The Recall Desk
CriticalCPSC·95142·Announced 1995-07-07

CPSC Recalls 142,000 Zippered Bean Bag Chairs Due to Suffocation Risk

CPSC and five manufacturers are recalling approximately 142,000 zippered bean bag chairs because they present a suffocation hazard to children.

What this means for you

Highest-severity recall. Risk of serious injury or death is documented or strongly suspected. Stop using the product now and follow the agency's instructions.

Our severity reasoning: The source text explicitly reports five deaths from suffocation involving zippered bean bag chairs, which triggers the Critical severity score per the rubric rule that reported deaths result in a score of 5 regardless of other factors.

Plain-English summary

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and five manufacturers—B.A.T., Golden Needle, Holbrook-Patterson, Lazy Bean, and Lewco—are voluntarily recalling approximately 142,000 zippered bean bag chairs. This action is part of an ongoing investigation into zippered bean bag chairs that may present a suffocation hazard. The chairs were sold between 1989 and 1995 through small retail specialty shops, catalogs, and educational supply companies, with Lewco chairs sold exclusively at Toys'R' Us after March 1993.

CPSC is aware of five deaths from suffocation and at least 27 cases where children recovered from injuries involving zippered bean bag chairs. In these incidents, children unzipped the chairs, crawled inside, and inhaled or ingested small foam pellets, or choked on pellets that clogged their mouths and noses. The source text explicitly states that none of these deaths or incidents involve the specific bean bag chairs manufactured by the five firms listed in this recall.

Consumers should check the bean bag chair's label to identify the manufacturer by name or License (LIC) number and call the company's listed phone number for repair instructions. Any zippered bean bag chair that opens freely should be taken away from children immediately. Chairs with a small, T-shaped plastic tab attached to the zipper head require repair. This recall does not affect chairs that have already been retrofitted to prevent free opening. Consumers unsure of their chair's status can call CPSC's toll-free hotline at (800) 638-2772.

The recalled product

Product
B.A.T. zippered bean bag chairs
Manufacturer
B.A.T.
Category
Consumer Product — Furniture
Hazard

Distribution

Distributed nationwide across the United States.

Related recalls

Same hazard · suffocation

See all →