Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday announced that it would stop selling its talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder in the United States and Canada, making the decision after a consumer products “portfolio reassessment related to COVID-19.”
The US healthcare conglomerate said it would wind down sales of the product, which makes up about 0.5% of its US consumer health business, in the coming months, but that retailers will continue to sell existing inventory.
J&J faces more than 16 000 lawsuits from consumers claiming its talc products, including Johnson’s Baby Powder, caused their cancer.
The majority are pending before a US district judge in New Jersey.
The lawsuits allege that the company’s talc products have been contaminated with asbestos, a known carcinogen. J&J said it “remains steadfastly confident in the safety of talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder,” citing “decades of scientific studies.”
J&J in December said its testing found no asbestos in its Baby Powder after tests conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration discovered trace amounts.
The FDA’s test prompted J&J to recall of one lot of Johnson’s Baby Powder in October.
“Demand for talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder in North America has been declining due in large part to changes in consumer habits and fueled by misinformation around the safety of the product and a constant barrage of litigation advertising,” J&J said in a statement.
J&J has repeatedly said that its talc products are safe, and that decades of studies have shown them to be asbestos-free and that they do not cause cancer.
J&J said it will continue to sell cornstarch-based baby powder in North America, and that it will sell both its talc- and cornstarch-based products in other markets around the world.