New Delhi/Mumbai, April 20: The Centre today said the use of liquid paraffin, a mineral oil, in baby-care products is permissible under existing guidelines.
The use of such oil had come under scrutiny after the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued notices to Johnson and Johnson, asking the company to explain why it was selling normal cosmetics as specially meant for babies without proper clearances.
Health minister A. Ramadoss today told the Lok Sabha that under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, standards have been framed in line with global guidelines.
He said only chemicals or minerals or oils mentioned under this act are allowed to be used in baby-care products. Paraffin oil is one of them.
The minister also said that the FDA had not referred to any carcinogenic substance when it issued notices to six companies.
FDA officials had said in March that based on a consumer complaint, it had conducted laboratory tests on Johnson products and found that it used 99.7 per cent light liquid paraffin and traces of vitamin E (0.1 per cent), vitamin A (1 per cent) and vitamin D (0.15 per cent).
?Babies, especially newborns, have sensitive skin, and the use of mineral oil in a product targeted at babies may not be suitable,? H.D. Salunkhe, the joint commissioner of the FDA, had said.
Maharashtra FDA commissioner A. Ramakrishnan said in Mumbai today: ?Traditionally, vegetable oils, not paraffin oil, are used for massaging young babies.
?Our objections were to the misbranding and mislabelling of Johnson and Johnson?s oils and creams as baby products. We had asked Johnson to drop the word ?baby? from its products.?
In the Lok Sabha, to a specific question on Johnson and Johnson, Ramadoss said: ?In that claim, it is partly mentioned that some of these baby oils are clinically proven for the growth of the babies. This is not mentioned in the same oil manufactured in western countries or developed countries. This is what the commissioner was particular about.?
Johnson and Johnson India had denied the FDA charges, and maintained that it followed the global quality standards in manufacturing its products.
The company refused to comment today.
