Johnson and Johnson launched its talc-based baby powder in 1894. The product has been a commercial success, widely known for its usage across various age groups, from babies to adult women. However, in August this year, the company announced that the product would be discontinued globally from 2023. In fact, the company had already discontinued its sales in the United States and Canada two years ago in 2020. Exactly what happened for the company to suspend the product’s sales after 125 years of fruitful operations? Is Johnson and Johnson planning to introduce an alternative to its ever-popular baby powder?
What’s the first name that pops up in your mind when goods like baby powder, baby oil, and baby soap are mentioned? Every mother who strolls through the aisles of baby products has inevitably seen the cute, pastel pink and white-packaged products offered by this company. Johnson and Johnson, it is!
Johnson and Johnson is a renowned name for products ranging from bandages and women’s sanitary pads to medical devices and technology and pharmaceutical products like medicines for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and vaccines for infectious illnesses. The company promotes its baby care products under the brand Johnson’s, a name that is more familiar among the masses.
Johnson’s Baby Powder, Johnson’s Baby Soap and Johnson’s Baby Shampoo’s NO MORE TEARS are arguably the most famous baby care products under the aegis of Johnson and Johnson, often not limited to usage by babies only. These products are used by women as well, who believe the products to be free of any harmful chemicals, unlike products from other brands.
Johnson and Johnson launched its talc-based baby powder in 1894. For 125 years, the powder has been observed to be used not only for infants, but also by adult women. Talc, also known as hydrous magnesium silicate, is the softest known mineral on earth that has been used since ancient Egyptian times as an absorbent of sweat on the skin. It is also used in cosmetics, antiperspirants, and soaps. It is said to be a safe substance, causing no harm or chemical reaction when ingested or used on the skin. Talc is mined around the world like many other minerals. Johnson and Johnson claims that only pharmaceutical grade talc is used in its baby powder.
However, by the 1990s, the company was facing allegations from women around the world who claimed that using the powder gave them health issues like mesothelioma and ovarian cancer. Johnson and Johnson was accused of using asbestos in its baby powder, a carcinogenic mineral found near talc deposits. To put it simply, accusers alleged that the talc used in the baby powder was contaminated with asbestos due to the proximity of the two minerals on earth. Unlike talc, asbestos is proven to cause dangerous illnesses like lung cancer, mesothelioma, and ovarian cancer – if exposed to the perineum (the region of the body between the anus and the genital organs).
In the US alone, Johnson and Johnson currently has 40,300 cases pending in relation to the asbestos contamination of its baby powder, and has been asked to pay damages worth USD 3.5 billion. A verdict from a Missouri Court held that the powder indeed contained asbestos and the company was asked to pay USD 4.7 billion in damages to 22 women, all of whom were suffering from ovarian cancer.
In 2019, the US Food and Drug Administration found traces of asbestos in 33,000 bottles of baby powder, compelling J&J to recall the bottles. However, the company later issued a statement that no traces of asbestos were found in the bottles as per the tests conducted by them. Later on, in 2020, sales of the baby powder were discontinued in the US and Canada due to, as reasoned by Johnson and Johnson, changing consumer habits “fueled by misinformation around the safety of the product and a constant barrage of litigation advertising.”
In 2021, a company named LTL Management LLC was created by J&J in Texas and all the cases and claims were transferred to it. Later, LTL filed for bankruptcy and all the cases were put on hold – a move by the company to delay the cases and claims, as many opposing lawyers have stated.
On 11th August 2022, the company announced that it would stop selling the talc-based baby powder globally from 2023. The company has made a “commercial decision” to move to a cornstarch-based baby powder portfolio to “best position the business for long-term growth.”
Despite the conspicuous scandal that has attracted the attention of many health associations around the world, the company claims that decades of independent scientific testing have confirmed that “our products are safe, do not contain asbestos, and do not cause cancer.” Johnson and Johnson’s detailed statements countering the litigations against them are available on this page.
(https://www.factsabouttalc.com/litigation)
Written by Sana Gilani
Edited by Hrishita Desai