Johnson & Johnson recalls baby powder in US after asbestos discovery

Health care giant Johnson & Johnson has recalled 33,000 bottles of baby powder in the US, after health regulators found trace amounts of asbestos in a bottle purchased online.

Government officials said customers should stop using powder from the affected batch “immediately”.

J&J said it had launched a review and prior tests have not found asbestos.

The firm is facing thousands of lawsuits from people who claim its talc products caused cancer.

Johnson & Johnson has strongly denied those accusations.

In a statement, the company said “Out of an abundance of caution, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. (JJCI) announced that it is initiating a voluntary recall in the United States of a single lot of its Johnson’s Baby Powder in response to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) test indicating the presence of sub-trace levels of chrysotile asbestos contamination (no greater than 0.00002%) in samples from a single bottle purchased from an online retailer. Despite the low levels reported and in full cooperation and collaboration with the FDA, JJCI is initiating this voluntary recall of Lot #22318RB of Johnson’s Baby Powder, from which the tested sample was taken.

In parallel, JJCI has immediately initiated a rigorous, thorough investigation into this matter, and is working with the FDA to determine the integrity of the tested sample, and the validity of the test results. At this early stage of the investigation, JJCI:

• Cannot confirm if cross-contamination of the sample caused a false positive.

• Cannot confirm whether the sample was taken from a bottle with an intact seal or whether the sample was prepared in a controlled environment.

• Cannot confirm whether the tested product is authentic or counterfeit.”

The FDA has been testing dozens of products for asbestos, a known carcinogen amid rising concerns among the public. It said there was no indication that the product was counterfeit or had been tainted during testing.

The FDA “stands by the quality of its testing and results”, it said.

It is not aware of any adverse events relating to exposure to the lot of affected products, it added.

Via BBC / Johnson and Johnson