World Kitchen

World Kitchen, LLC
5500 N Pearl Street
Suite 400
Rosemont, Illinois 60018
www.worldkitchen.com
World Kitchen
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WORLD
KITCHEN
December 17, 2010
Baker's Secret
Chicago Cutlery
Andrea Rock
Senior Editor at Consumer Reports
Consumers Union
101 Truman Ave.
Yonkers, NY 10703
Dear Ms. Rock:
Corelle
World Kitchen, the maker of Pyrex" glass bakeware, is seeking important
basis for your conclusion that the safety of our product
CorningWare
Consumer
Product
Safety
Commission
("CPSC").
warrants further
Your January
Consumer Reports, "Glass bakeware that shatters," (the "Article")
the fact that the CPSC previously
EKCO
Pyrex glass bakeware in 2008 and determined
We understand
Magnalite
an independent
about the
investigation
2011 article
by the
published
in
did not inform consumers of
investigation
into the safety of
that no action was required.
that you have been provided a copy of the August 2008 letter from the CPSC
Office of Congressional Relations and the November 2008 letter from the Office of Compliance,
confirming
OLFA
conducted
information
this
investigation,
investigation
and outcome.
As you know,
in connection
with
its 2008
the CPSC Offices of Congressional Relations and Compliance previously reviewed
and addressed the federal data discussed in your article. We are unaware of any basis for the
Pyrex
suggestion in your Article that the CPSCstaff's 2008 evaluation was somehow unsatisfactory
or is
no longer relevant, nor is any provided in your article.
Revere
We at World Kitchen believe that consumers deserve accurate information
to make informed
decisions about the products they purchase and use, including glass bakeware.
Visions
World
Kitchen consistently
attempts
safety
of Pyrex, including
the facts and information
publication
reported
to obtain,
evaluate
and address information
you obtained
or relied
of the Article, which have not been made available to us.
in your article, World
Kitchen has been communicating
several years in an effort to understand
that Consumers Union may have.
For this reason,
about the
upon
in the
In fact, although
with Consumer
not
Reports for
and respond to any questions or concerns about
Pyrex
As noted in your article, Consumer Reports rejected World
Kitchen's request to share with us your testing, protocols and results for the products tested, as
contrary to your pre-publication
policy.
,..,
WORLD
KITCHEN
Having published your article, your pre-publication policy (also cited in your Article) should
present no impediment to our request. We believe that it is reasonable and important for you
to provide to us the complete testing protocols and results for the glass bakeware you tested,
compared and critiqued in your Article. Since the tests you performed on Pyrex, other
tempered soda lime glassware and borosilicate glassware are central to your stated safety
concerns, we also believe that it is in consumers' and other readers' best interest to have full
knowledge of the testing protocols you followed. We, therefore, ask you to provide us with the
following information:
•
How many tests were conducted of each brand of glassware to induce thermal shock?
How exactly was each test performed?
Baker's Secret
•
What were the oven temperatures for each of these tests? Since "at least five samples
of each brand" was tested in a 450 degree oven, were some brands tested more than
Chicago Cutlery
Corelle
others and, if so, why?
•
What were the temperatures reached by the sand in the glass bakeware in each of these
tests?
•
CorningWare
You state that the sand temperatures
were "very high...more than double" the
temperatures food "normally" would reach, but that your "tests often go above and
beyond manufacturer instructions to assess the margin of safety comparatively."
Has
Consumers Union performed "extreme" tests of any other products to assesswhether
EKCO
they can withstand twice the stresses of normal use? Can you provide us with an
example of such testing?
Magnalite
OLFA
•
Were all the samples kept in the oven for 80 minutes as your Article states?
•
How many samples of each product were tested on a wet granite surface, a dry granite
surface, and on top of a smooth-top range? What were the results of each such test?
Pyrex
•
The Article indicates that over half of the 163 incidents analyzed involved breakage in
the oven. Did Consumers Union perform any in-oven testing?
tests conducted and what were the results?
Revere
Visions
If so, how were those
•
What and how many impact tests were performed for each type and brand of glass
bakeware? How exactly were theses test performed?
What were the results for each
product from each impact test?
Further, your article acknowledges that more injuries occur when glass bakeware is dropped or
impacted than when breakage occurs due to abrupt temperature change. In fact, our analysis of
CPSC'sinjury data identified in your Article confirms this. We are, therefore, puzzled by your
conclusion that the comparatively greater resistance to breakage due to extreme temperature
changes attributed to European-made borosilicate bakeware is more important to consumer
safety than the greater resistance to impact breakage offered by heat-strengthened soda lime
used in Pyrex and other American-made glass bakeware.
In support of your conclusion that breakage due to abrupt temperature change "may be less
common, but of greater concern," you cite a glass expert who states that this type of
breakage gives consumers "no warning" and this "offerjs] the user no protection."
The
rationale for this assertion is unclear. We ask you to explain the basis for your implied
position that breakage through impact gives consumers more "warning" and "protection" to
avoid injury than the rarer type of breakage due to abrupt temperature change.
••••
WORLD
KITCHEN
Baker's Secret
As the safety of our product is a matter of utmost concern to World Kitchen and our
hundreds of millions of consumers, we ask you to reply promptly to our request. We know
that Consumers Union must keep accurate records of the tests you perform, especially since
you call upon consumers and the federal government to take heed of the results you have
selected to discuss in your Article. As an important source of information to millions of
consumers world-wide about the safety of glass bakeware, including Pyrex, we ask that you
fully and accurately provide the information we have requested. Thank you for your prompt
attention to our request.
Chicago Cutlery
Sincerely yours,
Corelle
CorningWare
EKCO
Magnalite
OLFA
Pyrex
Revere
Visions
Jim Aikins,
Vice President