Johnson & Johnson is recalling one lot of its famous baby powder because of possible asbestos contamination, the FDA announced Friday.
The agency said in a press release:
“FDA testing has found that a sample from one lot of the product contains chrysotile fibers, a type of asbestos. Consumers who have Johnson’s Baby Powder lot #22318RB should stop using it immediately and contact Johnson & Johnson for a refund.”1
Johnson & Johnson agreed to instate the recall, but the company stopped short of acknowledging that the product contained asbestos. It questioned “the integrity of the tested sample and the validity of the test results.” The company even suggested that it might not be a genuine Johnson & Johnson product.
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The company has consistently denied that its baby powder, which has been on the market for more than a century, has ever been contaminated with asbestos. Even still, the company has faced many lawsuits from consumers claiming that they or loved ones developed cancer because of asbestos in talc components. Besides its use on babies, many women use it as a feminine odor preventative as well.
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The FDA indicated it had tested around fifty cosmetic products since 2018 for asbestos contamination, including two lots of Johnson’s Baby Powder. One lot tested negative, and the other one tested positive. This current lot of baby powder is not the first to test positive, and the FDA has previously issued alerts on others. The agency said:
“The FDA expects to issue the full results from this survey, including all tested products having both positive and negative results, by the end of the year.”1
