Tom’s Foolery
Tom’s of Maine, that homespun brand from the quaint little state of Maine, wouldn’t lie to you about its toothpaste, would it?
Yes, it would. It turns out that the popular brand, now owned by Colgate-Palmolive, is lying to you about quite a few things, including the biggest lie: that Tom’s of Maine toothpaste is organic (it’s not).
If you’re a conscious consumer who cares about everything you put in your mouth, including toothpaste, you might at some point have gone online to search for organic toothpaste. If you did, you might have been woefully misled. Guess what happened when we googled “organic toothpaste?” Several Tom’s of Maine toothpaste products popped up. Strange, given that Tom’s of Maine doesn’t even use organic ingredients in its toothpaste, much less does the brand offer a certified organic toothpaste.
So why did Tom's of Maine show up in our searches for “organic toothpaste?”
Because on its company website, under the title “How to Identify Organic Toothpaste,” Tom’s makes a number of false and misleading claims clearly intended to imply that its own brand of toothpaste is organic, even though it isn’t. (Here’s the webpage. We also archived it here, on August 10, 2016, in case the company removes the lies after it hears from consumers and OCA’s lawyers).
The company even mentions us, the Organic Consumers Association—in a clear attempt to insinuate that OCA endorses Tom's of Maine.
Tom’s of Maine built its reputation on being an independent, honest, ethical (no animal testing) brand. But in 2006, Colgate-Palmolive bought a controlling 84-percent interest in the company. We all know what happens when the big, greedy, unethical (Colgate tests its products on animals) big guys buy up the little guys—nothing good.
We don’t like being used. We also don’t think it’s fair to brands like Dr. Bronner’s, whose toothpaste does contain organic ingredients, that Tom’s of Maine can lie about its toothpaste being organic when it doesn’t even contain organic ingredients. And we especially don’t like it when brands falsely imply their products are “organic.”
TAKE ACTION: Tell Tom’s of Maine: Your toothpaste is not organic. Stop misleading consumers!
Read OCA’s letter to Tom’s of Maine.
Post on Tom’s of Maine Facebook.
Tweet @Tom's of Maine. Use the hashtag #notorganic.
Call Tom’s of Maine 212-310-2000.
See also:
The Continuing Saga Of Fluoride – Is There An End In Sight?
Food Companies Plan To Label GMOs—But Is There More To The Story?
