India orders Johnson & Johnson to stop using raw material for Baby Powder

US company asked to stop using the 'huge quantities' of raw materials stocked in its plants in northern and western India.

India's drugs regulator has ordered Johnson & Johnson to stop manufacturing its Baby Powder using raw materials currently in two of its factories until test results prove they are free of asbestos, a senior official said on Thursday.

The official at the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), who declined to be named citing the sensitivity of the matter, said a written order had been sent to the US company telling it to stop using the "huge quantities" of raw materials stocked in its plants in northern and western India.

The company said on Wednesday that drug authorities visited some of its facilities and took "tests and samples" of its talcum powder. It also said that the safety of its cosmetic talc was based on a long history of safe use and decades of research and clinical evidence by independent researchers and scientific review boards across the world.

The visits came as the CDSCO and state-based food and drug administrations launched an investigation into J&J's Baby Powder following a Reuters report last Friday that the firm knew for decades that cancer-causing asbestos could be found in the product. J&J has described the article as "one-sided, false and inflammatory".

The company didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

Asked if the order meant the company would have to stop producing its ubiquitous baby powder in India for now, the official at the drugs regulator said that was "the inference you have to take" at least as far as the stores of raw materials were concerned.

"We have told them until this investigation concludes, you should not use the raw material. Test results will take time," the official said. "Testing for asbestos is not a routine procedure. It might be in traces. It will require us to develop a method and all those things."