Johnson & Johnson ceases global sales of baby talcum powder after years of scandal

Sold since 1894, Johnson's baby powder has become a symbol of the company's family image.

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Johnson & Johnson will stop selling talc-based baby powders worldwide in 2023, the pharmaceutical maker announced on Thursday (August 11th), more than two years after ending sales in the United States and Canada of a product that has been the subject of thousands of consumer safety lawsuits.

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We have made the decision to use cornstarch for our baby powders from now on, the manufacturer said.

In 2020, J&J had already announced that it would stop selling its talc-based baby powder in the United States and Canada because demand had plummeted following what the company called " 

 " about product safety.

The complaints then multiplied.

Traces of asbestos, a carcinogen (causing mesothelioma), were found in some talc samples.

, associations of asbestos victims were concerned - without success - about the potential dangerousness of these products.   

The company faces approximately 38,000 lawsuits from consumers and their descendants who claim its talc-containing products have caused cancer due to asbestos contamination.

Talc is a natural mineral but in mined deposits it can

including asbestos.

J&J denies these claims, saying decades of scientific testing and regulatory approvals have shown its talc to be safe and free of asbestos.

On Thursday, she reiterated that statement when announcing the discontinuation of the product.

On the market since 1984

A 2018 Reuters investigation, however, revealed that J&J had known for decades that asbestos was present in its talcs.

Internal company records, trial testimony and other evidence have shown that from at least 1971 through the early 2000s, samples of raw talc and finished powders from J&J occasionally tested positive for small amounts of asbestos.

Sold since 1894, Johnson's baby powder was in marketing terms central to the company's communications despite representing only about 0.5% of its consumer health business in the United States when the company pulled it from the shelves.

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: asbestos: a scourge still present in Europe

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