Retailers pull popular baby powder brand off shelves after recall

Four major US retailers, including Walmart and Target, are removing all 22-ounce bottles of a popular  baby powder from their stores, following the healthcare conglomerate’s recall last week of some bottles due to possible asbestos contamination.

The brand, which is facing thousands of lawsuits over a variety of products, said last week it was recalling around 33,000 bottles of baby powder in the United States after U.S. health regulators found trace amounts of asbestos, a known carcinogen, in samples taken from a bottle purchased online.

Target has removed all bottles of the product from its stores and Target.com following the recall, a spokeswoman said in an email on Friday.

CVS Health said on Thursday it would remove the bottles from its online store as well, out of caution and to prevent customer confusion. The pharmacy chain said all other sizes of the talc would remain on its shelves.

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, has also removed and blocked all potentially impacted baby powder, a company spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

Other retailers are also expected to remove the product from their shelves as they want to avoid liability, said Eric Schiffer, chief executive officer of private equity firm Patriarch Organization.

“It wouldn’t surprise me to see Amazon and other online retailers do the same,” he added.

The brand has repeatedly said that its talc products are safe, and that decades of studies have shown them to be asbestos-free and that they do not cause cancer.