Johnson & Johnson to cease global production of talc powder

US consumer goods giant Johnson & Johnson will making and selling talc-based baby powder around the world, the company said on Friday.

The move comes two years after it ended sales in the US and Canada. The healthcare firm faced almost 15,000 lawsuits from consumers alleging the talc products caused cancer.

“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 said in a statement. “As a result of this transition, talc-based Johnson’s baby powder will be discontinued globally in 2023.”

J&J in 2019 voluntarily recalled a batch of its baby powder after US Food and Drug Administration regulators found trace amounts of asbestos in the product. The company said 33,000 bottles of talcum powder would be recalled “out of an abundance of caution”.

“Our position on the safety of our cosmetic talc remains unchanged,” the company said. “We stand firmly behind decades of independent scientific analysis by medical experts around the world that confirm that talc-based Johnson’s baby powder is safe, does not contain asbestos, and does not cause cancer.”

J&J, which is facing about 38,000 lawsuits, said the decision to stop selling the product was about “optimising” its product In April, a shareholder proposal calling for an end to global sales of the talc baby powder failed.

In October, J&J created a subsidiary called LTL Management, assigned the talc claims to it and put the company into bankruptcy, pausing the legal actions.

Before the bankruptcy filing, the company faced costs from $3.5bn in verdicts and settlements, including one in which 22 women were awarded a judgment of more than $2bn.

The company has replaced the powder with a version made of cornstarch.