Johnson & Johnson has announced that it will stop selling its talc-based baby powder globally in 2023.
The company stated:
“As part of a worldwide portfolio assessment, we have made the commercial decision to transition to an all cornstarch-based baby powder portfolio.”
It further disclosed that cornstarch-based Baby Powder is already sold in countries around the world.
Meanwhile, in 2020, J&J announced said it would stop selling its talc Baby Powder in the United States and Canada, explaining that the demand had reduced due to what it described “misinformation” about the product’s safety amid a barrage of legal challenges.
The company faces about 38,000 lawsuits from consumers and their survivors alleging that its talc products caused cancer due to contamination with asbestos, a known carcinogen.
J&J has, however, denied the allegations, stating that decades of scientific testing and regulatory approvals have shown its talc to be safe and asbestos-free.
In a bid to pause the pending lawsuits, J&J spun off subsidiary LTL Management in October, assigned its talc claims to it and immediately placed it into bankruptcy.
