Johnson and Johnson calming baby lotions......sit back, relax, and let the bacteria go to work soothing your baby into quiet submission. For further relaxation; try our new melatonin and cough syrup baby formula! Send your baby to "lala" land.

At least they are doing the right thing and issuing a prompt recall, even though the independent test did not find any excessive levels and there have been no reports of any illness or injuries. Many other companies would have used the independent lab tests to fight the FDA on any recall.

I do not know what is going on with J&J lately. They had a sterling reputation for decades for putting out high quality products. Lately they have had a number of these lapses in their quality control. Have they shifted their manufacturing overseas??? Has the management at the company changed??? No matter what the cause they need to fix the problem quickly before they completely destroy what had always been a great brand with a great reputation.

JS -- We all know what's going on with J&J. They are trying to save money. Whenever there is a problem anywhere, just follow the money. As consumers, the best thing to do is to stop buying from these companies that do not seem to hesitate to put children or adults matter at risk with sloppy practices. I don't know if they get any of their stuff from China, but if they do, that is all the more reason to avoid J&J products.

Maybe you were just trying to be witty but, NOTHING is 100% sterile. So yes, there are always acceptable levels of bacteria in anything you come in contact with.

Denny Crane Esq:

There is bacteria in everything including the air you breathe, your stomach, your skin surface, everything. So naturally there would be an allowable tolerance of bacteria in any product because most of the bacteria is harmless. It's the pathogenic ones that companies have very strict standards on. And even those can be a moving target; many of them are very slow growers in the lab and don't start multuplying to detectable levels until weeks or months after testing is completed. So don't start your lawsuits yet, J&J is doing the right thing by recalling the product if they now detect the bacteria growth is higher than their standard.

Just for the record, I was kidding. "Excessive bacteria" felt like a slow pitch up the middle, and somebody had to swing at it. The variety of responses is interesting, from those trying to educate, to those who are just angry at the state of the world.

Johnson & Johnson's recall rap sheet

AUG 2008: Consultants to J&J buy defective Motrin from stores. The FDA says it wasn't notified of this "phantom recall."
NOV 2009: McNeil pulls about 6.3 million bottles of tainted Tylenol Arthritis Pain caplets made in Puerto Rico.
JAN 2010: McNeil expands withdrawal to include Benadryl Allergy, Tylenol, Children's Tylenol Meltaway, and Rolaids.
APR 2010: J&J recalls 135 million bottles of meds made in Fort Washington, Pa., and closes the plant.
MAY 2010: The FDA's Joshua Sharfstein says the U.S. may pursue criminal charges against J&J.
JUNE 2010: McNeil expands the recall from its Puerto Rico plant to include five more lots of Benadryl and Tylenol.
JULY 2010: Yet more recalls; company submits remediation plan for McNeil plants to FDA.
AUG 2010: Company appoints Ajit Shetty as quality-control czar, announces corporation-wide standards.
AUG 2010: J&J pulls 100,000 boxes of 1-Day Acuvue TruEye contact lenses; days later, DePuy recalls ASR hips.
DEC 2010: 13 million packages of Rolaids softchews are recalled after customers find wood and metal particles in them.
JAN 2011: J&J withdraws 43 million bottles of Rolaids, Tylenol, Benadryl, and Sinutab.
JAN 2011: J&J announces 2010 earnings, puts lost sales from recalls and plant slowdowns at $900 million.
FEB 2011: J&J units announce recalls of 70,000 potentially cracked syringes preloaded with the antipsychotic Invega.
MAR 2011: J&J withdraws 585,000 surgical sutures due to concerns about compromised sterile packaging.
MAR 2011: David Floyd, president of DePuy Orthopaedics, announces his resignation.
MAR 2011: J&J's Animas unit announces recall of 384,000 insulin-pump cartridges that may leak.
MAR 2011: FDA and McNeil announce consent decree that will give agency expanded oversight of three plants.

So why haven't I heard of half of these recalls? Is my life under my bed really so insulating, or have these simply not been announced to the public? Scary, and it makes me that much gladder I don't use many of these products by choice. I don't trust that the mysterious pill everyone tells me is good is really going to be ok for my body. I know damn well J&J doesn't give a care about my health; they only care about their own pocketbook.

Under-the-radar recalls like the contact lenses and the Motrin should not be allowed under any circumstance.

As long as the BIG BOX brands are able to outsource & are accountable to the Waltons & other mega retailers, we will continue to get a low quality line. Did you know that J&J also has formaldehyde in it's line? That and many other toxins.

I am a manufacturers representative for an American company who manufactures it's line in AMERICA and ships products of the highest quality botanically based ingredients right to your door - all at the same prices that you are paying in the BIG BOX retailer.

If you really want to make a difference, stop purchasing the big box brands. Support a company that only has YOU the customer to answer to (not corporate America and "margins").

Why folks don't consider what is IN the products they use, breathe in, and slather all over their bodies... truly escapes me :)

I would love to share my line with you. I am a commissioned representative for the line and we have a great alternative.

Please allow me to show it to you?

kathlenac@yahoo.com

:)

Yeah. We pay a higher price for less lotion...and it is no longer safe to use. Products from China are a bargain? NOT like this. I LOVED Johnson's Baby Cream...for myself. Other lotions made my skin WORSE. I dont know the reason it was taken off the market...maybe because it worked? I have not found ANY cream that compares to it. This Aveeno product has always been INFERIOR to the cream. I am STILL searching...hoping I can find some kind of CREAM that will TRULY keep my skin moist instead of doing the opposite. If anyone buys lotion, you are wasting money. Look for a cream which is usually thicker than lotions...unless its from China. If am unsucessful, I will start making my own, if I can. The aisles at the stores are FULL of lotions...and NONE of them work.

try Aquaphor it is an ointment but softens to cream on skin

Try Cerave cream. It used to be available through prescription only, but now it is sold over the counter. I use it for my son's and my eczema. His eczema is now gone. I still have mine because I don't use it regularly (lazy). It's more expensive, but it works. Now we no longer need to use suspect steroidal creams. The only trade off is that it contains parabens, but it works, no more sandpaper elbows!

I switched to the Gold bond products awhile back, I like them......at least till they have a recall. Just now starting to eat peanut butter again now that I can get fresh ground at Whole Foods.

That gosh darned Big Government, keeping babies safe. Who do they think they are, protecting infants from bacterial infection?

Did Bain Capitol sneak in and take over Johnson and Johnson? Just wondering. Yes, globalization has had significant impact on the safety of consumer products. More and more base materials are being sourced from external non-U.S. sources, China, Vietnam, Peru, etc. There are no double-checks of quality by the U.S. corporations to ensure the materials meet public safety standards in the U.S. prior to accepting delivery of the material. That is how much of the contamination makes its way into consumer products marketed within the U.S. Another possible problem is listeria contamination through the water supply. Many upper midwest and midwest cities have had recurring problems with listeria contamination. Listeria is extremely dangerous and has caused tens of thousands of U.S. deaths in the past decade. The cantalope recall this past summer was due to listeria. It is a persistent pathogen that is deadly. The elderly, immune compromised adults and adolescents, young childtren and infants are its primary victims. Unfortuantely, nothing in the FDA regulations requires that the public be informed as to the specific bacteria identified during the tests. The regulations are as much to protect corporations as the public.

Good luck.

You know, of course, that all of J&J's products do not say J&J on them? Look carefully and you will find that the same small group of companies is making multiple, different-looking products to put on the shelf, giving you the feel of having choices to make. Another way they get your money into their pockets.

witchrunner -- Really, people are not that stupid. Most people know that bacteria are everywhere but you would expect a supposedly reputable company to inspect for excess, especially when it comes to baby products.

witchrunner, you should have told all the mamas out there to kiss their babies often. A whole lot of bacteria could be spread that way.

susi-oh: The comments made no reference to "excess". Also, what is excess? Do you realize that the term is "artificial?" Of course, the article references a second test which did not find it "excess."

The sad fact is that the government has way too much power. When the government says jump, the common response is "how high?" As seen by the way politicians vote, everyone should question what the government says. I'm not saying that the government is "wrong" here, just that there are no real facts stated to indicate one way or another. The responses here jumped at the term "bacteria" as if companies have an obligation to make sure they don't exist and as if all bacteria is "bad." I guess I'm weird here. Before I jump to conclusions I like to know that the conclusion is correct, or at least has some basis in fact. The article indicated nothing on which to draw any conclusions, but a lot of people seemed willing to jump on J & J, for no other reason than they are a large corp. Terrible reason to reach any conclusion if you ask me.

All phrasing and terminology of excessive aside, how often does a bacterial infection start with skin exposure, and what is the bacterium to begin with? Is it something that’s harmful? Or just a bacteria like all the ones we’re surrounded by daily?

I use J&J on my kids. Guess I’m a @!$%#ty mom.

Not a bad mommy!! I used to use it too!! Who knew? You get out of the hospital and you purchase the J&J line! It is practically in the handbook. But, J&J and others aren't necessarily the best answer. For example... J&J has formaldehyde in it???? Yuck!

Well... if we all stopped buying from the big box retailers the products that are manufactured overseas, they would have to #1 increase quality #2 bring some jobs back to America. As it stands, lots of folks don't ever stop to consider what is "in" the lines that they are purchasing. They simply purchase them based on price and convenience. J&J, for example gets manufactured in China (but is banned in China) Ha! How's that. It is not considered safe! :) The American advertisers never mention that do they? Well folks, there is only ONE WAY TO FIX THIS. It is to PERSONALLY do something about it.

I purchase all of my products from baby care to tile cleaner from an AMERICAN independent manufacturer who has not had a lay off in 26 years, doesn't answer to any corporate fat cats, and manufactures with extremely high, extremely botanical ingredients right on site! That is DOING SOMETHING. I have been a customer for a long time and just two years ago, I decided to represent the line as a manufactures rep. Again, I love the line...so it's a no brainer, and of course I make commission, but I really feel like I am DOING SOMETHING.

If you'd like to see the line. I would love to show it to you! I am extremely passionate about removing the toxic products in your homes. I love showing folks that there is a different way.

Please contact me so that I can show you too!!! :)

we could have gone all day with out say'n that....nupe...

well... i ain't got no hair... i don't know if it's from the lotion ...or the rubbing...on the bright side... i'm saving money on hair cuts...

Your skin is an organ and will absobe anything you put on it

Yes, your skin is an organ...but it will absolutely NOT absorb everything you put on it. That is just silly. Of course, you should educate yourself about the products you use, but please don't listen to fools who try to scare you with their "scientific" knowledge.

Your skin is an organ and will absobe anything you put on it...

And all this time I thought my bathtub had a leak. My body was absorbing all the water! Thanks for the heads up.

If "I would be you"?? eyes wood be absoben me an edjamacation too!

Gee, Poodle Boy, you're continuing to make me glad you're not here in the US.

Actually, your skin’s role is to protect the body from the environment and in so doing does NOT absorb everything you put on it.

Staph - better written article elsewhere.

what flavor of staph?

I wonder that same thing daily. And not about just the things that come from China.

Jean, don't know where you've looked to buy mushrooms, but I purchase fresh mushrooms from Colorado, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and more at farmers' markets and in grocery stores. And yes, I've even spoken to the people who grow them and seen some of their mushroom "houses." As for canned goods, I rarely buy processed foods of any kind. Fresh tastes better to me and has the texture I desire as a home-cooking foodie.

Also buy fresh, locally grown mushrooms ONLY.

There are websites that allow you to buy local. I buy eggs, meat, and produce from local farmers. And, if you look hard enough, you can make a good chunk of cleaners and products out there today with readily available things. MY LORD! It’s amazing what you can find when you don’t waste your time bitching about everything.

And back then, you never heard of kids - save in rare cases - having asthma, tons of allergies (especially to peanuts), getting sick every other week, etc. Back then kids wallowed in filth, bacteria and germs and built up a natural immunity to it all. Today, in their sterilized ("healthy") environments, that have no way to fight even the smallest bug.

Gunsmith obviously is raising or has raised his brood like rats but his is not the example that we all need follow. By his brilliant logic it would be okay to handle raw chicken and then lick your fingers, oblivious of the consequences of Salmonella until he calls in sick to the guard shack with, "the stomach flu." The fact is the response to contamination that we employ should rise to the level of the risk. Plainly spoken; known pathogens should be limited in consumer products to the level of safety for the weakest among us. Of course I suppose some of you far right wing fanatics could make the case for letting the weakest babies be selected out of the gene pool but it seems to me that would be contrary to your anti-abortion stance unless of course you believe that life is only to be protected to the point of birth. Try and have enough sense to be responsible for once in your life.

Obviously bob-OWS

Has never raised anything but his voice in protest of having to work for a living. Education and common sense is a parents responsibility, you teach your kids what is wrong, and good hygiene. Then they hopefully won't lick their nasty fingers after touching things that might carry a disease.

The only thing logical to his post was his hatred. No bob=OWS I'm pro choice on abortion, and right to center on most issues except war, don't need to send our kids into police actions overseas. As for my kids, Oldest is a chef in the top restaurant in S.F. the youngest is a senior property analyst for business in L.A.

Bob if you make your food fresh and stay away from manufactured (canned) food products your I.D.S. problem won't make you a bitter person.

Unfortunately, it's called capitalism...

Actually, capitalism is dead. There no longer is free enterprise. Today it's corporatism which controls enterprise; it's no longer free - they own it.

AMEN I have started reading labels. Most things made in America are really not any more expensive. IMaybe the Chinese are out to get us.

Don't worry Kevin, it's only a coincidence on the timing. Your junk actually started to turn green from from the unsavory women you used the last time you went on one of your little "outings."