Johnson & Johnson will stop selling talc baby powder worldwide

Johnson & Johnson will discontinue sales of talc-based baby powder worldwide beginning next year.

The company already stopped selling talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder in the U.S. and Canada in 2020 after hundreds of people filed lawsuits claiming it caused cancer.

A 2018 Reuters investigation found that between 1970 and the early 2000s, Johnson’s Baby Powder occasionally tested positive for small amounts of the carcinogen asbestos. The report also said that company executives knew about it.

In this April 15, 2011, photo, a bottle of Johnson's Baby Powder is displayed in San Francisco.
In this April 15, 2011, photo, a bottle of Johnson's Baby Powder is displayed in San Francisco.


In this April 15, 2011, photo, a bottle of Johnson's Baby Powder is displayed in San Francisco. (Jeff Chiu/)

Johnson & Johnson has consistently argued that its talc baby powder is safe. The company said its decision to pull the product was based on “misinformation” that led people to stop buying it.

Courts have awarded more than $2 billion to people who have sued Johnson & Johnson and argued that Johnson’s Baby Powder caused cancer.

Johnson & Johnson, which is based in New Brunswick, N.J., has replaced the talc powder with cornstarch-based powder.

“Our position on the safety of our cosmetic talc remains unchanged,” the company said Thursday. “We stand firmly behind the decades of independent scientific analysis by medical experts around the world that confirms talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe, does not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer.”

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