FDA says water infected with bacteria was used to make Tom’s of Maine toothpaste

A Tom’s of Maine facility making toothpaste and other products with natural ingredients was found to have infected water, reported the Food and Drug Administration.

Several types of infection-causing bacteria were found in the water at the company’s Sanford, Maine, facility this year, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Ralstonia insidiosa, the FDA wrote in a Nov. 5 letter to Tom’s of Maine parent company Colgate-Palmolive.

The tested water was used to make products and rinse equipment.

A batch of one of the brand’s toothpastes also tested positive for the Paracoccus yeei bacterium and released for sale, something the FDA said the company shouldn’t have done.

In addition to the bacteria, the FDA found black mold near a hose and behind a water tank, close to equipment used to make Tom’s of Maine products. A powdery substance, which the FDA didn’t identify in the letter, was seen on a steel tray used to make another Tom’s toothpaste variety.

The FDA also found that the company’s process for handling product complaints was inadequate.

“You only investigate complaints related to adverse event, foreign matter and incorrect product. For example, approximately 400 complaints related to odor, color and taste in your toothpaste products, including those for children, were not investigated. These complaints are not investigated because your procedure requires an investigation only if a trend is identified,” the FDA wrote.

In a statement this week, Colgate-Palmolive told ABC News that “we have always tested finished goods before they leave our control, and we remain fully confident in the safety and quality of the toothpaste we make. In addition, we have engaged water specialists to evaluate our systems at Sanford, have implemented additional safeguards to ensure compliance with FDA standards, and our water testing shows no issues.”