Johnson & Johnson Voluntarily Recalls A Batch Of Baby Powder

Johnson & Johnson's JNJ consumer unit will voluntarily recall one lot of Johnson's baby powder “out of an abundance of caution.”

This move is in response to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration test indicating the presence of sub-trace levels of chrysotile asbestos contamination (no greater than 0.00002%) in samples from a single bottle purchased from an online retailer.

In May, Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $300 million in punitive damages. Johnson & Johnson faces more than 14,000 claims that its talc powder caused ovarian cancer and mesothelioma, a rare cancer linked to asbestos exposure.

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The company says thousands of tests over the past 40 years repeatedly confirm its consumer talc products does not contain asbestos.

“Our talc comes from ore sources confirmed to meet our stringent specifications that exceed industry standards. Not only do we and our suppliers routinely test to ensure our talc does not contain asbestos, our talc has also been tested and confirmed to be asbestos-free by a range of independent laboratories, universities and global health authorities," the company said Friday in a statement.

Johnson & Johnson shares were down 3.4% at $131.40 at time of publication. The stock has a 52-week high of $148.99 and a 52-week low of $121.

Photo by Mike Mozart via Flickr.