Asbestos prompts J&J powder recall

Johnson & Johnson is recalling one lot of its Johnson’s Baby Powder after tiny amounts of asbestos contamination were found in samples from a single bottle purchased online.

J&J is voluntarily recalling the lot, No. 22318RB, and encouraging people who bought the product to stop using it. The company said it is working with the Food and Drug Administration, which tested the bottle, and has started an investigation into how and when the product was contaminated.

FDA spokeswoman Gloria Sanchez-Contreras said the contaminated bottle contained chrysotile fibers, a type of asbestos. The FDA recommended that people stop using that lot immediately and contact J&J for a refund.

J&J shares slid 6.2% on Friday. The stock has been under pressure as investors try to ascertain the company’s potential liabilities in a series of lawsuits related to talc and other products.

“Thousands of tests over the past 40 years repeatedly confirm that our consumer talc products do not contain asbestos,” J&J said in a statement Friday.

J&J is looking into whether cross-contamination of the sample caused a false positive, whether the product was appropriately sealed and maintained in a controlled environment, and whether the product was a counterfeit.

Sanchez-Contreras said the FDA “stands by the quality of its testing and results and is not aware of any adverse events relating to exposure to the lot of affected products.”

During a brief call with investors Friday, J&J executives said they had received the product’s test results the previous day and acted promptly to inform the public. The investigation could take 30 days or more, they said.