Johnson & Johnson (J&J) still supplies SA retailers with its baby powder, more than two years after withdrawing it from US and Canadian shelves following litigation related to asbestos contamination in the product. The group’s South African office is unable to say when it will be pulled from local shelves.
J&J announced plans to pull the powder off North American shelves in 2020 after demand was driven down by what the company calls “misleading talc litigation advertising that caused global confusion and unfounded concern about the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder”.
Moneyweb reports that in August 2022, it said it would be discontinuing its baby powder globally in 2023 and would “transition to an all-cornstarch-based formula”, but no cut-off date for production of the talc product was cited.
The company’s SA office said it planned to slow down production this year.
However, South Africans won’t get the benefit of the immediate switch to J&J’s new cornstarch-based range.
“Due to capacity constraints at this time, our cornstarch-based powder offering is not expected to be available in South Africa in 2023,” the company said.
J&J has been fighting off concerns around its talc-based products either in the courts or the public domain since 2016.
Despite referring to safety concerns around its talc-based products as “unfounded” in 2016, the company was ordered to pay $72m in damages to a woman’s family in the US after she died of ovarian cancer. In that case a Missouri state jury linked the woman contracting cancer to the use of J&J’s baby powder.
Since then, the company has had to defend its products in thousands of lawsuits – paying out billions of dollars in damages – as complainants continue to come forward with claims that J&J talc was linked to several cancer cases.
Tiger Brands
Closer to home, Tiger Brands also had to deal with a baby powder drama last year when it had to recall some of its talc-based products under the Purity and Elizabeth Anne brands after traces of asbestos were detected in test samples of its products.
In a trading statement, Tiger Brands said the precautionary recall would cost the company up to R25m in product write-offs and logistics costs.
Unlike J&J, Tiger Brands already has a cornstarch baby powder in stores offering consumers an alternative in the absence of the talc product.
Moneyweb article – J&J’s talc-based baby powder still on SA shelves (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
J&J stops selling its iconic talc baby powder in North America
J&J confirms end to global talc sales amid contamination litigation
J&J receives subpoenas related to asbestos contamination litigation