Our Safety & Care Commitment

What is the Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies’ Safety & Care Commitment? You have our commitment that every beauty and baby care product from the Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies is safe and effective when used as directed. Our comprehensive five-level safety assurance process is guided by leading science and medical experts from around the globe, and holds us to the very highest standards. But that’s only the beginning. We know that earning your trust means more than simply meeting government safety regulations, and sometimes even more than meeting the highest scientific standards for safety. Trust means caring for you by making your views and concerns part of our process. This is why we are always listening to you and looking ahead – so you can use our products with complete confidence and peace of mind. Our Safety & Care Commitment means that our products are supported by science, recommended by healthcare professionals, and trusted by people around the world.

Why are you providing this information about your ingredient policies? You’ve told us that trust is built on more than safety alone. And while all our products are safe and effective, you’ve said that you want to hear more about our ingredients and our safety decision-making process. It’s one of the reasons we created this website – to share our approach to safety and our ingredient policies with you. It’s all part of Our Safety & Care Commitment. And while the Commitment is constant, the information here will be updated when our products and our policies evolve to reflect new regulations, new scientific developments, and your views and concerns.

Which products are included in this commitment? Our Safety & Care Commitment covers all of our beauty and baby care products – which are generally regulated as “cosmetics” by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulators around the world – as well as our sunscreens and acne treatments.

Why are over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, prescription (Rx) medicines and medical devices different? OTC medicines, Rx medicines and medical devices are regulated differently than cosmetics, and have their own rigorous regulatory and safety standards. In addition, OTC medicines, Rx medicines and medical devices are designed to treat medical conditions and diseases that may be serious and in some cases life-threatening. Because of these differences, the ingredients in those products are regulated differently and covered under policies separate from Our Safety & Care Commitment, which applies mainly to beauty and baby care products regulated as “cosmetics.”Our Safety & Care Commitment applies to all our products classified as cosmetics. We have, however, included our sunscreens and acne products under Our Safety & Care Commitment, even though they are technically classified as OTC products in the U.S., and consumers tend to think of them no differently than our other skincare products.

What is the difference between a cosmetic and an OTC drug? Generally speaking, a cosmetic is a personal care product applied to the body that is intended to cleanse or beautify. If a personal care product makes certain therapeutic claims, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration may consider it an OTC drug, in which case it would need to conform to government drug regulations. In other countries, government agencies have different ways of classifying OTC drugs and cosmetics.

Which brands are included in Our Safety & Care Commitment? Every one of our beauty and baby care brands around the world is covered by Our Safety & Care Commitment – including global brands like AVEENO®, CLEAN & CLEAR®, JOHNSON’S®, LUBRIDERM®, NEUTROGENA® and RoC®, as well as regional and local brands like SUNDOWN® in Brazil and LE PETIT MARSEILLAIS™ in Europe. Click here to learn more about our beauty and baby care brands. If you’re looking for more detailed information about a particular brand, you can always visit the brand’s website.

What are your safety standards? Our five-level safety assurance process goes beyond most government standards. We also set and implement our policies globally. Our process begins with our approach to sourcing ingredients, and continues with an ingredient safety assessment. We follow this up with a clinical evaluation of our formulations. We know safety is not limited to the lab, so we conduct in-use testing and ongoing evaluation of our beauty and baby care products and the ingredients they contain. This evaluation is based on new developments in science and changes in government regulations, as well as feedback from you.

When does the safety assurance process come to an end? It doesn’t. We are always evaluating our products to ensure they reflect the latest science, as well as your preferences and concerns. In fact, the fifth level in our five-level safety assurance process is ongoing evaluation after a product goes to market. We created an Ingredients Working Group in 2004 – made up of scientists and medical professionals from around the globe – whose sole job is to spearhead the ongoing evaluation of the ingredients we use in our products. The Group monitors the latest scientific data on safety; investigates new information in scientific journals and other reports; keeps abreast of new regulations; reviews concerns from consumers and other stakeholders; and then determines what additional information or actions are needed.

How do you source your ingredients? To ensure that we use safe and effective ingredients in our product formulations, our sourcing process begins with the selection of high-purity ingredients that we then put through a comprehensive technical and safety review. This includes a detailed 12-category questionnaire from our suppliers about each raw material, which is updated periodically to reflect the latest safety data. After we receive the data on a new ingredient, we create a detailed specification for it and test multiple lots to ensure it is of consistent and high quality. Only then will we qualify it for use in our products. Lastly, as each lot of ingredients is received by the product manufacturing location, it is sampled and tested to our specifications before we put it in a formulation. In this way, we provide constant vigilance over the incoming quality of our ingredients.

Are you eliminating any of the ingredients mentioned on this site for safety reasons? Safety is our highest priority, which is one reason for this website – so consumers can see for themselves all we do to ensure the safety of our products. Our products on the market today are safe when used as directed, and meet or exceed government standards in the countries where they are sold, as well as U.S. and E.U. cosmetic ingredient safety guidelines. Where standards differ, we apply whichever is stricter. While we have and will change ingredients for safety reasons based on new science, the policies discussed on this website are largely driven by changing consumer sentiment and expectations. We want our beauty and baby care products to reflect consumers’ current and future needs so they will always have complete peace of mind when using our products.

Where can I get more information about your ingredient policies? As part of Our Safety & Care Commitment, we created this website to share our ingredient policies with you. We see it as an important part of our ongoing dialogue with you and with others who have a stake in the safety and integrity of our products. Click here to read about our specific ingredient policies. We will update this site to let you know how we are incorporating the latest science, new regulations and – just as importantly – consumer views and concerns into our beauty and baby care products.

Does the Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies conduct animal testing? The Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies does not test cosmetic products or ingredients on animals, except in those cases where testing is required by law or government regulations.

How do I contact the Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies with my feedback? We would like to hear from you. If you have a question about Our Safety & Care Commitment, please call us toll free at 1-800-526-3967 from Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm EST. If you are a member of the media, please email us at skincare@jjconsumernews.com.