Walmart, CVS pull J&J baby powder from shelves

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Johnson & Johnson baby powder is being pulled from shelves by three major U.S. retailers.

J&J had recalled some bottles over possible asbestos contamination last week.

Now, Walmart, CVS and Rite Aid are removing all 22-ounce bottles of the product.

Johnson and Johnson faces more than 15,000 lawsuits over products that contain talc.

Last week's recall was the company's first over asbestos after U.S. regulators said they'd found traces of the carcinogen in one lot of Johnson's Baby Powder.

However just thirteen days before that bombshell from the FDA the company's CEO Alex Gorsky had testified that the baby powder was safe.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) CEO OF JOHNSON & JOHNSON, ALEX GORSKY, SAYING:

"We unequivocally believe that our talc and our baby powder does not contain asbestos. // The medical and the quality teams and the safety teams felt that our product was safe, it was of high quality, we had the right testing procedures in place, and so there was no medical reason or safety reason to withdraw it."

It all marks a blow to a healthcare company that for years has tried to project a caring image.

J&J says it went ahead with the recall quote 'out of an abundance of caution' and that decades of studies have shown their talc produces to be asbestos-free and that they do not cause cancer.