In the largest furniture recall in American history, Swedish company IKEA has recalled more than 29 million chests and drawers following the third child death and dozens of child injuries in three years.
Based on data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), not only is this furniture recall the largest that has ever been issued, the second-largest furniture recall wasn’t even close. In that case, 10 million beanbag chairs sold by nine separate companies between 1971 and 1995. In that case, at least five children had died after reportedly unzipping those beanbag chairs and swallowing the small pellets inside, choking to death. Then there was the recall of some 2.1 million folding child folding chairs after the locks kept failing and little fingers were getting pinched in the hinges.
This recall was three times bigger than the beanbag recall. Part of the problem is the way Ikea furniture is designed. It’s lightweight and has low stability ratings. These dressers have reportedly killed at least six children since 1989, beginning with a 20-month-old girl who was killed when an un-anchored, four-drawer dresser tipped over and pinned her against the floor. The cases just kept adding up from there. Continue reading