Johnson and Johnson will discontinue talc based baby powder worldwide

Johnson & Johnson will end global sales of baby powder containing the mineral talc in 2023, switching to a formulation based on corn starch.

The company is facing over 40 000 lawsuits in the US alleging that baby powder contaminated with asbestos caused ovarian cancer or mesothelioma. But Johnson & Johnson did not attribute the switch to that controversy, calling it a “commercial decision” that “will help simplify our product offerings, deliver sustainable innovation, and meet the needs of our consumers, customers, and evolving global trends.”

“Corn starch based Johnson’s Baby Powder is already sold in countries around the world,” the company said in a statement announcing the change. “Our position on the safety of our cosmetic talc remains unchanged,” the statement continued. “We stand firmly behind the decades of independent scientific analysis by medical experts around the world that …