The WELL: inkwell.vue.358: Paul Midler, Poorly Made in China

#150: Gail Williams (gail) Tue 18 Aug 09 14:09

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:09:00 PDT

Yeah, my dentist learned that after telling all his patients how well it works to reverse receding gums. He wanted to set up a clinical trial on brushing, rinsing and spitting -- but he was old and retired at about that time. It's used in some herbal mouthwash and perhaps even some toothpaste in small amounts, as well as in all the external shampoo and soap products. [Read entire topic]

#149: Brian Slesinsky (bslesins) Fri 7 Aug 09 20:36

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:36:00 PDT

Hmm:

"Tea tree oil is toxic when swallowed and it should never be taken internally."

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_5_3X_Tea_Tree_Oil.asp [Read entire topic]

#148: Linda Castellani (castle) Wed 5 Aug 09 12:09

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 12:09:00 PDT

Thanks for a great discussion, Paul, and best of luck on the book.

By the way, you don't have to leave unless you want to. We are pretty good at talking about more than one thing simultaneously. And you don't have to limit yourself to just this one topic, either. [Read entire topic]

#147: paulmidler (paulmidler-1) Wed 5 Aug 09 11:28

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:28:00 PDT

In the interest of making way for the next discussion, I will sign off. Thanks to all who have participated. It's been a pleasure. [Read entire topic]

#146: (dana) Wed 5 Aug 09 11:23

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:23:00 PDT

Thank you Paul and Cynthia, this has been an excellent discussion. While we're beginning a new conversation today, everyone is welcome to continue here for as long as you like.

On the subject of continuing vigilance -- long before the melamine and toothpaste atrocities, there were reports of lead in soy sauce, steroids in meat, truly horrifying animal abuse, and more. I have reached the point where I will avoid any Chinese food products if an alternative exists, particularly animal products. Unfortunate, but practical for me. [Read entire topic]

#145: Gail Williams (gail) Wed 5 Aug 09 09:53

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:53:00 PDT

Thanks for this discussion!

I use tea tree oil in an unusual way -- brush it on my gums after toothbrushing -- which has given me excellent gum health results, wowing my dentist -- but since the oil is probably imported for non-internal use, I want the best quality for this gambit. My local store for this kind of thing (Rainbow Grocery) used to have New Zealand tea tree oil in bulk, and recently I've only seen the tea tree oil from China. Nice price though.

I worry about items like health food specialty ingredients being produced cheaply there. This discussion makes me feel like I should pay attention to that worry and not place it aside as a silly paranoia. [Read entire topic]

#144: paralyzed by a question like that (debunix) Tue 4 Aug 09 21:11

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:11:00 PDT

I often buy food imported from China in chinese grocery stores, and after the toothpaste disaster (diethylene glycol substituted for glycerine to sweeten it, killing quite a few childen in latin america) and the melamine horrors find myself wondering how safe I should feel about that. I most often stick to whole ingredients like szechuan peppercorns or other spices, exotic rices, or whole loose teas--but wonder if I should be worrying about contamination or adulteration even with those.

Next stop at a bookstore, will be picking it up. [Read entire topic]

#143: For Rosetti, wombats held a peculiar fascination (loris) Tue 4 Aug 09 20:44

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:44:00 PDT

paul, i sent pointers on this discussion to two friends who work in the toy biz, who have been very much been held hostage by the stuff you have elucidated here. they both said 'i'll buy the book!' and i hope they do... [Read entire topic]

#142: Michael C. Berch (mcb) Tue 4 Aug 09 19:05

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:05:00 PDT

Thanks, Paul - I very much enjoyed the discussion, and hope the book proves very successful! [Read entire topic]

#141: cyndigo (cynthiabarnes) Tue 4 Aug 09 18:37

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:37:00 PDT

We're winding down ... I think a new discussion starts tomorrow in inkwell. Thanks VERY MUCH to everyone who participated, and also to our author, Paul. (I hope he'll stick around on The WELL!) [Read entire topic]