Tom’s of Maine Toothpaste Has a Bacteria Problem, FDA Says

Tom’s of Maine, the folksy, people sourced toothpaste of crunchy-granola-types everywhere, has a occupation that, connected the whole, seems to acceptable a marque preferred by soiled hippies. The Food and Drug Administration precocious admonished the institution aft a authorities inspector recovered grounds of aggregate bacteria successful the company’s products and astatine 1 of its factories.

CBS first reported connected the company’s troubles, basing its study connected a precocious published warning letter sent by the regulatory bureau to the toothpaste company. That FDA missive warns the toothpaste institution that, among different things, its Tom’s Simply White Clean Mint toothpaste, had been recovered to incorporate Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a germ that “can origin infections successful the humor and lungs.” At the aforesaid time, different troubling bacteria that has been linked to infections, Paracoccus yeei, was recovered successful different 1 of its products, Wicked Cool! Anticavity Toothpaste.

Also discovered astatine 1 of the company’s factories was Ralstonia insidiosa, yet another bacteria, that was recovered successful h2o samples taken from the facility. The missive besides notes that an inspector recovered “a achromatic mold-like substance” wrong the installation wherever the toothpaste was being produced, successful adjacent proximity to a h2o retention tank.

The authorities chastised the company, encouraging it to support its h2o sources clean, since it plays specified a large relation successful the company’s merchandise base. “Water is simply a large constituent successful galore of your OTC cause products,” the missive notes. “It is indispensable that you employment a h2o strategy that is robustly designed, and that you efficaciously control, maintain, and show the strategy to guarantee it consistently produces h2o suitable for pharmaceutical use.”

Overall, the FDA accuses the institution of having “failed to travel due written procedures, designed to forestall objectionable microorganisms successful cause products.”

When reached for remark by Gizmodo, the institution said: “We’re moving with the FDA and are remedying the issues raised successful their May inspection of the Tom’s toothpaste manufacturing works successful Sanford, Maine. We person ever tested finished goods earlier they permission our control, and we stay afloat assured successful the information and prime of the toothpaste we make. In addition, we person engaged h2o specialists to measure our systems astatine Sanford, person implemented further safeguards to guarantee compliance with FDA standards, and our h2o investigating shows nary issues.”

Tom’s of Maine was founded in 1970 and yet grew into a $100 cardinal business. It was bought by Colgate-Palmolive successful 2006.