Some foreign newspapers had cited a warning against two harmful chemicals namely 1.4-dioxane and quaternium-15 contained in Johnson & Johnson’s baby shampoo, which could create formaldehyde, a cancer-causing substance.

However, as of last Friday’s evening, representatives of the supermarket systems Co.opMart, Big C, Maximark and Lotte Mart as well as many HCMC-based stores said they are still selling the products of Johnson & Johnson.

Meanwhile, Truong Quoc Cuong, head of the National Drug Administration, said the agency has initiated a testing on Johnson & Johnson’s baby shampoo, according to a Vietnam News Agency report.

In addition, the agency is cooperating with its counterparts in other countries to strictly supervise the safety of quaternium-15 to timely give out recommendation.

Since no official recommendation on the harmful contents of the product is released, the supermarket owners have not removed Johnson & Johnson’s baby shampoo off their shelves. On the other hand, Johnson & Johnson has given out safety certificates granted by local authority that are still valid.

Speaking to the Daily on the phone, Nguyen Thi Anh Hong, general director of Maximark, said she was told by the city’s department of health to do business as usual as long as there was no official warning against the product.

Nguyen Thanh Nhan, deputy general director of Saigon Co.op, owner of Co.opMart supermarket chain, said he has received the papers from the supplier Johnson & Johnson proving its products harmless.

Similarly, after working with Johnson & Johnson Vietnam, Lotte Mart continued to sell the products. However, the supermarket chain halted new order from the supplier, pending for official information.

Representatives of the supermarkets said the sales volume of Johnson & Johnson’s products remains uncharged compared to before the unfavorable information was released.