‘No More Tears’ has something to cry about

What do you think of when you see the words “improved formula” on something?

Okay, I know, it’s “improved.” But why?

I mean, if it was good enough before to sell millions and millions of, why on earth would anyone go to all the trouble of making it even better?

Well sometimes “improved” is like a Three Stooges skit. “Hey, don’t look there, look over here.”

Case in point: Johnson’s Baby Shampoo.

Now there’s a product that’s been around forever.

So why is the company going to all the trouble and money to “fix” it?

Well, how about getting rid of two cancer-causing chemicals? That’s right, carcinogens — in baby shampoo(!)

Turns out that Johnson & Johnson’s “No More Tears” really had something to cry about.

Consumers found out that the odd-named ingredient Quaternium-15, listed on the label, is really formaldehyde.

The other cancer-causing “secret” ingredient, which isn’t on the label, is something called 1,4-dioxane.

Remember the advertising slogan, “as gentle to the eyes as pure water?”

Well the last time I checked, formaldehyde was not something found in “pure water” — or even the not-so-pure kind.

Sources:
“The ‘no more tears’ shampoo, now with no formaldehyde” Katie Thomas, 1/17/2014, “The New York Times,” nytimes.com