J&J defends product after baby shampoo said to contain harmful ingredients

Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) baby shampoo samples have been accused of containing harmful ingredients, according to quality test results by Rajasthan Drugs Control Organisation, in India. However, a spokesperson from J&J disputed the interim results in a statement to Reuters, which said that samples tested positive for formaldehyde. J&J called out the sample analysis to be based on “unknown and unspecified methods” and has since confirmed to the Indian authorities that it "does 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 told Reuters that it maintains that its products are safe and "its process is amongst the most rigorous in the world". In a statement to Marketing, a J&J Asia Pacific spokesperson said, "Johnson & Johnson India has contested the interim test results of the government analysis and is pending for re-testing of samples at Central Drugs Laboratory." According to a notice from the Indian state's drugs watchdog, the samples were taken from two batches of the baby shampoo  that are due to expire in September 2021 and were manufactured at J&J's plant in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh. This comes after J&J resumed production of its baby talcum in late February after an investigation by Indian authorities that found no cancer-causing asbestos in the product. J&J is facing serious allegations regarding its talcum powder in the United States, where some 11,700 consumers came forward to sue the company for causing their cancers. Meanwhile, in Singapore, the Health Sciences Authority had reassured that it had not find any asbestos in J&J's baby powder or other talcum products sold in Singapore. Last May, J&J has officially opened its new Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. The move is a bid to tackle healthcare challenges in the region, and offer more patients, customers and consumers more accessible, affordable, locally relevant and impactful products and solutions.