Johnson and Johnson announced on Tuesday that it will stop distributing talc-based baby powder “to prioritize high-demand products and to allow for appropriate social distancing in manufacturing and distribution facilities.”
The company cited changing consumer interest and safety concerns over the product that Johnson and Johnson called “misinformation around the safety of the product.”
In February, Johnson and Johnson was fined $750 million in a New Jersey court. Four consumers alleged that the talc-based baby powder caused cases of mesothelioma within their families. Johnson and Johnson denies the allegations.
“Decades of scientific studies by medical experts around the world support the safety of our product,” Johnson and Johnson said on Tuesday. “We will continue to vigorously defend the product, its safety, and the unfounded allegations against it and the Company in the courtroom. All verdicts against the Company that have been through the appeals process have been overturned.”
The product’s discontinuation will only be in effect in the US and Canada, and the company says that talc-based baby powder only accounts for .5 percent of its US consumer health business.