J&J is winding down sales of its baby powder in the US and Canada – the product is being phased out completely in those countries.
The household name has been battered with class action lawsuits in recent years – its two most controversial products being No More Tears baby shampoo (after pressure it removed potentially harmful ingredients from the formula) and J&J Baby Powder.
But lately, its baby powder has been under fire for containing traces of asbestos that allegedly J&J knew about, all along.
Women have been winning lawsuits against the global ‘self-care’ giant claiming that the asbestos triggered their ovarian cancer.
One of the categories I love the most in our baby awards is Best Natural Baby Powder. There are more and more of these – one of the best known is NYR’s baby talc – and talc-free beauty is now a thing/trend, too.
“Johnson & Johnson cited “declining demand,” due to what it called a “constant barrage of litigation advertising.”
Reporting on the J&J Baby Powder phase-out, in a piece by Glossy.co, clean makeup brand Ilia Beauty’s founder Sasha Plavsic commented:
“Clean beauty brands tend to use corn starch, mica or silica instead of talc.”
“There are ways of almost trying to replicate the sensorial feel and texture, but you usually have to use a few different ingredients or raw materials to recreate it.”
Glossy adds:
“Talc is on Sephora’s list of 54 ingredients that can’t be used, in order to be labeled Clean at Sephora — but with the addendum, “Asbestos free talc is ok. Brands need to conduct testing to ensure no contamination.”
As Glossy points out:
“Shunned by clean beauty purveyors for years, talc has gained recent mainstream attention as an ingredient to avoid.
“A report last week by Reuters found that Chanel, Revlon and L’Oréal are removing talc from their products following Johnson & Johnson’s announcement on May 19 that it would be discontinuing talc-based baby powder in the U.S. and Canada. In its announcement, Johnson & Johnson cited “declining demand,” due to what it called a “constant barrage of litigation advertising.”
“The most high-profile case against Johnson & Johnson occurred in 2018, when a court awarded $4.69 billion to a group of 22 women who filed the suit stating that asbestos in the baby powder had caused cancer.”
The Glossy article adds: “The brand has faced thousands of lawsuits related to talc and cancer, as have Chanel, Avon and Revlon, according to Reuters. The most high-profile case against Johnson & Johnson occurred in 2018, when a court awarded $4.69 billion to a group of 22 women who filed the suit stating that asbestos in the baby powder had caused cancer.
“The public consciousness around the health concerns of talc was heightened last year as the FDA issued warnings about asbestos found in talc cosmetics products, including Claire’s eyeshadows by teen and tween influencer Jojo Siwa.”
How many lawsuits?
There are 16,000 lawsuits against J&J ‘s baby talc, and despite J&J wanting to bar all of the plaintiffs’ experts from testifying, proceedings are going ahead (Reuters)
Despite the demise of J&J Baby Powder in north America, sales will continue in the UK (but watch this space).
Read the excellent Glossy article HERE
MORE on this story in the New York Times
