Walmart, CVS recalling some J&J baby powder bottles

Walmart Stores Inc. and CVS Health Corp. are pulling some bottles of Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder off store shelves after government regulators found tiny amounts of asbestos in one lot of the talc-based product.

Rhode Island-based CVS, the largest U. S. pharmacy chain by locations, said Thursday it’s removing all 22- ounce- sized baby powder bottles from its stores and off its website. J& J issued a limited recall last week.

“We took this step as a matter of precaution and to prevent customer confusion,” Mike DeAngelis, a

CVS spokesman, said in an interview.

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, is taking some 22- ounce baby powder bottles off shelves nationwide “due to the recall issued by the supplier,” said Erin Hulliberger, a company spokeswoman.

Rite Aid, meanwhile, has directed its stores to “pull all product from shelves and store it in a secure location,” according to a company statement. “Additionally, we’ve applied a point of sale system block for this product to prevent it from being sold.”

On Oct. 18, J& J said U.S. Food and Drug Administration tests found one lot of 33,000 bottles of powder had trace levels of asbestos, a carcinogen. The company issued a recall for that lot only.

J& J officials have said they are 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.

J& J said it was notified by CVS about the decision to pull the 22- ounce bottles off shelves.