Starting next year, Johnson & Johnson will be pulling all of its talc-based baby powder from shelves in the UK.
This is part of a global canning of the product, with sales declining following tens of thousands of legal complaints. The product was claimed to have contained asbestos, which lawsuits say led to thousands of women developing ovarian cancer.
The claim made by the lawsuits is that talc is mined from the earth and can be found in seams close to asbestos, reports the Mirror. Johnson & Johnson stands by the independent research that claims their talc-based products are safe to use.
Despite the company's insistence that their talc products are safe, they will be phased out globally through 2023. This comes after the product was removed from shelves in the US and Canada two years ago, with Johnson and Johnson blaming "misinformation" over the safety of the product for its declining sales.
In regards to the current global phasing out, Johnson & Johnson said: "As part of a worldwide portfolio assessment, we have made the commercial decision to transition to an all cornstarch-based baby powder portfolio."
The company added: "As a result of this transition, talc-based Johnson's Baby Powder will be discontinued globally in 2023. We stand firmly behind the decades of independent scientific analysis by medical experts around the world that confirms talc-based Johnson's baby powder is safe, does not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer."
“We remain fully committed to ensuring Johnson's products are loved by parents and families for years to come,” the company added.
Its cornstarch-based baby powder is already sold in countries around the world. Johnson and Johnson created a subsidiary, LTL Management, in October last year which is used to assign its talc claims to.
It later placed it into bankruptcy, which paused the pending lawsuits. The company faced costs from $3.5billion (£2.87billion) in verdicts and settlements before the bankruptcy. This included one in which 22 women were awarded a judgement of more than $2billion.
In April, a shareholder proposal calling for an end to global sales of the talc baby powder failed.
Johnson and Johnson baby powder was first sold in 1984. Baby powder is used for preventing nappy rash and for cosmetic uses, including as a dry shampoo.
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