A Chinese manufacturer accused of manufacturing tainted toothpaste said it has stopped using a chemical found in antifreeze.

Shanghai White Cat Shareholding Co Ltd, maker of "MAXAM" toothpaste,said in a statement the company stopped using diethylene glycol, or DEG, in all products on May 21.

The statement said DEG, a thickening agent used in antifreeze, is commonly used in toothpaste production. "Tests indicate that a low level of DEG does not threaten health," the company claimed.

Shanghai's quality watchdog said 23 toothpaste brands sold in the city all passed quality examinations in the second quarter this year. Sales of these brands did not "fluctuate dramatically", according to a worker at a Shanghai Carrefour supermarket.

China's quality control watchdog on June 14 said it hoped Hong Kong would allow three brands of home-made toothpastes - MAXAM Toothpaste with Fluoride, SANQI and Tianqi - back onto supermarket shelves.

The administration asked Hong Kong Customs to submit a detailed report explaining how and why it recalled the toothpastes and informed them that tests carried out by Chinese experts on 1,965 people in 2000 had proved that toothpaste containing less than 15.6 percent of diethylene glycol, a tolerable amount, is harmless for humans.

The Hong Kong Customs advised consumers on June 11 not to buy or use the above three brands of toothpaste after tests found that they contained from 0.21 percent to 7.5 percent of diethylene glycol.

Hong Kong's ban was the latest in a slate of recalls and warnings linked to Chinese toothpaste. The United States, New Zealand, Singapore, Panama and several other Latin American and Caribbean countries have taken similar actions.