Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : Walmart recalls 850,000 water bottles after two consumers suffer vision loss from ejecting caps

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

Walmart is recalling about 850,000 stainless steel water bottles because the lid can “forcefully eject” and unexpectedly strike consumers resulting in permanent vision loss for two people to date.

The recall covers Walmart’s “Ozark Trail 64 oz Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottles,” which have been sold at the chain’s stores across the country since 2017. According to a notice published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on Thursday, these products pose “serious impact and laceration hazards.

That’s because when a consumer attempts to open the bottles “after food, carbonated beverages or perishable beverages, such as juice or milk, are stored inside over time,” the lid can eject forcefully, the CPSC notes.

As of Thursday’s announcement, Walmart had received three reports of consumers who were injured after being struck in the face by these lids when opening their bottles. And two of those people “suffered permanent vision loss after being struck in the eye,” the CPSC added.

Consumers are urged to stop using the now-recalled Ozark Trail bottles — and contact Walmart for a full refund. Shoppers can also bring the products to their local Walmart store for that compensation.

The health and safety of our customers is always a top priority,” Walmart said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. The company added that it had “fully cooperated” with the CPSC and the manufacturer of the recalled product “to remove it from our stores and notify consumers”

The bottles being recalled can also be identified by their model number, 83-662 which doesn’t appear on the product itself, but would show on packaging. The stainless-steel base is silver and the lid is a black, one-piece screw cap. There is also an Ozark Trail logo embedded on the side of the 64-ounce bottle.

source: AP News

My views on Plastic Caps:

PET bottles do have a proper gas venting system with their caps. All major companies do have passed such a test before launching the bottles into the market. The threads on the plastic bottle caps are well designed to handle such pressure in the bottle. There are some poorly designed caps from the small manufacturer of the plastic bottles that sell such bottles in the market in India. I too have witnessed such a high pressure build up bottle that the cap failed when opening the bottle and made little injury on the hand of the consumer.

When threads are designed to release such a gas vent out mechanism on the caps, such incidents can be avoided and user-friendly plastic bottles are in circulation for the long term in the global market. All plastic bottle manufacturers' caps need to be tested and certified before launching in the market.