Now, a cancer-causing substance found in Johnson & Johnson’s ‘No More Tears’ baby shampoo
Two batches of Johnson & Johnson’s popular baby
shampoo have been found to be contaminated with formaldehyde.
Drug
inspectors in Rajasthan claim to have found a cancer-causing substance in the
popular Johnson & Johnson ‘No More Tears’ baby shampoo, bringing yet
another product of the US pharmaceutical giant under scrutiny over health
concerns and reviving a controversy it claimed to have settled five years ago.
According to a notice
released by the Rajasthan drug controller Sunday, and sent to authorities
across the country, two batches of the shampoo have been found to be
contaminated with formaldehyde.
Formaldehyde has been
identified as a carcinogen, which is a substance that promotes the formation of
cancer in the body.
Both batches
were manufactured at Johnson & Johnson’s facility at Baddi, Himachal
Pradesh.
“We have found a higher amount [than stated
by the company] of formaldehyde in J&J’s shampoos and the company has been
informed about the abnormality,” Rajasthan drug controller Raja Ram Sharma
told ThePrint.
In the notice,
the drug controller has called on states to take shampoo bottles from the
tainted batches off the shelves immediately.
“Particulars of the samples declared as not
of standard quality on test/analysis are given below for ensuring that the
stocks of these drugs are not consumed anymore and appropriate safeguard to the
consumers is provided by withdrawing the available stock…” the notice
added.
Approached by
ThePrint for comment, a Johnson & Johnson spokesperson disputed the
findings.
“Earlier this year, representatives of the
drug controller in Jaipur, Rajasthan, drew samples of Johnson’s baby shampoo
for testing and we fully co-operated during the process,” the spokesperson
said.
“We do not accept the interim results given
to us… The government did not disclose the test methods, details or any
quantitative findings,” the spokesperson added.
“This is concerning, especially when there is
no prescribed test method or requirement for testing formaldehyde in shampoo
under the applicable standards. We have confirmed to the Indian
authorities that we do not add formaldehyde as an ingredient in our shampoo nor
does Johnson’s baby shampoo contain any ingredient that can release
formaldehyde over time,” the spokesperson said.
In 2014, the
company had restructured the shampoo and dozens of other products after several
consumers raised concerns about the presence of formaldehyde and another
potentially harmful substance, 1,4-dioxane.
According to a
January 2014 report in The New York Times, the company had
promised at the time that “the products
no longer contain [the] two potentially harmful chemicals, formaldehyde, and
1,4-dioxane, that have come under increasing scrutiny by consumers and
environmental groups”.
“Johnson & Johnson has removed the
preservatives that release formaldehyde, and said it has reduced the levels of
1,4-dioxane to very limited trace amounts, from one to four parts per million,”
the report added.
Other
products may come under scrutiny again
The controversy comes just
a month after Johnson & Johnson resumed the production of its
baby powder in India after government agencies ruled it free of asbestos,
another cancer-causing substance.
The government had already
started testing most of the company’s products — including shampoo and baby
soap — when an investigation by news agency Reuters alleged the
company was aware that “its talc powders,
including the famous Baby Powder, contained cancer-causing asbestos but… hid
the information from regulators and the public”.
Earlier this
month, the Indian government had directed Johnson
& Johnson to pay over Rs 74 lakh to a victim of the company’s faulty hip
implants despite the company’s repeated claim that Indian laws do not contain
any compensation provision.
The implants reportedly forced
several recipients around the world to undergo subsequent surgery and left many
injured.
With the latest finding,
other products of the company are expected to come under scrutiny once again,
the notice suggests.
“Please ensure about the quality of other batches and drugs of said
manufacturers available in the market from time to time,” the Rajasthan drug
controller said in the notice.
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