Pepsodent 102% Claim Under Scrutiny

Instead of combating oral germs, two toothpaste majors of the country, Hindustan Lever (HLL) and Colgate Palmolive, are fighting one another on whether their weapon is valid or not.

Moved by Colgate Palmolive, which had challenged an HLL advertisement campaign, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) yesterday said that the 102 per cent superiority of New Pepsodent toothpaste against oral germs, marketed by HLL, should be evaluated by an independent expert committee.

The MRTPC has also issued earlier a notice of enquiry against Colgate Palmolive for claiming that its Colgate dental cream has a germ fighter which stops bad breath and fights tooth decay. The reason: Hindustan Levers counter that the claims are false.

Though HLL submitted to the commission comprehensive technical data on the superiority claim of New Pepsodent, it did not convince the MRTPC or Colgate Palmolive.

The commission said that it would be hazardous on its part to decide the issue without an opinion from experts.

The expert committee will comprise technical experts, one each to be nominated by Hindustan Lever, Colgate Palmolive and the MRTPC.

The superiority claim of the New Pepsodent toothpaste could be reviewed in the light of the conclusion of the experts, according to the MRTPC.

An official statement from HLL said, We are confident of proving the technical superiority of our product. We hope that Colgate will agree with this so that we can resolve the whole issue.

Colgate Palmolive too, like a seasoned player in such corporate games, is confident of the outcome of the expert committees verdict.

HLL has also pointed out that the Colgate dental cream neither contains any proven anti-bacterial agent nor fluoride which can deliver the benefits of claimed or as the ad claims, Sampoorna Colgate suraksha.

HLLs contention has been that in India Colgate has been making these claims for several decades sans any proven ingredients to support the claims - recent additions being the `germ fighter quality.

As against this HLL has submitted before the MRTPC that Pepsodent toothpaste has a well-known an internationally proven anti-bacterial agent, Triclosan, which is effective against oral germs.

With claims and counter-claims now to be checked out by experts, this war of germs is still far from over.

The expert committee will comprise technical experts, one each to be nominated by Hindustan Lever, Colgate Palmolive and the MRTPC