Johnson & Johnson to stop selling few products

The Neutrogena and Clean & Clear products, which were advertised as dark-spot reducers and were sold in Asia and the Middle East, will soon come off the shelves, the manufacturer said.

The consumer-products giant Johnson & Johnson said on Friday that it would no longer sell certain products that are advertised as dark-spot reducers but have been used by some purchasers to lighten skin tone.

The product lines, Neutrogena Fine Fairness and Clear Fairness by Clean & Clear, were not distributed in the United States but were sold in Asia and the Middle East.

“Conversations over the past few weeks highlighted that some product names or claims on our Neutrogena and Clean & Clear dark-spot reducer products represent fairness or white as better than your unique skin tone,” the company said in a statement. “This was never our intention — healthy skin is beautiful skin.”

The company said its website was being updated to remove links to both products, which may still appear on shelves “for a short while.”