Evenflo worst in U.S. for recalls

Eight recalls in two years have included cribs, toys, chairs and wooden gates that caused 187 injuries.


Product recalled

Date of recall

Number of units

Nature of hazard

Injuries reported prior to recall

Made in

Evenflo Majestic High Chairs

Dec. 18, 2008

About 95,000

Choking, fall

94

China

Evenflo Activity Centers

Feb. 17, 2009

About 213,000

Fall

10

Piqua

Evenflo Majestic High Chairs

April 2, 2009

about 90,000

Choking, fall

10

China

Evenflo Envision High Chairs

April 2, 2009

about 643,000

Choking, fall

54

China

Evenflo Switch-A-Roo Telephone Toys

July 16, 2009

about 25,000

Choking

0

China

Evenflo ExerSaucer 1-2-3 Tea for Me Activity Learning Centers

Dec. 8, 2009

79,660

Choking

0

China

Evenflo Top-of-Stair Plus Wood Gates

March 25, 2010

About 183,000

Fall

11

Mexico

Evenflo Jenny Lind Cribs

June 24, 2010

About 750,000

Entrapment/strangulation/suffocation

8

Mexico, China

TOTAL

2,078,660

187

MIAMISBURG — Since December 2008, Evenflo Co., Inc.’s eight recalls have outnumbered the tally of any other manufacturers regulated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, a Dayton Daily News analysis found.

The recalls include more than 2 million cribs, high chairs, activity centers, wooden gates and telephone toys. The recalls were issued after 187 injuries had been reported, but no deaths.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has never levied a civil penalty against Evenflo but is in settlement negotiations with the company, according to documents the newspaper obtained.

Evenflo officials declined to be interviewed. But in a prepared statement the company said its most important goal is keeping children safe. “Although the word ‘recall’ can panic consumers, it is important to realize that not all recalls are a cause for panic and many should more appropriately be viewed as safety upgrade campaigns which are often initiated by responsible manufacturers,” the statement said.

Consumer advocates say the recalls raise concerns. “They may call it a safety upgrade, but what it means is there’s something wrong with the product that has caused injury or could potentially cause injury,” said Nancy Cowles, who has testified before Congress as executive director of Kids in Danger, a Chicago-based nonprofit. “If it wasn’t serious, it wouldn’t have been recalled.”

The recalls are troubling since they involve products that parents perceive as safe, she said.

“When you’re buying a product like a crib or a high chair,” she said, “you assume it will help your child stay safer.”

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