Johnson & Johnson is recalling a shipment of baby powder after the Food & Drug Administration discovered evidence of asbestos, the company said Friday, after months spent denying the presence of the carcinogen in its talc-based products. In a test, the regulator found trace levels of chrysotile asbestos in samples from a bottle of baby powder purchased from an online retailer, Johnson & Johnson said.
A spokesman for Johnson & Johnson said the recalled lot, #22318RB, involves 33,000 bottles sold by an unidentified retailer. The recall is the 1st time that Johnson & Johnson has pulled baby powder from the market, he said. The company said it is initiating the recall in the United States "out of an abundance of caution."
"Thousands of tests over the past 40 years repeatedly confirm that our consumer talc products don't contain asbestos," Johnson & Johnson said in a statement, adding that its investigation into the contamination could take 30 days or more.
The move comes as Johnson & Johnson fends off thousands of lawsuits brought by people who claim that baby powder & other talc-based products caused them to develop mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer considered the signature disease of asbestos exposure. Shares were down 4.6% on Friday.
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