The Texas Attorney General says kids only need a rice-sized smear of toothpaste. He thinks Bluey and Disney Princesses are pushing them to use more than that.
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As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pushing for curbs on fluoride in water under what he says is his Make America Healthy again mission, a Republican ally in Texas is taking that fight to the makers of Bluey and Disney Princess toothpaste.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is opening an investigation into Crest and Colgate toothpaste for kids, saying they are marketing their fluoride in ways that are misleading, deceptive and dangerous to parents and children, according to an exclusive report from the attorney general’s office. Colgate-Palmolive and Proctor & Gamble are the parent companies of the products that are being investigated for their marketing tactics.
Both brands use cartoon characters such as Bluey or Disney Princesses themed, kid-friendly art on the toothpastes.
Citing a controversial study
The AG’s office pointed to a 2024 National Toxicology Program study, often quoted by Kennedy, which they say shows an association between fluoride exposure and lower IQ in children. The study has been criticized by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and the American Dental Association for inadequate statistical rigor and other methodological flaws.
”The more you get, the stupider you are, and we need smart kids in this country, and we need healthy kids,” Kennedy said during a cabinet meeting on April 30 with President Donald Trump.
At the meeting, Kennedy praised Utah for becoming the first state to ban local governments from adding fluoride to public water systems, and said he was working to “change the federal fluoride regulations to change the recommendations. Florida is poised to ban fluoride in its public drinking water.
Scientists and dental health organizations have warned that Kennedy’s plan is disastrous for public health. The health secretary has said he will tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending cities and states add fluoride to public water systems. Adding fluoride to water, a process called fluoridation, is not required by law.
Just a ‘rice-sized smear’ of toothpaste
Paxton’s office contends that while the CDC recommends just a rice-sized “smear” of toothpaste on the brush until the child is three, toothpaste manufacturers “mislead their parents to use far more than the safe and recommended” amounts.
“I will use every tool available to protect our kids from dangerous levels of fluoride exposure and deceptive advertising,” Paxton said, according to a copy of the announcement viewed by USA TODAY.
In early April, Paxton launched an investigation into Kellogg’s for marketing its products as “healthy,” despite containing petroleum-based artificial food colorings that have been linked to “hyperactivity, obesity, and autoimmune disease.”
Kennedy announced on April 22 that eight artificial dyes will be eliminated from medications and the nation’s food supply by the end of 2026. He has linked the synthetic dyes to neurological ailments such as ADHD.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal