Regulator in India to test samples of baby powder

NEW DELHI: India’s federal drug regulator will seize samples of Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder for testing, local media said, following a report that the company knew for decades that cancer-causing asbestos lurked in the product.

The Times of India quoted an official source as saying that a team of 100 drug inspectors had been assigned to examine different manufacturing facilities, wholesalers and distributors, starting early yesterday.

“Samples of all brands of the powder will be collected and sent for testing,” the unnamed official told the paper.

The Mint business daily also quoted an official as saying that the drug inspectors would visit J&J’s manufacturing operations and draw samples for further investigation.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) said the Reuters report was “under consideration” but that it was too early to say if a formal investigation would be launched into the baby powder that is ubiquitous in many Indian homes, a potential market of 1.3 billion people.

J&J in India did not have any immediate comment on the reports of sample seizures.

On Tuesday the company said in a statement that the article, which was published last Friday, “is one-sided, false and inflammatory”.