Palmolive shave stick discontinued (in UK & US)

Oscroft said:

Doesn't it also mean that the new packaged sticks are being distributed in the UK, contrary to rumour?

Alan

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I believe the label changed happened a while ago, but are just now making it to the shelves. first they cleared the GUT, and now have to get through the many non GUT new packaging.
For all I know it might not stop being exported... That's the question I can't get a straight answer with. I have no idea who the distributes are to ask them...
Either way its still possible to order them from Germany I'm sure. I order mine from Ireland and even with shipping its dirt chea . So I assume it can still be had.

stoof2010 said:

I believe the label changed happened a while ago, but are just now making it to the shelves. first they cleared the GUT, and now have to get through the many non GUT new packaging.

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According to the German forums, the labeling changed in 2011. I've seen both the old and new sticks in the shops for the past few years.

I have the impression that our USA B&B members are maybe making the "potential discontinuation" issue a bit bigger than it really is. There's no way it is going to disappear from the German store shelves in the foreseeable future. And what is for sale in Germany can also be (privately) imported into the USA.

Eeyore said:

According to the German forums, the labeling changed in 2011. I've seen both the old and new sticks in the shops for the past few years.

I have the impression that our USA B&B members are maybe making the "potential discontinuation" issue a bit bigger than it really is. There's no way it is going to disappear from the German store shelves in the foreseeable future. And what is for sale in Germany can also be (privately) imported into the USA.

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Exactly. Not discontinued... Just harder for everyone else to get...

stoof2010 said:

Exactly. Not discontinued... Just harder for everyone else to get...

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Well, is it harder to import from Germany than from the UK?

AFAIK the sticks were not officially imported into the USA anyway?

Eeyore said:

Well, is it harder to import from Germany than from the UK?

AFAIK the sticks were not officially imported into the USA anyway?

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That I can't answer. The OP spoke of distributors, but maybe he was speaking of UK distributors.
Either way its not hard to order from over the pond, though I've never ordered straight from Germany.
I have enough to last 2 lifetimes.... But who knows, maybe I'll need more...

stoof2010 said:

Either way its not hard to order from over the pond, though I've never ordered straight from Germany.

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Not harder than it is for us to order American products. Maybe even easier, because Americans are probably hit with less taxes on import.

Eeyore said:

Well, is it harder to import from Germany than from the UK?

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It is when you live in the UK

Eeyore said:

Not harder than it is for us to order American products. Maybe even easier, because Americans are probably hit with less taxes on import.

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We don't have import tax on consumer products, I don't believe. I've never had to pay them at least.

Yawn.. Few threads on UK forums where someone actually bothered to speak to the manufacturing customers services and surprise surprise Colgate themselves didn't know that they stopped making soap sticks. The chap was reassured that there are no plans to drop the production.

To those who grate, don't. It is easier to slice the stick like Salmi, arrange slices in container, add a bit of H2o ,let it sit in the container and use. After a day the soap fits nicely.

Edison Diplomat the 3rd said:

Yawn.. Few threads on UK forums where someone actually bothered to speak to the manufacturing customers services and surprise surprise Colgate themselves didn't know that they stopped making soap sticks. The chap was reassured that there are no plans to drop the production.

To those who grate, don't. It is easier to slice the stick like Salmi, arrange slices in container, add a bit of H2o ,let it sit in the container and use. After a day the soap fits nicely.

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I'll try that next time!! Thanks for the tip!!

Eeyore said:

And what is for sale in Germany can also be (privately) imported into the USA.

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Not in general, no. There are quite a few examples where this isn't the case (Kinder surprise eggs, for example. Or rum chocolate). And for the Palmolive stick, it contains CI 11680 ("Pigment Yellow 1"), an azo dye that is BANNED for cosmetic use by the U.S. FDA. The EU allows it for cosmetic products that do not come in contact with mucous membranes. I'm not sure in how far small-scale imports are affected by that, however. I would think they usually just 'slip through'.

nwjs said:

Not in general, no. There are quite a few examples where this isn't the case (Kinder surprise eggs, for example. Or rum chocolate). And for the Palmolive stick, it contains CI 11680 ("Pigment Yellow 1"), an azo dye that is BANNED for cosmetic use by the U.S. FDA. The EU allows it for cosmetic products that do not come in contact with mucous membranes. I'm not sure in how far small-scale imports are affected by that, however. I would think they usually just 'slip through'.

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Droppin' the science!

nwjs said:

Not in general, no. There are quite a few examples where this isn't the case (Kinder surprise eggs, for example. Or rum chocolate). And for the Palmolive stick, it contains CI 11680 ("Pigment Yellow 1"), an azo dye that is BANNED for cosmetic use by the U.S. FDA. The EU allows it for cosmetic products that do not come in contact with mucous membranes. I'm not sure in how far small-scale imports are affected by that, however. I would think they usually just 'slip through'.

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Seems to me that EU Palmolive stick should not be under FDA jurisdiction. Its ingredients fit the regulatory definition of soap: composed primarily of alkalai salts of fatty acids, with no detergent ingredients that I can identify. That should make it a matter for the CPSC instead of the FDA, and as far as I can tell from cpsc.gov that body has no position on CI 11680.

However there might be a gray area around intended use: the regulation specifies that the "product is labeled, sold, and represented only as soap." Maybe Palmolive just needs to label the stuff more prominently with the word "soap", to clear that up?