Johnson & Johnson is on the verge of a major PR crisis

On Tuesday, the blog Jezebel published a story titled, “Johnson & Johnson Gently Poisons Babies With Its Shampoo,” which details the push by The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (and other consumer groups) to persuade the company to remove dioxide, a suspected carcinogen, and formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, from its popular baby shampoo.

The story begins:

“Moms who buy special shampoo for their babies probably assume that they aren’t rubbing carcinogens into their precious child’s head during every bath. If they live in the U.S., there’s a good chance they’re wrong. Health and environmental groups have been pressuring Johnson & Johnson to remove two potentially cancer-causing chemicals from its popular baby shampoo, and for some unfathomable reason, they’re dragging their feet.”

Jezebel is part of Gawker Media.

According to a report from The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Johnson & Johnson has said it’s reformulating its baby shampoo and gradually phasing out the chemicals. Jezebel pointed out that the company already sells versions of the shampoo without the chemicals in foreign countries.