Gilchrist & Soames
Privately held | |
Industry | Hotel Amenities |
Founded | 1975 |
Founder | Anthony Karger & Michael Karger |
Headquarters | Plainfield, Indiana, United States |
Products | Hotel Amenities |
Owner | Sysco Guest Supply |
Number of employees | 100+ |
Website | http://www.gilchristsoames.com |
Gilchrist & Soames is a Plainfield, Indiana-based marketer of English-themed in-room toiletry hotel amenities. The company is known primarily for massive, repeated recalls of its contaminated products. These large-scale recalls have included its 2007 recall of Chinese-made, Gilchrist & Soames-branded toothpaste contaminated with poisonous dietheylene glycol,[1][2] part of the 2007 Chinese export recalls, its 2014 recalls of products contaminated with the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter gergoviae,[3] and its 2015 recalls of millions of items carrying unspecified microbial contamination.[4]
History & Corporate Ownership
Founded in London in 1975 by Anthony Karger and Michael Karger,[5] Gilchrist & Soames’ early product line focused on home fragrance and candles. In 1984 Gilchrist & Soames was purchased by Potter & Moore, a UK-based toiletries company.[6] The United States-based portion of the company was purchased by Anthony Gilas and Michael Gilas in 1990; they launched its spa, bath and body collection.
In 1998, Indianapolis-based E&A Industries, an Indiana conglomerate owned by Allan B. Hubbard, an Indianapolis businessman, acquired the company and moved North American operations to Indianapolis. E&A in 2007 sold Gilchrist & Soames for $51 million to Swander Pace Capital, a San Francisco private-equity firm.[7] In September, 2015 Gilchrist & Soames was acquired by Sysco Guest Supply, a subsidiary of Sysco and a distributor of a wide range of hotel products.[8]
Manufacturing
Gilchrist & Soames' 250,000 square-foot manufacturing, research, development and distribution facility is headquartered in Plainfield, Indiana. Gilchrist & Soames emphasizes that while it maintains “strategic alliances with suppliers and manufacturers worldwide,” including companies in China, Mexico and other countries, such as Ming Fai Enterprises International in Kowloon, “all of our partner companies undergo frequent inspections and rigorous screenings to ensure they meet our rigid quality standards and are environmentally friendly.”[9] Gilchrist & Soames operates an on-site laboratory, quality assurance processes and distribution and logistics systems. The company does not explain how its laboratory and quality assurance processes relate to its repeated recalls of contaminated products.[10]
Poisonous Toothpaste Recall
In August 2007, Gilchrist & Soames conducted a voluntary worldwide recall, in cooperation with the FDA, of its toothpaste with the company name on it. Gilchrist & Soames immediately recalled its toothpaste, made in China, after the FDA issued its warning that tests showed the toothpaste contained poisonous diethylene glycol.[11][12] Diethyelene glycol is used, among other uses, to thicken antifreeze and as a component in brake fluid, lubricants, wallpaper strippers, artificial fog solutions, and heating/cooking fuel.[13][14] The FDA stated at the time that it was not aware of any U.S. reports of any harmful effects from the toothpaste containing diethylene glycol.[15]
First Bacterial Contamination Recall
On December 18, 2014, in cooperation with an enforcement action of the FDA, Gilchrist & Soames initiated a worldwide recall of numerous lots of several different products in its lines, including certain conditioning shampoos, mineral baths, shower gels and body washes.[16] The FDA noted that all the products "may be contaminated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter gergoviae," potentially dangerous pathogens, capable of causing death.[17] Gilchrist & Soames claimed that all recipients were notified of the recall of the dangerous products and they were able to recall up to 75 percent of the products distributed.[18] The FDA did not at that time report any harm associated with Gilchrist & Soames' products.
Second Bacterial Contamination Recall
On December 7, 2015, in cooperation with another enforcement action of the FDA, Gilchrist & Soames initiated a worldwide voluntary Class II recall of a wide range of different products. The forty-four different products included shampoos, body washes, body lotions, mineral baths, and numerous other types of products, amounting to more than two million items.[19] They included Gilchrist & Soames pseudo-brands, such as Spa Therapy, Verde, and BeeKind, and they also included custom products produced for such hospitality properties as Mohonk Mountain House, Gaylord Hotels and Hyatt.[20] The FDA noted that the affected products were produced over several months, ranging from June, 2015 through September, 2015, and that Gilchrist & Soames had voluntarily initiated the recall " due to microbial contamination from bacteria." The contaminated products were distributed in the United States and worldwide, including in Canada and Australia.[21]
References
- ↑ "Gilchrist & Soames Initiates Urgent Worldwide Toothpaste Voluntary Recall". Retrieved 24 February 2015.
- ↑ "Chinese Made Hotel Toothpaste Recalled". Retrieved 24 February 2015.
- ↑ "Your Soap Has Bacteria In It, But It Still Gets You Clean". Retrieved 24 February 2015.
- ↑ "Gilchrist & Soames Initiates Recall". Retrieved 13 December 2015.
- ↑ "Gilchrist & Soames enjoying sweet smell of success". Retrieved 22 July 2015.
- ↑ "Cultivating Creativity". Package Design Magazine. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ↑ "Gilchrist & Soames enjoying the sweet smell of success". Indianapolis Business Journal. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ↑ "Guest Supply Acquires Gilchrist & Soames". Retrieved 21 September 2015.
- ↑ http://ushoteliers.gilchristsoames.com/operations.php/what_manufacturing
- ↑ "World Class Operations". Gilchrist & Soames. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
- ↑ "Hotel Toiletries Supplier Recalls Toxic Toothpaste". Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- ↑ "Gilchrist & Soames Recalls China-Made Toothpaste". Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- ↑ Diethylene glycol
- ↑ "Chinese made hotel toothpaste recalled". NBC news. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
- ↑ "Gilchrist & Soames Initiates Urgent Worldwide Toothpaste Voluntary Recall".
- ↑ "Enforcement Report - Week of February 11, 2015". Retrieved 24 February 2015.
- ↑ Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- ↑ "Possibly tainted bath products donated to Red Cross". Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ↑ "Gilchrist & Soames Recall Tops Two Million Cosmetic Products". Retrieved 23 December 2015.
- ↑ "Enforcement Report - Week of December 2, 2015". Retrieved 13 December 2015.
- ↑ "Enforcement Report - Week of December 2, 2015". Retrieved 13 December 2015.