A recent inspection of a Tom’s of Maine facility found that the company’s toothpaste was made using bacteria-tained water, among other serious health violations, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

In a warning letter to CEO Noel Wallace, the FDA said the inspection uncovered disease-causing bacteria in water used to make Tom’s Simply White Clean Mint Paste. The water was sampled between June 2021 to Oct. 2022.

The company uncovered a different bacteria in its Wicked Cool! Anticavity Toothpaste, and justified the bacteria as “sample contamination” without sufficient evidence, the FDA said.

An agency investigator also found a mould-like substance near a water storage tank at the company’s facility in Sanford, Maine, and a powdery residue on a surface near a station where Tom’s Silly Strawberry Anticavity was being made.

The FDA letter said that the facility’s water system is inadequate and that the company needs a better complaints system to address consumer concerns.

“For example, approximately 400 complaints related to [odour], [colour], and taste in your toothpaste products, including those for children, were not investigated,” the letter read.

“These complaints are not investigated because your procedure requires an investigation only if a trend is identified.”

The agency added that the violations outlined in the letter were not intended as an exhaustive list, and that it’s the company’s responsibility to identify the cause of violations and prevent them from recurring.

Tom’s of Maine is a natural personal care brand owned by household products giant Colgate-Palmolive. CBC News reached out to the company for a statement.

“We’re working with the FDA and are remedying the issues raised in their May inspection of the Tom’s toothpaste manufacturing plant in Sanford, Maine,” a spokesperson said.

“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.”

CBC News also reached out to several retailers to ask if they carry any of the products mentioned in the letter.

Much of Downtown Main Street in Rockland and points south fell into darkness for approximately 40 minutes, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. However, the cause was not due to any Rockland incident.

In order to remove a pickup truck from the scene of a single vehicle crash into a utility pole in Owls Head, Central Maine Power Company needed to shut off the entire grid associated with the particular pole. 

At approximately 4:25 p.m., Knox Regional Communications recieved a report of a pickup truck hitting the utility pole on Ingraham Drive at the entrance to the Bayside neighborhood. The impact of the crash broke the pole, which held a transformer, causing lights to flicker in houses at least 2 miles north of the scene.

Owls Head Fire Dept. and Rockland EMS responded to the scene, as did Knox County Sheriff’s Office. 

Approximately 20 minutes after the call, CMP cut the power, sending more lights into darkness and requiring Rockland police to station themselves at intersections such as Union and Limerock streets, while another officer rerouted southbound traffic on Route 73. 

At the scene, the driver and sole occupant declined medical attention. 

CMP restored power to the greater neighborhood at approximately 5:40 p.m., and shortly after, brought in its own traffic flaggers, relieving on-scene firefighters, who returned to their station at 6:05 p.m. Neighbors in the immediate vicinity of the crash, stretching north past the town line into Rockland on one end, remained in the dark for several more hours.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com

The ranked-choice count that confirmed U.S. Rep. Jared Golden’s victory in Maine’s 2nd District took extra time and money, and a state lawmaker wants to change rules around blank ballots to avoid that in the future.

Rep. David Boyer, R-Poland, said he filed a bill for the next legislative session to not require a ranked-choice count in a two-person race if one candidate does not receive at least 50 percent of votes due to blank ballots. Boyer also said he thinks a runoff is not needed if the number of votes received by a declared write-in candidate is not enough to defeat the winner.

It’s a response to the strange race between Golden and state Rep. Austin Theriault, R-Fort Kent, that saw a ranked-choice count stretch into a fourth day last Friday. That evening, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows confirmed that the Democratic incumbent received 50.35 percent of votes to 49.65 percent for Theriault, who has also asked for a recount.

Golden declared victory a day after the Nov. 5 election following the Bangor Daily News and Decision Desk HQ calling the race for him. Bellows then said a ranked-choice count was needed because neither candidate got more than 50 percent of votes in the initial count when including 12,635 ballots that did not indicate a first choice and were considered blank.

The race was also complicated by an official write-in candidate, Diana Merenda of Surry, who got 420 votes after focusing her campaign on opposing America’s financial support of Israel’s military actions. Golden led Theriault by about 2,150 votes after the first round of counting, and his margin expanded to roughly 2,700 after the ranked-choice tally.

Ranked-choice races typically involve at least three candidates whose names appear on the ballot, but Merenda’s name was not on the ballot as a write-in choice. If no candidate receives at least 50 percent of votes, then a runoff eliminates the last-place candidate while tabulating the second-choice votes for candidates to determine the winner.

Under state rules in place since Maine began using the ranked-choice method in 2018, voters can rank as many or as few candidates as they would like. Those who only rank a second choice have their votes initially recorded as blank. If the race goes to a ranked-choice count, those second choices are counted as first choices.

Boyer said he is not sure that he wants to tweak the rules on blank ballots with no first choice and subsequent rankings. He thinks Merenda’s vote total is proof she would not have significantly changed Golden’s lead and that his solution balances practicality with letting write-in candidates “get their voices heard.”

“It’s a bad use of tax dollars when it’s clearly a two-person race,” Boyer said.

Merenda said she opposes Boyer’s proposal. She said the current ranked-choice system “is the will of the people, and that is how it should work.”

Ranked-choice voting has been a sore spot for Maine Republicans since Golden unseated former U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin in 2018, erasing a first-round deficit thanks to his second-choice support from backers of two independent candidates. Since then, Democrats have generally backed the voting method while Republicans oppose it.

Bellows spokesperson Emily Cook said Tuesday her office would want to see Boyer’s bill before taking a position on it. Boyer, who serves on the Legislature’s elections committee, said he has spoken with several Democratic colleagues who he thinks are open to considering his idea.

“I’m not opposed to the idea if it’s in line with what our current laws are, but I want to hear from the secretary of state’s office,” Rep. Laura Supica, D-Bangor, said.