The State Food and Drug Administration said yesterday it found no evidence that Johnson & Johnson baby products made in China contain potential carcinogens as alleged by an activist group.
The Shanghai Food and Drug Administration found no contamination by formaldehyde, or 1,4-dioxane, in 33 products — including 14 bath or sanitary-related items — sold by the firm’s Shanghai branch, the watchdog said on its Web site.
“The State Food and Drug Administration will continue to closely monitor the situation and do testing in a timely manner,” it said.
Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo and other products were among dozens from different manufacturers listed in a March 12 report by US-based health and environmental activist group Campaign for Safe Cosmetics as containing formaldehyde.
The allegations struck a nerve in China, where a slew of product safety and quality scandals has left consumers jittery over potential risks.
A Shanghai-based supermarket chain, Nong Gong Shang, pulled Johnson Baby Shampoo from its shelves last week in reaction to the report.
A supermarket in Chongqing also pulled three kinds of baby products from their shelves over safety fears, the Chongqing Times said on Wednesday.
China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine also tested 31 batches of bath products made by Johnson & Johnson’s China operations, Xinhua news agency said on Friday, and found they met the standard for formaldehyde. One batch contained a small amount of 1,4-dioxane.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 1,4-dioxane can form as a byproduct during manufacturing of some cosmetics. The suspected carcinogen is used as a solvent for paints, varnishes, cleaning and detergent preparations and as a solvent stabilizer and corrosion inhibitor.
The FDA said levels of the chemical that it has found in cosmetics it has monitored do not present a hazard to consumers.
Formaldehyde, a preservative commonly found in construction materials, can cause breathing problems and is classified as a carcinogen.
Johnson & Johnson issued a statement reassuring customers and accusing the activists’ report of unnecessarily alarming parents.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese