A wave of high chair recalls by Evenflo make it clear the company has had some persistent design defects they are now trying to root out of their high chair history, probably due to increased pressure from the Consumer Product Safety Commission to close some egregious open cases. We should see ripple effects like this at a lot of companies thanks to the the new powers granted to the CPSC under its February 2009 reauthorization, otherwise known as the CPSIA.

Back in December, Evenflo called a repair-it recall on just shy of 100,000 Majestic high chairs, recalling all Majestics made before January 23, 2007.

It wasn't pretty. The company had received 140 reports of the Majestic's seat "reclining" abruptly or falling off completely when loose screws fell out. At least 94 infants and toddlers had been injured, and they had more than 1,000 reports of plastic caps and screws falling out, the condition that could trigger the seat back hazard as well as posing a choking hazard of their own.

But the news yesterday makes the first seem like a relatively good day at the office.

First, the company doubled down on the Majestic recall, throwing in every unit made between that magical date in Jan. '07 and December 31, 2008. The total Majestic recall - a problem still solved by a free repair kit, the company says - now stands at 185,000 high chairs. If you have an Evenflo Majestic, check out the CPSC releases [1,2] to see if your model number is included in the recall.

Secondly, Evenflo has recalled every Envision high chair ever made - 643,000 units - also for a repair kit. The high chairs were on the market from 2002-2006.


Evenflo has received 320 reports of Envision seat failure, 54 injury reports, and 13 reports of fallen plastic caps or screws. Contact Evenflo at (800) 233-5921 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday to get a repair kit.

It's a far better - and more defensible - position to be in than one like Fisher-Price, which recalled 24,000 3-in-1 High Chairs a couple weeks ago. They had only been on the market for six months. The defect? "The seat can fall backwards from high chair frame if the booster seat release is unlatched while the child is in the product. Also, the seat back can detach if not fully snapped in place, posing a fall hazard and risk of serious injury to young children."


Loose screws may seem like a simple problem, but they can have a variety of underlying causes, including the chair's overall engineering, the materials used, and assembly line practices at contracted factories company executives may never have set foot in. It can take time to figure out what exactly is going on and what kind of recall is needed, and even as cases and incidents mount regulators and industry reps have to make sure they offer a fix that solves the problem.

But not identifying the potential hazard of a latch left unlatched or a loose fit for a product that hasn't had a chance for any real natural degradation is just plain irresponsible. Memo to parents: Fisher-Price high chairs hit the market in "beta."

If you have one of Fisher-Price's claptrap 3-in-1 high chair-booster combos, call them at (800) 432-5437 for a free repair kit.