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LG H&H announced it would shut down its wet wipes business after it was penalized by the country's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The South Korean consumer goods company is closing the said unit by the end of this year.
Pulse News reported that the decision was made by LG H&H after the country's food safety agency banned the sale of its wet wipes after hazardous chemicals were found in the said product for babies. The shutdown was revealed on Monday, Sept. 19.
LG H&H was formerly known as LG Household & Health Care, and its withdrawal was related to the discovery that its Babience Only 7 Essential 55 baby wipes contain highly toxic chemicals, including methylchloroisothiazolinone (CMIT) and methylisothiazolinone (MIT). These were said to be the same chemicals that were used in the deadly humidifier sanitizer incidents in July.
It was also noted that CMIT and MIT are banned in South Korea by law and apparently prohibited for use in hygiene products, including detergents. LG H&H was ordered by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to halt all sales and recall the affected baby wipes that bear the manufacturer's serial number of 1LQ.
In the recall, about 7,920 packs of the Babience Only 7 Essential 55 were subjected to the recall. LG H&H revealed that it was only able to recover 161 packs because most of them were already used. In addition to this recall, the company was also ordered to call back a total of 320,000 baby wipes that were previously produced.
Business Korea reported in July that the CMIT and MIT were used by LG H&H for sterilization and preservation purposes. The food and drug government agency in Korea issued a three-month suspension for the company for the sale of wet wipes. Its contract manufacturer was also suspended from production for three months. Meanwhile, the company's shares plummeted by 1.45%, close on Monday at KRW679,000.
"We found that detergent remained after washing work at a production line of the partner company that supplies non-woven fabrics for wet tissues," an official at LG H&H stated concerning the recall and penalty. "The detergent was mixed into non-woven fabrics. We sincerely apologize to consumers for this matter."
