J&J to stop selling talc-based baby powder in U.S., Canada

J&J to stop selling talc-based baby powder in U.S., Canada

Johnson and Johnson on Tuesday said it would stop selling its talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder in the United States and Canada as part of a broad reassesment of its consumer product portfolio prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gavino Garay has more.

Johnson and Johnson on Tuesday said it would stop selling its talc-based baby powder in the United States and Canada as part of a broad reassessment of its consumer product portfolio prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

J&J faces lawsuits from consumers claiming its talc products, including Johnson’s Baby Powder, caused their cancer, but J&J said it remains confident in the product's safety.

In October of last year, J&J recalled around more than 30,000 bottles of baby powder in the United States after the FDA said it had found trace amounts of asbestos in samples taken from a bottle purchased online.

The voluntary recall was limited to one lot of Johnson’s Baby Powder produced and shipped in the United States in 2018, the company said at the time.

In December 2019, Johnson & Johnson said that tests showed that its baby powder was free of asbestos, after FDA investigations reported trace amounts of the material in the product.