Hawai'i consumers should check their kitchen pantries for veggie snacks that may be tainted with salmonella and search their bathrooms for toothpaste that may be counterfeit or contain dangerous ingredients.

After clearing stores of the items in recent weeks, the state Health Department yesterday asked consumers to dispose of, or return to stores, both types of products. While the snacks and counterfeit toothpaste have been found in local stores in recent weeks, Health Department officials stressed that they had not received any reports locally of related illnesses.

Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo did not say which stores stocked the items.

The snacks are manufactured by Robert's American Gourmet under the names Veggie Booty and Super Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks. The New York-based company voluntarily recalled both products several weeks ago after reports of salmonella poisoning.

The toothpaste is tied to recent concerns about Chinese products. The Health Department told consumers and retailers to dispose of counterfeit Colgate toothpaste, which all appear to be labeled as made in South Africa. The department said the items could contain harmful bacteria or the poisonous chemical diethylene glycol, or DEG.

Okubo also said her agency is recommending that consumers and retailers throw away all toothpaste from China. The federal Food and Drug Administration has found DEG in other Chinese toothpaste and is stopping all imports of suspect toothpaste.

The vegetable snacks being voluntarily recalled are found in various supermarket chains and health food stores. Locally, managers at Down To Earth and Umeke Market Natural Foods & Deli said they sold Veggie Booty snacks but pulled them from shelves more than a week ago after notification from the Health Department and the maker.

"Whenever anything like this happens, we put the customers' safety first and immediately pull the product from the shelf," said Tandis Bishop, Down to Earth marketing director.

An information officer at Safeway's California office said the snacks were found in Mainland stores but that she could not immediately confirm if they were ever sold in Hawai'i Safeways.

Representatives at Longs Drug Stores, Don Quijote and Foodland supermarkets said they did not carry Veggie Booty or Super Veggie Tings snacks. Representatives from Star Markets and Times Supermarket could not be reached for comment.

The Health Department said that as of yesterday, there have been 54 reports of salmonella linked to veggie snacks in 17 states, nearly all occurring in children 10 years and younger. Salmonella typically causes diarrhea and may be accompanied by abdominal cramps and fever. In infants and those with weak immune systems, the illness can cause life-threatening infections.

The FDA is investigating the contamination. American Gour-met's Web site said its preliminary tests show seasoning found in the snacks, mostly from China, are the likely cause of the bacteria.

Meanwhile, health officials locally and nationally are emphasizing that the Colgate-Palmolive Co. does not import toothpaste into the U.S. from South Africa. Colgate, on its Web site, said its toothpaste is marked as having been manufactured in New York and does not use diethylene glycol.

Counterfeit toothpaste and Chinese toothpaste are typically sold in small stores or discounters.

Officials with 99 Marukai Superstore and Pricebusters confirmed that they both pulled China-made toothpaste from their shelves in recent weeks. A Longs Drugs official said the company does not sell counterfeit or Chinese-made toothpaste.

Yuichi Katayama, 99 Marukai Superstore's Ward Avenue branch manager, said his company voluntarily pulled Fluoride and Animal Kingdom brand toothpastes, both made in China, a little more than a week ago. The company has not received any complaints or reports of problems, he said.

Lauren Murphy, comptroller at Pricebusters, said her company pulled Dr. Fresh toothpaste from its shelves voluntarily. While made in China, the toothpaste does not contain diethylene glycol, Murphy said, and technically is not part of the ban. Pricebusters officials faxed to The Advertiser a letter from California-based Dr. Fresh stating emphatically that its product is unaffected by the FDA health alert.

The Health Department's Okubo said with so many different types of toothpaste from China, consumers should err on the side of safety and stay away from all Chinese-made toothpaste.

East Honolulu resident Leslie Roberts, a manager at Teddy's Bigger Burgers Hawai'i Kai who was shopping at Down to Earth's Mo'ili'ili branch, said she's not worried about contamination in her food. "Food shouldn't be on the market if I have to worry about it being contaminated."

Honolulu resident Leanne Kwok, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker, said she thinks that food is generally safe for consumption and that the salmonella scare won't stop her from shopping at Down to Earth or buying health food.

Nonetheless, Kwok said, "I wouldn't trust foreign packaged foods because their technology isn't the same as American standards."

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.