods and standards for the maximum limit of detergents in toothpaste.
Fluoride Content standards are ambiguous : According to Indian Standards, the maximum fluoride content limit for non-fluoridated toothpaste is 50 mg per kg, whereas for fluoridated toothpaste, it is 1000 mg per kilogram. Of the 14 brands tested, Pepsodent, Neem, Cibaca and Aquafresh were fluoridated toothapstes. Fluoride is effective in caries control but excessive fluoride content may cause fluoride toxicity known as fluorosis. In both toothpaste categories (fluoridated and non-fluoridated) the fluoride content was within the prescribed limit. However, the standards do not specify the lower limit of fluoride content either for fluoridated or non-fluoridated toothpastes. We were surprised to find that even the fluoridated toothpastes, had very low quantities of fluoride in them, even as compared to the non-fluoridated ones (for details, see adjoining table). Fluoride, as such, is neither required nor desirable in toothpastes as long as there is no acute fluoride deficiency. In fact, many states in India are fluoride-endemic and there is no particular need for supplementing fluoride sources with toothpastes containing fluoride (for list of fluoride-endemic states, see Fluoride Endemic States table).
Also, we found that the fluoride testing methodology prescribed by the BIS had its inherent limitations, when Aquafresh got back to us saying that their fluoride content was at least 600 ppm, whereas our tests revealed the value to be 146.49 mg per kg. On retesting at manufacturers request, we took the test methodology further and subjected the sample to four hours of ashing (a process by which fluoride content is determined). It was only after this prolonged period of testing that the value obtained rose to 350 mg/kg but it still did not match upto the manufacturer claim of 600 mg/kg of fluoride content.
Tooth Pastes found underweight: The 14 samples that we tested were of the 150 gm and 200 gm variety, subject to the sizes available in the market. Surprisingly, only three brands - Babool, Amar and Vicco Vajradanti - had the declared amount of paste in terms of net weight. While Babool had 200.24 gms of paste, Amar had 200.32 gms, and Vicco had 201.7 gms against their declared net weight of 200 gms. The tolerance limit for variation in weight is 3 per cent. If seen form that perspective, all toothpastes, technically, are within the tolerance limit as far as the net weight is concerned. In order to have maximum accuracy, we had four to five samples of each brand, one for determining the net weight, and others for all other testing purposes.
Tube Nozzle Size Varies : The inner diameter of the nozzle of the tube determines how much paste will be extruded out of the tube when a user applies pressure to it. The BIS does not specify any standards in this regard but our ratings consider a diameter of around 7 mm as desirable. However not all brands matched upto our criterion. The Inner Diameter varied from 7.66 mm to 8.96 mm, with Colgate, Meswak, Forhans, Colgate Gel, Close-up, Anchor and Amar exceeding the 8 mm diameter limit. Anchor and Close-up had the largest diameter at 8.96 mm.
So, What we found surprising was the variation in sizes (1.30 mm) between the brand which has the smallest diameter (Babool - 7.66mm) and brands with the largest diameter (Close-up and Anchor- 8.96mm). So, if you are using Close-Up or Anchor, be careful not to lay it out thick on the brush, since they would extrude more paste than what is actually required. In absence of standardisation, manufacturers have adopted a wide playing field as far as the inner diameters of various brands are concerned. Wider the diameter, more the amount of paste consumed everyday. Thus the manufacturers do have a vested interest in keeping the inner diameter of the tube nozzle as wide as possible without really getting noticed for it.
Tooth pastes : Parameters
What Makes a Good Toothpaste - the Test Parameters
Foaming Power : Toothpaste should create at least 50 ml of foam to ensure good cleaning. This allows the foam to cut through the dirt and as a result assists in cleaning. Only two brands, “Vicco Vajradanti” and “Amar Strong” were the “non-foaming” type and due to this property generated less foam as compared to some other “foaming” toothpastes. Amar, however, did rather well in this test by generating 152 ml of foam, ahead of Babool - a foaming toothpaste which had a foam value of 137 ml. This was also revealed in our subjective sensory tests. The tests showed that Close-up generated the most foam at 240 ml, while Vicco generated the least at 55 ml. All in all, all brands conformed to the 50 ml standard bottom-line.
What BIS Standards Prescribe: Some Vital Points
BIS specifies that toothpaste formulation should not contain any ingredient in sufficient concentration to cause a toxic or irritating reaction when used in the mouth, nor shall it be harmful in normal use, keeping in mind that small amounts may be ingested inadvertently.
Ecomark for toothpastes
Although the “Ecomark” has been introduced for toothpastes, none of the 14 toothpastes tested carry even something as fundamental as the ISI mark. This is because ISI labelling is not mandatory for toothpastes as yet and no brand has showed any inclination to take up the labelling voluntarily.
BIS specifies that for a product to be eligible for marking with the ECO logo, it shall also carry the Standard Mark of BIS besides meeting additional environment-friendly requirements. For this purpose, the Standard Mark of BIS would be a single mark being a combination of the BIS monogram ISI and the ECO logo. Requirements for Eco-mark are:
The product packaging should display a list of key ingredients in descending order of quantity present.
The product should not be manufactured with any carcinogenic material.
The manufacturer should produce to BIS environmental consent clearance from the concerned State Pollution Control Board as per provisions of the Water Cess Act 1977, and the Air Act, 1981 along with the authorisation, if required under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 and the Rules made there under, while applying for Ecomark. Additionally, provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940, and the rules thereunder should also be complied with.
All the ingredients that go into formulation of cosmetics shall comply with provisions of IS 4707 (part 1) and IS 4707 (part 2). The product shall also meet specific requirements as given in the standard.
How We Test
The Consumer VOICE test programme of toothpastes is based on BIS National Standards -IS: 6356.1993 (for fluoridated and non-fluoridated toothpastes). At the time the testing took place, IS 6356-2001 was still being finalised and had not yet been published, but in order to include latest standards in our test programme, we referred to the then draft IS 6356-2001 for testing purposes. This standard covers only toothpastes based on precipitated calcium carbonate as a base. commonly known as gel-based toothpastes are not covered in the BIS standards presently. However brands like Close-up and Colgate Gel which fall in this category enjoy widespread popularity among consumers, for which reason they have been included in the testing process.
Additional testing features like Taste, Foaming Action, and Sensation, although not part of the relevant Indian standards, have been included to provide comprehensive information to consumers. A total of 14 leading toothpaste brands were tested in the Food Research and Analysis Centre (FRAC), Delhi - an NABL Accredited Laboratory. All brands are masked and coded beforehand to conceal their identity and we have an express agreement with the laboratory which does not permit them to leak or communicate any test results to any individual or organisation other than VOICE.
Toothpastes: The Vegetarian Hoax
Of the 14 toothpastes that Consumer VOICE tested, two (Anchor White and Amar Strong) claim to be vegetarian in nature. Amar claims to have no bone powder whereas Anchor furnished a certificate from the Vegeterian Society , UK with their stamp of approval. However, on testing we found that it is very difficult to ascertain whether a paste has any non-vegetarian ingredient or no. The general practice is that geletine -an ingredient of non-vegetarian origin is not used in toothpastes, and from that perspective all pastes are essentially vegetarian in nature.
Describing pastes as vegetarian is just a marketing strategy to woo consumers since Indian consumers inherently prefer products that are vegetarian in nature. Consumers have a right to know the ingredients of the food products they are consuming and Consumer VOICE discovered that most food products, like ice-creams and biscuits, which had non-vegetarian ingredients did not inform consumers about this characteristic. Consumer VOICE and other consumer organisations took the matter to the government of India and in a cabinet meeting, a decision was made to have labelling to this effect, as a result of which, now non-vegetarian food products are labelled with a red dot and those that are purely vegetarian carry a green dot. Calling toothpastes vegetarian is akin to Promise marketing strategy which advertised its paste as a product which had clove oil as a special ingredient. However, it was later found that all pastes have clove oil as a basic ingredient and it is not a property unique to Promise.
Our Market Survey Reveals
Our market survey for toothpastes, which started in May 2001, had the following objectives:
to identify major brands of toothpaste being sold in India ,
to determine list prices as well as actual prices that were being charged to consumers by retailers.
We surveyed around 160 General Stores, Medical Stores, Kendriya Bhandars and Super Bazaar in Delhi , Mumbai, Calcutta and Bangalore to establish what brands were being sold, which were most popular and what price they were being sold at.
We found that there are around 16 brands of toothpastes being sold in 150 gm and 200 gm sizes in the four regions of the country. However, some of the 16 brands, like Colgate, Colgate Gel and Colgate Herbals are brand extensions of Colgate Palmolive Ltd.. Similarly Pepsodent was also selling more than one brand in the market.
Most retailers were of the opinion that Colgate was clearly the market leader, it being synonymous with the word toothpaste. Pepsodent was the only serious challenger to Colgate, with Forhans occupying the number three slot.
It was also observed that almost all brands were being sold below the listed price. Also, brands like Forhans, Promise, New Neem Active, Anchor White and Amar Strong were found to be offering free gifts like 50-100 ml of coconut oil, 100 gms of Promise tube, and toothbrushes with purchase of the above-mentioned brands of toothpaste.
Homogeneity and Stability of Pastes: Homogeneity indicates the quality of paste and thus determines the efficacy of paste for cleaning purposes. On testing, all pastes were found doing well in the homogeneity test parameter. Similarly all pastes were also found to be stable in nature, which is a positive sign for paste quality. According to Indian standards, there should be no phase separation, or aesthetic deterioration in the paste quality at a temperature of around 45 degrees centigrade. For instance, if the paste shows decline in quality like the separation of water and paste, it indicates low quality of paste.
Toothpaste Tubes do not deteriorate: Standards specify that at temperatures of around 45 degree centigrades, the tube should remain inert to any corrosion, chemical attack or damage. A quality tube should remain not be affected by heat and its alkalinity and acidity should remain balanced. If this does not happen, paste can cause harm to user health. On testing, all toothpastes were found to be safe and thus conforming to standards.
No hard or sharp-edged abrasive particles: If toothpaste contains any abrasive particle, it can lead to swelling of gums or oozing of blood, the mouth being an extremely delicate organ. To test for any presence of hard or sharp-edged abrasive particles, we spread about 15-20 cm length of paste on butter paper. The paste was tested for any abrasive particles by pressing it along its entire length with a finger. The tests revealed no presence of any hard or sharp-edged particles in any paste.
Spreadability: A toothpaste that spreads evenly within a specified length denotes better quality. Indian standards specify that maximum spreadability should be 8.5 cm. The spreadability of toothpastes varied between 5.32 cms (of Colgate) to 7.30 cms (of Babool). Lower the spreadability the better.
Fineness of toothpaste : Ideally, a toothpaste should have minimum foreign matter, the particle size should be even, and it should be free of impurities. On testing, we found that all toothpastes did well in the tests, with Colgate Gel and Close-Up showing better performances than the others. It should be noted that it is the Gel type toothpastes (Colgate Gel and Close Up), which perform the best in the ;fineness parameter.
Acidity and Alkalinity of Aqueous Solution: . Acidity and Alkalinity of paste is measured in terms of the pH value. Any high variation in the pH value can lead to deterioration in the paste quality. A value of 5.5 to 10.5 is acceptable according to Indian standards and our tests revealed that all pastes had a pH value of between 6.02 and 9.90. A mid-range value of around 8 is the most acceptable result, so Amar (8.32), Colgate (8.19), Anchor (8.09) and Neem (8.18) do well in this regard.
Total Aerobic Bacteria, Salmonella and E.coli: Presence of bacteria makes the paste unsafe and unhygienic for use, and also reduces the self life of the product. Standards specify that at the most, Total Aerobic Bacteria (TPC) should be 1000 cfu/g. In Colgate, the TPC count was the highest at 510 cfu/g, whereas in Meswak, Promise, Forhans, Neem and Amar, it was not detected/absent. Salmonellae and e.coli should be totally absent in every 10 gm sample of toothpaste. All pastes showed absence of salmonellae and e.coli in the samples.
Fluoride Endemic States
Andhra Pradesh
Gujarat
Bihar
Haryana
Delhi
Karnataka
Maharashtra
Madhya Pradesh
Orissa
Punjab
Rajasthan
Tamil Nadu
Uttar Pradesh
Jammu & Kashmir
Kerela
Comparative Chart Click Here....
Comparative Chart Tooth pastes Click Here...
Tooth pastes: Rrlated facts Click Here...
read more chart....
Tooth pastes : Related facts
One does not need to apply the paste on the entire length of the toothbrush for brushing one”s teeth. Half the quantity would serve the purpose just as well. If you are using Close-up or Anchor White, you should be extra careful about how much paste you apply, since these two brands have the largest diameter of tube nozzle. This means that they as it is extrude much more paste than what is actually required.
Consumer Tips
Check the “Best Before” date and “Date of Manufacture” on toothpaste when you buy one. Pick one that is most recently manufactured as it will reduce any chances of the paste deteriorating due to any presence of bacteria in it. It has now become mandatory for every toothpaste to carry “Best Before” Information.
Toothpastes are covered under the Schedule “S” of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and are to be manufactured under a license from the Drugs Control Authorities, Government of India. They must conform to Indian Standards specifications laid down by Bureau of Indian Standards. Non-conformance can lead to prosecution. If you have a consumer complaint for toothpastes, contact the Drugs Controller Authority in your State. Do not forget to include the Batch No as this helps trace the place of manufacture.
Toothpastes are commonly available items and are sold in General Stores, Medical Stores, Kendriya Bhandars and Super Bazaars. If you buy it from a Super Market-like store, like NANZ, it is very unlikely they will reduce the price, but if you buy it from general stores or your neighbourhood kiryana store, you are most likely to get a discount of upto Rs 2 or 3.
Manufacturers Respond
The toothpastes market is very competitive and in order to carve out a niche for itself, most brands claim to provide better protection, better cleaning or align themselves in a category distinct from other brands. Two of the brands tested, “Amar” and “Vicco Vajradanti” declare themselves as “Ayurvedic Medicines”, while Anchor White has declared itself to be a 100% vegetarian toothpaste and approved by the British Dental Health Foundation. During testing, we found that under the given testing criteria, there is no way to ascertain the vegetarian or non-vegetarian content of the toothpaste and hence a consumer has to make a personal choice about whether he wants to buy a “vegetarian toothpaste” or not.
Vicco Vajradanti wrote to us saying that because Vicco Vajradanti is an Ayurvedic Medicine manufactured under Ayurvedic Drug Manufacturing License. In overall rating, Vicco came second-last in the tally with an overall score of 84.32. They further requested that we publish no adverse opinion about their brand. We responded by saying that even though Vicco Vajradanti comes under the Ayurvedic Product category, it is still being used by consumers in general as a toothpaste which has special usage in hardening of teeth and gums, healing of caries and wounds, as claimed by the manufacturers themselves. Hence the reason we have included Vicco Vajradanti in our tests. As far as publishing any adverse opinion about the product is concerned, our endeavour is to state the facts and not attempt to show any product in good or bad light.
When test results were communicated to Colgate Palmolive of their products - Colgate Strong Teeth and Colgate Gel Fresh Energy, they responded by saying that "though it is mandatory to mention date of expiry/best before date on toothpastes, products which have a shelf life of more than two years are exempted from this requirement and toothpaste is safe for use for two years. Also, that it has become mandatory to mention list of key ingredients since January 2002 and all their toothpastes manufactured after this period will carry the required information".
We agree with Colgates clarifications as far as the facts are concerned but would like to suggest to Colgate that it is one of the most trusted toothpaste brands, and it would only go on to boost its image if it were to declare information as basic and important as the Date of Expiry and Key Ingredients (Neither of the Colgate brands mentioned either information on the labels).
Tooth pastes
Toothpaste advertising has been at a feverish pitch. While giants like Colgate, Pepsodent and Close-Up battle it out, its the cheapest brand that is not really in the reckoning which steals the thunder from the much-hyped toothpastes.
Mouthcare has come a long way in the past half century. From the humble neem datun to dozens of attractive toothpaste brands in the market today - consumers have never had such a wide variety of mouth-care products, especially toothpastes, to choose from. There are over 16 brands of toothpaste in the market. Some are fluoridated, others are non-fluoridated, while yet others claim to be "ayurvedic medicines”. Our tests on leading 14 brands of toothpastes, cover the above-mentioned types. All toothpaste brands are either the “white paste” or “gel type”. In addition to this, all toothpastes (except for “Amar Strong” and “Vicco Vajradanti” which claim to be in the “Ayurvedic Medicine” category) are the “foaming” type.
Perhaps the most significant result of our comparative test is that the more popular and much touted brands like Colgate, Aquafresh, Pepsodent, and Close-up have been pipped to the post by “Cibaca Top” and “Amar Strong” - brands that are considered rather downmarket and unassuming. “Cibaca Top” is the cheapest of all brands in our test and its number one position in our tests proves that high price does not always match quality. “Amar” comes in the “ayurvedic medicine” category but we found that the ayurvedic medicine tag is no guarantee for quality as the only other such category toothpaste - Vicco Vajradanti - came out second last in the test. The good news is that no brand has any major violations of the BIS standards for toothpastes. In fact, all brands perform much better than what the standards demand.
But having said that, no brand really bothers to provide any additional information or quality other than the bare minimum required, either. For instance, no toothpaste carries the ISI standardisation mark or provides any directions for use in terms of quantity of toothpaste. Of the 14 brands, only 6 give the “best before date”/”date of expiry” and only two declare their key ingredients. Consumers are left groping in the dark when it comes to their right to have some basic information about the toothpaste they are using. We also discovered a very interesting market strategy, which is in regard to the seemingly innocuous toothpaste tube nozzle. With no standards to follow (BIS does not lay down any specifications for size of the nozzle), each manufacturer has decided upon its own size for the nozzle which results in speedy consumption of the paste when the diameter of the nozzle is increased, without the consumer really being aware of it.
"White Paste & Gel type Toothpaste: The Difference
The paste form essentially consists of precipitated calcium carbonate with additives like synthetic detergent, flavours, methol, astringent, antacids, foaming agents, deodorants, borax, saccharin, medicating agents, glycerine, and preservatives. On the other hand, the gel-type toothpaste consists of sodium lauryl sulphate - a detergent base with a gelling agent like carbapol along with colours, carrageen (a seaweed), flavours, menthol, foaming agents, astringents, deodorants, antacids, saccharin, medicating agents, glycerine, and preservatives.
Gel-type toothpastes have gained popularity due to intense marketing campaigns in the recent past, and also due to the following reasons:
They have lower density, i.e. lower volume per unit weight paste, which means that the same weight of paste can be used for a longer time that the normal paste.
Aroma and flavours used in the gel-type pastes are more effective and are also used in lower amounts than the normal pastes.
Gel-type pastes have more cleaning power because of their detergent base.
Where the white paste toothpaste have negligible or no detergents at all, the gel-based pastes rely heavily on the use of detergents for their ingredient-base. As yet, the BIS has not laid down any methods and standards for the maximum limit of detergents in toothpaste.
Fluoride Content standards are ambiguous : According to Indian Standards, the maximum fluoride content limit for non-fluoridated toothpaste is 50 mg per kg, whereas for fluoridated toothpaste, it is 1000 mg per kilogram. Of the 14 brands tested, Pepsodent, Neem, Cibaca and Aquafresh were fluoridated toothapstes. Fluoride is effective in caries control but excessive fluoride content may cause fluoride toxicity known as fluorosis. In both toothpaste categories (fluoridated and non-fluoridated) the fluoride content was within the prescribed limit. However, the standards do not specify the lower limit of fluoride content either for fluoridated or non-fluoridated toothpastes. We were surprised to find that even the fluoridated toothpastes, had very low quantities of fluoride in them, even as compared to the non-fluoridated ones (for details, see adjoining table). Fluoride, as such, is neither required nor desirable in toothpastes as long as there is no acute fluoride deficiency. In fact, many states in India are fluoride-endemic and there is no particular need for supplementing fluoride sources with toothpastes containing fluoride (for list of fluoride-endemic states, see Fluoride Endemic States table).
Also, we found that the fluoride testing methodology prescribed by the BIS had its inherent limitations, when Aquafresh got back to us saying that their fluoride content was at least 600 ppm, whereas our tests revealed the value to be 146.49 mg per kg. On retesting at manufacturers request, we took the test methodology further and subjected the sample to four hours of ashing (a process by which fluoride content is determined). It was only after this prolonged period of testing that the value obtained rose to 350 mg/kg but it still did not match upto the manufacturer claim of 600 mg/kg of fluoride content.
Tooth Pastes found underweight: The 14 samples that we tested were of the 150 gm and 200 gm variety, subject to the sizes available in the market. Surprisingly, only three brands - Babool, Amar and Vicco Vajradanti - had the declared amount of paste in terms of net weight. While Babool had 200.24 gms of paste, Amar had 200.32 gms, and Vicco had 201.7 gms against their declared net weight of 200 gms. The tolerance limit for variation in weight is 3 per cent. If seen form that perspective, all toothpastes, technically, are within the tolerance limit as far as the net weight is concerned. In order to have maximum accuracy, we had four to five samples of each brand, one for determining the net weight, and others for all other testing purposes.
Tube Nozzle Size Varies : The inner diameter of the nozzle of the tube determines how much paste will be extruded out of the tube when a user applies pressure to it. The BIS does not specify any standards in this regard but our ratings consider a diameter of around 7 mm as desirable. However not all brands matched upto our criterion. The Inner Diameter varied from 7.66 mm to 8.96 mm, with Colgate, Meswak, Forhans, Colgate Gel, Close-up, Anchor and Amar exceeding the 8 mm diameter limit. Anchor and Close-up had the largest diameter at 8.96 mm.
So, What we found surprising was the variation in sizes (1.30 mm) between the brand which has the smallest diameter (Babool - 7.66mm) and brands with the largest diameter (Close-up and Anchor- 8.96mm). So, if you are using Close-Up or Anchor, be careful not to lay it out thick on the brush, since they would extrude more paste than what is actually required. In absence of standardisation, manufacturers have adopted a wide playing field as far as the inner diameters of various brands are concerned. Wider the diameter, more the amount of paste consumed everyday. Thus the manufacturers do have a vested interest in keeping the inner diameter of the tube nozzle as wide as possible without really getting noticed for it.
Tooth pastes : Parameters
What Makes a Good Toothpaste - the Test Parameters
Foaming Power : Toothpaste should create at least 50 ml of foam to ensure good cleaning. This allows the foam to cut through the dirt and as a result assists in cleaning. Only two brands, “Vicco Vajradanti” and “Amar Strong” were the “non-foaming” type and due to this property generated less foam as compared to some other “foaming” toothpastes. Amar, however, did rather well in this test by generating 152 ml of foam, ahead of Babool - a foaming toothpaste which had a foam value of 137 ml. This was also revealed in our subjective sensory tests. The tests showed that Close-up generated the most foam at 240 ml, while Vicco generated the least at 55 ml. All in all, all brands conformed to the 50 ml standard bottom-line.
What BIS Standards Prescribe: Some Vital Points
BIS specifies that toothpaste formulation should not contain any ingredient in sufficient concentration to cause a toxic or irritating reaction when used in the mouth, nor shall it be harmful in normal use, keeping in mind that small amounts may be ingested inadvertently.
Ecomark for toothpastes
Although the “Ecomark” has been introduced for toothpastes, none of the 14 toothpastes tested carry even something as fundamental as the ISI mark. This is because ISI labelling is not mandatory for toothpastes as yet and no brand has showed any inclination to take up the labelling voluntarily.
BIS specifies that for a product to be eligible for marking with the ECO logo, it shall also carry the Standard Mark of BIS besides meeting additional environment-friendly requirements. For this purpose, the Standard Mark of BIS would be a single mark being a combination of the BIS monogram ISI and the ECO logo. Requirements for Eco-mark are:
The product packaging should display a list of key ingredients in descending order of quantity present.
The product should not be manufactured with any carcinogenic material.
The manufacturer should produce to BIS environmental consent clearance from the concerned State Pollution Control Board as per provisions of the Water Cess Act 1977, and the Air Act, 1981 along with the authorisation, if required under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 and the Rules made there under, while applying for Ecomark. Additionally, provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940, and the rules thereunder should also be complied with.
All the ingredients that go into formulation of cosmetics shall comply with provisions of IS 4707 (part 1) and IS 4707 (part 2). The product shall also meet specific requirements as given in the standard.
How We Test
The Consumer VOICE test programme of toothpastes is based on BIS National Standards -IS: 6356.1993 (for fluoridated and non-fluoridated toothpastes). At the time the testing took place, IS 6356-2001 was still being finalised and had not yet been published, but in order to include latest standards in our test programme, we referred to the then draft IS 6356-2001 for testing purposes. This standard covers only toothpastes based on precipitated calcium carbonate as a base. commonly known as gel-based toothpastes are not covered in the BIS standards presently. However brands like Close-up and Colgate Gel which fall in this category enjoy widespread popularity among consumers, for which reason they have been included in the testing process.
Additional testing features like Taste, Foaming Action, and Sensation, although not part of the relevant Indian standards, have been included to provide comprehensive information to consumers. A total of 14 leading toothpaste brands were tested in the Food Research and Analysis Centre (FRAC), Delhi - an NABL Accredited Laboratory. All brands are masked and coded beforehand to conceal their identity and we have an express agreement with the laboratory which does not permit them to leak or communicate any test results to any individual or organisation other than VOICE.
Toothpastes: The Vegetarian Hoax
Of the 14 toothpastes that Consumer VOICE tested, two (Anchor White and Amar Strong) claim to be vegetarian in nature. Amar claims to have no bone powder whereas Anchor furnished a certificate from the Vegeterian Society , UK with their stamp of approval. However, on testing we found that it is very difficult to ascertain whether a paste has any non-vegetarian ingredient or no. The general practice is that geletine -an ingredient of non-vegetarian origin is not used in toothpastes, and from that perspective all pastes are essentially vegetarian in nature.
Describing pastes as vegetarian is just a marketing strategy to woo consumers since Indian consumers inherently prefer products that are vegetarian in nature. Consumers have a right to know the ingredients of the food products they are consuming and Consumer VOICE discovered that most food products, like ice-creams and biscuits, which had non-vegetarian ingredients did not inform consumers about this characteristic. Consumer VOICE and other consumer organisations took the matter to the government of India and in a cabinet meeting, a decision was made to have labelling to this effect, as a result of which, now non-vegetarian food products are labelled with a red dot and those that are purely vegetarian carry a green dot. Calling toothpastes vegetarian is akin to Promise marketing strategy which advertised its paste as a product which had clove oil as a special ingredient. However, it was later found that all pastes have clove oil as a basic ingredient and it is not a property unique to Promise.
Our Market Survey Reveals
Our market survey for toothpastes, which started in May 2001, had the following objectives:
to identify major brands of toothpaste being sold in India ,
to determine list prices as well as actual prices that were being charged to consumers by retailers.
We surveyed around 160 General Stores, Medical Stores, Kendriya Bhandars and Super Bazaar in Delhi , Mumbai, Calcutta and Bangalore to establish what brands were being sold, which were most popular and what price they were being sold at.
We found that there are around 16 brands of toothpastes being sold in 150 gm and 200 gm sizes in the four regions of the country. However, some of the 16 brands, like Colgate, Colgate Gel and Colgate Herbals are brand extensions of Colgate Palmolive Ltd.. Similarly Pepsodent was also selling more than one brand in the market.
Most retailers were of the opinion that Colgate was clearly the market leader, it being synonymous with the word toothpaste. Pepsodent was the only serious challenger to Colgate, with Forhans occupying the number three slot.
It was also observed that almost all brands were being sold below the listed price. Also, brands like Forhans, Promise, New Neem Active, Anchor White and Amar Strong were found to be offering free gifts like 50-100 ml of coconut oil, 100 gms of Promise tube, and toothbrushes with purchase of the above-mentioned brands of toothpaste.
Homogeneity and Stability of Pastes: Homogeneity indicates the quality of paste and thus determines the efficacy of paste for cleaning purposes. On testing, all pastes were found doing well in the homogeneity test parameter. Similarly all pastes were also found to be stable in nature, which is a positive sign for paste quality. According to Indian standards, there should be no phase separation, or aesthetic deterioration in the paste quality at a temperature of around 45 degrees centigrade. For instance, if the paste shows decline in quality like the separation of water and paste, it indicates low quality of paste.
Toothpaste Tubes do not deteriorate: Standards specify that at temperatures of around 45 degree centigrades, the tube should remain inert to any corrosion, chemical attack or damage. A quality tube should remain not be affected by heat and its alkalinity and acidity should remain balanced. If this does not happen, paste can cause harm to user health. On testing, all toothpastes were found to be safe and thus conforming to standards.
No hard or sharp-edged abrasive particles: If toothpaste contains any abrasive particle, it can lead to swelling of gums or oozing of blood, the mouth being an extremely delicate organ. To test for any presence of hard or sharp-edged abrasive particles, we spread about 15-20 cm length of paste on butter paper. The paste was tested for any abrasive particles by pressing it along its entire length with a finger. The tests revealed no presence of any hard or sharp-edged particles in any paste.
Spreadability: A toothpaste that spreads evenly within a specified length denotes better quality. Indian standards specify that maximum spreadability should be 8.5 cm. The spreadability of toothpastes varied between 5.32 cms (of Colgate) to 7.30 cms (of Babool). Lower the spreadability the better.
Fineness of toothpaste : Ideally, a toothpaste should have minimum foreign matter, the particle size should be even, and it should be free of impurities. On testing, we found that all toothpastes did well in the tests, with Colgate Gel and Close-Up showing better performances than the others. It should be noted that it is the Gel type toothpastes (Colgate Gel and Close Up), which perform the best in the ;fineness parameter.
Acidity and Alkalinity of Aqueous Solution: . Acidity and Alkalinity of paste is measured in terms of the pH value. Any high variation in the pH value can lead to deterioration in the paste quality. A value of 5.5 to 10.5 is acceptable according to Indian standards and our tests revealed that all pastes had a pH value of between 6.02 and 9.90. A mid-range value of around 8 is the most acceptable result, so Amar (8.32), Colgate (8.19), Anchor (8.09) and Neem (8.18) do well in this regard.
Total Aerobic Bacteria, Salmonella and E.coli: Presence of bacteria makes the paste unsafe and unhygienic for use, and also reduces the self life of the product. Standards specify that at the most, Total Aerobic Bacteria (TPC) should be 1000 cfu/g. In Colgate, the TPC count was the highest at 510 cfu/g, whereas in Meswak, Promise, Forhans, Neem and Amar, it was not detected/absent. Salmonellae and e.coli should be totally absent in every 10 gm sample of toothpaste. All pastes showed absence of salmonellae and e.coli in the samples.
Fluoride Endemic States
Andhra Pradesh
Gujarat
Bihar
Haryana
Delhi
Karnataka
Maharashtra
Madhya Pradesh
Orissa
Punjab
Rajasthan
Tamil Nadu
Uttar Pradesh
Jammu & Kashmir
Kerela
Comparative Chart Click Here....
Comparative Chart Tooth pastes Click Here...
Tooth pastes: Rrlated facts Click Here...
read more chart....
Tooth pastes : Related facts
One does not need to apply the paste on the entire length of the toothbrush for brushing one”s teeth. Half the quantity would serve the purpose just as well. If you are using Close-up or Anchor White, you should be extra careful about how much paste you apply, since these two brands have the largest diameter of tube nozzle. This means that they as it is extrude much more paste than what is actually required.
Consumer Tips
Check the “Best Before” date and “Date of Manufacture” on toothpaste when you buy one. Pick one that is most recently manufactured as it will reduce any chances of the paste deteriorating due to any presence of bacteria in it. It has now become mandatory for every toothpaste to carry “Best Before” Information.
Toothpastes are covered under the Schedule “S” of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and are to be manufactured under a license from the Drugs Control Authorities, Government of India. They must conform to Indian Standards specifications laid down by Bureau of Indian Standards. Non-conformance can lead to prosecution. If you have a consumer complaint for toothpastes, contact the Drugs Controller Authority in your State. Do not forget to include the Batch No as this helps trace the place of manufacture.
Toothpastes are commonly available items and are sold in General Stores, Medical Stores, Kendriya Bhandars and Super Bazaars. If you buy it from a Super Market-like store, like NANZ, it is very unlikely they will reduce the price, but if you buy it from general stores or your neighbourhood kiryana store, you are most likely to get a discount of upto Rs 2 or 3.
Manufacturers Respond
The toothpastes market is very competitive and in order to carve out a niche for itself, most brands claim to provide better protection, better cleaning or align themselves in a category distinct from other brands. Two of the brands tested, “Amar” and “Vicco Vajradanti” declare themselves as “Ayurvedic Medicines”, while Anchor White has declared itself to be a 100% vegetarian toothpaste and approved by the British Dental Health Foundation. During testing, we found that under the given testing criteria, there is no way to ascertain the vegetarian or non-vegetarian content of the toothpaste and hence a consumer has to make a personal choice about whether he wants to buy a “vegetarian toothpaste” or not.
Vicco Vajradanti wrote to us saying that because Vicco Vajradanti is an Ayurvedic Medicine manufactured under Ayurvedic Drug Manufacturing License. In overall rating, Vicco came second-last in the tally with an overall score of 84.32. They further requested that we publish no adverse opinion about their brand. We responded by saying that even though Vicco Vajradanti comes under the Ayurvedic Product category, it is still being used by consumers in general as a toothpaste which has special usage in hardening of teeth and gums, healing of caries and wounds, as claimed by the manufacturers themselves. Hence the reason we have included Vicco Vajradanti in our tests. As far as publishing any adverse opinion about the product is concerned, our endeavour is to state the facts and not attempt to show any product in good or bad light.
When test results were communicated to Colgate Palmolive of their products - Colgate Strong Teeth and Colgate Gel Fresh Energy, they responded by saying that "though it is mandatory to mention date of expiry/best before date on toothpastes, products which have a shelf life of more than two years are exempted from this requirement and toothpaste is safe for use for two years. Also, that it has become mandatory to mention list of key ingredients since January 2002 and all their toothpastes manufactured after this period will carry the required information".
We agree with Colgates clarifications as far as the facts are concerned but would like to suggest to Colgate that it is one of the most trusted toothpaste brands, and it would only go on to boost its image if it were to declare information as basic and important as the Date of Expiry and Key Ingredients (Neither of the Colgate brands mentioned either information on the labels).
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