NCPCR bars all states from selling Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo

NCPCR has conducted a sample test of the company’s baby talcum powder and shampoo products from authorities of five zones in the country

Reports confirm that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights or NCPCR has asked all the states in India to stop the sale of Johnson & Johnson’s baby shampoo product, after getting laboratory test results from Rajasthan that said the product consists the harmful chemical formaldehyde.

Apparently, the apex child rights body has sent a letter to chief secretaries of all states stating a ban on the sale of the Johnson & Johnson’s baby shampoo and also to remove it from the inventory of shops. The Drug Testing Laboratory in Jaipur has confirmed the presence of formaldehyde after its test results.

Sources familiar with the matter informed that the NCPCR has conducted a sample test of the company’s baby talcum powder and shampoo products from authorities of five zones in the country- Jharkhand in the east, Assam in north east, Madhya Pradesh in central India, Andhra Pradesh in the south, and Rajasthan in the west. Orders for the test were given after reports suggested the presence of carcinogenic substance and asbestos in the products.

Sources further added that the order to bar sale of Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo was issued based on the test reports of the samples of the product which came in from Rajasthan. Samples from rest of the four states are still undergoing laboratory tests. The NCPCR has also asked Rajasthan to provide the test reports for talcum powder samples as early as possible.

Supposedly, back in December, Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), an Indian drug regulator had given an order to Johnson and Johnson to stop producing its baby powder product using raw materials in two Indian factories until lab test results show that they are free from asbestos.

Last year, reports had claimed that the US-based company had already known for years that its baby powder product contained asbestos.

Source Credit: https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/ncpcr-asks-states-to-bar-sale-of-johnson-and-johnson-baby-shampoo/story/341063.html