Australian parents are being urged to check their children’s water bottles after a popular brand issued a recall due to mould issues which have reportedly made more than 70 children sick.
Tommee Tippee has recalled more than three million of its cups and bottles in the UK and North America due to the risk of mould accumulating in the valve.
The issue also affects products sold in Australia, with customers being urged to contact Tommee Tippee Australia to organise a replacement of the valve. A legal technicality means the issue is classed as a replacement and not a recall in Australia.
The mould concealed inside the white valves. IMAGE: Facebook/Penny Powell
“Consumers have been able to contact us, their local store or distributor, dependant on their location, to arrange replacements for their white valves,” Tommee Tippee Australia wrote on its Facebook page.
“It’s a similar process in the USA and Canada, but because the regulatory procedures are different there, it is called a recall, rather than a replacement.
“If you have these cups we can organise replacements, simply PM us with your full name, address, how many cups you have and if they are for boy or girl.”
The mould – which cannot be seen unless parents take the valve apart, a task that often requires pliers and breaking the valve – has reportedly made more than 70 US babies and toddlers sick, with common symptoms including vomiting and diarrhoea.
“We have been washing and drying out the white valve perfectly every time these cups have been washed,” one concerned parent wrote on Facebook.
“After reading this, I decided to cut one of the white valves open (we have no smell or illness noted), it was absolutely disgusting, black and green mould! I had absolutely no idea. Tommee Tippee need to re-think the design.”
The company launched an investigation into the valve – which is a new design – after dozens of parents posted photos of their mouldy products on social media.
Tommee Tippee says the replacement valve will be easier to clean.
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