Yunnan Baiyao's gum-bleeding toothpaste worked because of a Western drug

In October 2018, a verified Weibo doctor account pointed out that Yunnan Baiyao's toothpaste ingredient list included tranexamic acid — a prescription anti-fibrinolytic drug used in hospitals to stop bleeding — raising the question of whether the toothpaste's marketed relief from gum bleeding actually came from the century-old herbal formula the Yunnan Baiyao brand was built on, or from the undisclosed drug ingredient.

Yunnan Baiyao responded on October 23, 2018 that every ingredient complied with China's toothpaste raw-material standard GB 22115, and the national oral-care products industry association backed the company, noting tranexamic acid wasn't on any restricted list. But a Changsha consumer found that the same toothpaste sold in the US and Australia carried no tranexamic acid at all — it listed only notoginseng extract, the herbal ingredient the domestic marketing credited with the anti-bleeding effect.

Consumer Liu Gao sued the retailer and Yunnan Baiyao Group for marketing that attributed the toothpaste's gum-bleeding relief to its herbal formula. In January 2019 a Changsha court ordered the retailer to refund Liu 26.8 yuan, ordered Yunnan Baiyao Group to pay him 3.15 yuan, ordered the company to stop the disputed marketing claim, and ordered a public clarification and apology in national media.