Ban imposed on sale of J&J baby shampoo in UP; FSDA picks samples of other products

Popular medical, pharmaceutical and consumer goods company Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is once again in the soup regarding harmful raw materials in its products. The Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) imposed a ban on the sale of J&J's baby shampoo in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. A team of FSDA officials raided Lucknow-based Central Store and also took more samples of J&J products for examination.

According to a report in Amar Ujala, products of the company from across the state will be examined.

AK Jain, FSDA's Drugs Controlling and Licensing Authority said that formaldehyde was discovered in products in batch number BB-59204 in Jaipur, which was supplied by Central Store. FSDA has also asked the company to take back the products of this batch.

In fact, Jain said that the notice to ban J&J products was issued on April 29. On May 7, it imposed a ban on the sale of the products as well as it asked the company to take back the products of the particular batch. DMs of all the districts have also been informed about the same.

During the raid in Central Store, it was revealed that 16,704 units of 100 ml shampoo bottles were dispatched to Balrampur, Kanpur, Azamgarh,Varanasi, Barabanki, Faizabad, Prayagraj  and the rest of the state. Following this revelation, the FSDA has imposed a ban on the sale of J&J baby shampoo.

The team also picked seven samples of products including baby shampoo, baby oil, massage oil, moisturiser, and face cream for examination. These samples have been sent to the lab. The FSDA will take further decision on the matter following the lab reports. 

Commenting on the developments, a Johnson & Johnson spokesperson said, "We did not accept the interim results of the Government Analyst that were based on unknown and unspecified methods and have contested these interim test results. We will await the results and conclusions of the re-testing process at the Central Drugs Laboratory. We are not aware of any directions from NCPCR. It must be noted that any such directions, under the law, can only be issued under certain prescribed conditions," further adding that the company is in full compliance with the current Indian regulatory requirements and standards for manufacturing and testing of all their products. "We have confirmed to the Indian authorities that we do not add formaldehyde as an ingredient in our shampoo nor does Johnson's baby shampoo contain any ingredient that can release formaldehyde over time. Our products are safe to use and  products are sold."

(This article has been updated with a statement from Johnson & Johnson)

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