J&J to end global sales of talcum-based baby powder

[superadmin]

NEW YORK: Johnson & Johnson (J&J) will stop selling talcum-based baby powder globally in 2023, the drugmaker said on Thursday, more than two years after it ended US sales of a product that drew thousands of consumer safety lawsuits.

“As part of a worldwide portfolio assessment, we have made the commercial decision to transition to an all cornstarch-based baby powder portfolio,” it said, adding that cornstarch-based baby powder is already sold in countries around the world.

In 2020, J&J announced that it would stop selling its talcum baby powder in the US and Canada because demand had fallen in the wake of what it called “misinformation” about the product’s safety amid a barrage of legal challenges.

The company faces about 38,000 lawsuits from consumers and their survivors claiming its talcum products caused cancer due to contamination with asbestos, a known carcinogen.

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