The Recall Desk
SevereCPSC·04163·Announced 2004-06-16

CPSC Recalls Grocery Frozen Food Case Defrost Heaters Due to Injury Risk

CPSC and Carrier Commercial Refrigeration are recalling 16,000 defrost heaters used in grocery store frozen food cases because they can forcefully eject and injure bystanders.

What this means for you

Illness, injury, or structural failure has been reported. Stop using the product immediately and contact the manufacturer for a refund or repair.

Our severity reasoning: The recall involves a structural defect in a commercial appliance that resulted in a reported broken leg, meeting the rubric criteria for 'significant injury reports' and 'structural vehicle defect' analogs for consumer products.

Plain-English summary

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Carrier Commercial Refrigeration, Inc. are recalling approximately 16,000 defrost heaters used in grocery store frozen food cases. The recalled heaters, manufactured by Electro-Heat Inc., were installed in Tyler Refrigeration "wide island" frozen food end cap cases sold from the mid-1970s to the present. The specific heater model is 51957100, and the affected case models include NCE, NFE, NGE, NCGE, NFJEA, NCJEA, NCJGEA, and NFJGEA.

The recall is due to a hazard where moisture can build up pressure inside the defrost heater, causing it to forcefully eject from the frozen food case. Carrier Commercial Refrigeration has reported four incidents where the heater ejected, with two instances involving the heater penetrating through the end of the case. In one of these incidents, a consumer's leg was broken.

Grocery stores nationwide use these cases to display frozen food items. The heaters are not visible to consumers. For more information, consumers and store managers should contact Tyler's toll-free number at (800) 992-3744 x804 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday. Tyler will replace the recalled defrost heater with a Cal-rod hairpin style heater in all affected wide island frozen food and ice cream end cap cases.

The recalled product

Product
Defrost heaters used in grocery store frozen food cases
Manufacturer
Electro-Heat Inc., of Allegan, Mich.
Category
Consumer Product — Commercial Refrigeration
Hazard
Affected units
16,000

Distribution

Distributed nationwide across the United States.

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