Johnson & Johnson Now Owns Zarbee’s Naturals

Johnson & Johnson Now Owns Zarbee’s Naturals

Wall Street Journal reports that Johnson & Johnson’s consumer-health arm reached a deal to buy children’s cough-syrup maker Zarbee’s Naturals, a move that could help the company better reach health-conscious millennial parents and bolster sales from the unit

Johnson and Johnson has been plagued with ‘bad press’ for creating products that contain carcinogens and selling them to families without disclosure. 

Johnson and Johnson, a company that makes gasp-inducing amounts of money on products the general public uses to clear acne, soothe aches, and wash tender, highly vulnerable infant skin. Johnson & Johnson Lawsuit: Company Admits to Cancer Causing Ingredients to Their Products.

Two of the most concerning ingredients are Quaternium-15 and 1,4 dioxane.

Quaternium-15 releases formaldehyde, a well-known carcinogen that causes watery eyes; burning sensations in the eyes, nose, and throat; coughing; wheezing; nausea; and skin irritation. Daily exposure is linked with leukemia and brain cancer.

Other formaldehyde-releasing chemicals used by Johnson & Johnson include DMDM hydantoin, imidazolidinyl urea, and Diazolidinyl urea.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, inhaling 1,4 dioxane causes vertigo, drowsiness, headache, anorexia and irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs, while topical application may irritate the skin. It’s also a possible carcinogen.

To avoid this chemical, keep an eye out for ingredients like PEG-100 stearate, sodium laureth sulphate, sodium myreth sulphate, polyethylene and ceteareth-20, which produce 1,4 dioxane as a byproduct.

Now the company owns Zarbee’s Natural products, in hopes to grow sales and ‘clear’ their name. 

Sales of J&J’s consumer brands have seen paltry growth, particularly in the U.S., with over-the-counter consumer-product sales growing 1.1% during the first six months of 2018 compared with a year earlier. The company cited Nielsen data showing that overall sales of U.S. natural products grew 7.2% in 2017 compared with traditional over-the-counter drugs, which grew 3.4%.

Zarbee’s, founded in 2008 by pediatrician Zak Zarbock, markets its health-care products as healthier alternatives to traditional over-the-counter medicines since they don’t contain alcohol, gluten or dyes. J&J’s portfolio of consumer brands includes Tylenol, Motrin, Listerine and Band-Aid.

Will you trust Zarbee’s now that its own by Johnson and Johnson?

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