When I lived in the UK, I was a smoker, and -- having grown up in the US -- I was always surprised by the frankness of their cigarette warnings. Some were quite scary, such as: "Smoking Causes Impotence." Others got straight to the point, and state simply: "Smoking Kills."

Of course, these statements are entirely accurate, and are both great examples of why you shouldn't take up smoking (I've since quit, by the way). However, the British government doesn't feel that they're strong enough, and will be adding full-color graphics to the back of cigarette packets by the end of 2009.

The BBC has posted all the warnings on their website, including photos of black lungs, sick babies, enormous tumors and dead people -- all accompanied by the same, straightforward messages that are used currently.

I don't know if this will be any more effective than the government's current strategy, but I'd certainly hate to look at that every time I went to light up.

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Colgate released a statement earlier today warning that fake, potentially toxic "Colgate" toothpaste has been discovered in discount stores in four US states.

The toxic ingredient is diethylene glycol, also known as DEG. It's believed that whoever manufactured the fraudulent toothpaste used this chemical instead of fluoride. DEG is the same drug the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) warned consumers about 2 weeks ago, when they found it in tubes of Cooldent toothpaste, manufactured in China.

Consumers can differentiate real Colgate from the fake, discount brand by checking to see where the product originated. The fake toothpaste is labeled as being manufactured in South Africa, a country from which Colgate does not important any products to the US. Also, the packaging of the false product contains a number of misspellings.

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