Desitin goes Paraben Free, but...

Be aware (beware!) of shops selling you their old stock of Desitin made with the old formula containing Propylparaben and Methylparaben, which are commonly used preservatives in personal care products to extend the shelf life of the products.

Johnson & Johnson (J&J), which distributes Desitin - a baby diaper cream popular in Singapore, had committed to remove parabens from all their baby and adult products by Dec 2015.

How we came to realise this was when we saw that the two tubes of Desitin which we were using had slightly different design. Upon examination, we realised the one tube contained parabens while the other(the recent one we bought) did not, and that we had unknowingly already smeared parabens all over Emo Lamb's butt for months!

How to identify

Desitin Old vs New

Can you spot the differences (not the size of the tubes)?

As you can see from the photo above, J&J has made it easy for us by labelling this clearly on the tube and also the packaging (it comes with a label - new formula).

But if you are buying online, how can you identify?

While Desitin only indicates the expiry date but not the date of manufacture, based on our observations, Desitin seems to have a shelf life of 2 years. This means that any batch that expires in or after Dec 2017 should be made with the new formula, while those that expire before Dec 2017 may still be made with the old formula.

We have personally verified two lots, one which expires in May 2017 and the other in Nov 2017, which are made from the old and new formula respectively. If in doubt, you may try clarifying with the online seller, especially if the expiry is before mid-2017.

When we went window shopping and online shopping recently, we observed that some of the popular retailers and online shops in Singapore are still be selling Desitin made using the old formula. So if you are particular about parabens, you may want to check before you make the purchase.

Is paraben really bad?

There are sources claiming that some parabens have been linked to cancer while others claiming that some parabens are safe.

Frankly, we are not certain if parabens are really bad. Nonetheless, we have chosen to err on the safe side (kiasi) when it comes to Emo Lamb and avoid any products with paraben until we have more information on them. We have also discontinued our use of the tube of Desitin made from the old formula.

How about you? If you have decided to continue using or to avoid products with parabens, please share with us your reasons!

#PapaLamb #DiaperCare