Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into companies allegedly misusing fluoride in children’s products as part of deceptive advertising.
The products from Colgate-Palmolive Company and Proctor & Gamble Manufacturing Co., marketed toward children, are “misleading, deceptive, and dangerous,” Paxton’s office said.
“I will use every tool available to protect our kids from dangerous levels of fluoride exposure and deceptive advertising,” Paxton said in a statement. “Toothpaste manufacturers must follow state law to ensure that they aren’t putting Texas families in peril through their false, misleading, and deceptive marketing, and these [Civil Investigative Demands] will help my office discover any potential wrongdoing. As this investigation continues, I will take aggressive action against any corporation that puts our children’s health at risk.”
The investigation comes as a growing body of evidence suggests “excessive fluoride exposure is not safe for children,” Paxton’s office noted.
While guidelines from the American Dental Association say children should have no more than a “pea-sized amount” due to the level of fluoride, toothpaste companies “continue to flavor their products and deceptively market them in ways that encourage kids to ingest” the substance and “mislead their parents to use far more than the safe and recommended amount” of the product.
A bill introduced in the Texas Senate in April seeks to prohibit the fluoridation of public water sources.
“A person may not add or cause to be added any form of fluoride to any public water supply for the purpose of fluoridation, regardless of the intended concentration,” the bill’s text reads. Those who violate the measure are “subject to a fine of five hundred dollars, and subject to a fine of one thousand dollars for a subsequent violation.”
