Some parents have taken to social media to warn other parents that they found clear, sharp fragments in containers of Huggies baby wipes. The distraught moms and dads say packages of the wipes are loaded with glass fragments, but Huggies says the “shiny particles” probably aren’t glass, but fibers that are sometimes created during manufacturing. [1]
Melissa Estrella, a mother from Camarillo, California, was the first parent to draw attention to the fragments. She posted a video to Facebook on Thursday that has received more than 6.5 million page views and hordes of comments from other concerned parents.
“If you can see all of this stuff shining on the wipes, that is all glass,” Estrella said in the video. “All we have to do is wipe and glass comes right off.”
“I’m not lying you guys, this is glass on my daughter’s wipes. I’m just so heartbroken that I didn’t notice this sooner.”
Huggies said on its Facebook page on Thursday night:
“Thank you all for your continued patience as we work to respond to everyone expressing their concerns and asking questions. Some of you have commented about the shiny particles seen in our wipes. While this condition is not normal, it does happen infrequently during the manufacturing process. When combined, the fibers in our wipes have on occasion created shiny particles, similar to what was found by this parent.
Huggies Wipes have a long history of safe use and we have stringent quality controls in place, and no glass is used during the manufacture of our wipes. As parents ourselves, we know you may have additional questions or concerns, which is why we have created a FAQs page: https://www.huggies.com/en-us/wipes-faq. Please don’t hesitate to contact our Consumer Care team directly at http://bit.ly/8ZuAUH or by phone at 1-888-485-6839.”
Related: Big Pharma Giant Knowingly Selling Tainted Children’s Tylenol
The company also updated its FAQ page about the wipes on Friday, saying: “No, we do not use glass in the manufacture of our wipes.” Huggies said it is working closely with the parent who identified the issue.
Aspen Patterson, a mother of two from Rio Rancho, New Mexico, told CNN that her son has had a rash for the past month, and that she’d been using Huggies Natural Care Wipes.
On Saturday, Huggies representatives said the particles are most likely “melted fibers.” In a statement, the company said it was testing wipes purchased by Estrella, but said it is unlikely the particles are glass.
“Since glass is not used in the manufacturing of our wipes products, we believe what has been reported as glass shards are, most likely, melted fibers from the material used in the manufacture the product,” company representatives said.
Despite Huggies’ claim that the fibers occur infrequently, federal consumer protection officials said that they are investigating the customer claims. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission spokesman Scott Wolfson posted on Twitter that the agency was “looking into reports of glass in baby wipes” and directed consumers to file any complaints at saferproducts.gov. [2]
Huggies representatives said they would release the test results once they are complete and set up a hotline for questions at 888-485-6839.
Huggies officials wrote on the company’s website that they would not be recalling the wipes because the product “is safe, and poses no health risk to babies.”
[1] CNN
[2] Newsday