Sam’s Club Emails Claim Simply Right Baby Wipes Pulled Over Bacterial Contamination Concerns [UPDATE]
On October 10, 2014, Sam’s Club reportedly sent emails alerting customers that their Simply Right baby wipes were being pulled from shelves for contamination with the gram-negative bacteria B. cepacia.
The only substantial media evidence pointing to the Simply Right Baby Wipes possibly being contaminated and recalled, besides for the purported emails received by some Sam’s Clubs customers is an article written in Spanish appearing in El Nuevo Dia.
“In letters sent by Sam’s Club to potential customers for the product in question, the company explained that those wipes, supplied by Nutek Disposables Inc., ‘may be contaminated with the bacteria B cepacia.’ The letter warns about their use and ruled out that its corporate policy has the highest priority the welfare of clients and their families.”
That article stated that The Department of Consumer Affairs (DACO) in Puerto Rico advised parents not to ignore warnings about the baby wipes from Sam’s Club that could be contaminated with the bacteria Burkholderia cepacia. A similar message was posted to the DACO Facebook page and to its Twitter account.
Tiendas Sam’s emiten recall de Simply Right Baby Wipes vendidas a partir de junio 30 2014. Consumidores miembros… http://t.co/dHfnXvi5YW
— DACO (@dacoatufavor) October 11, 2014
“The DACO always recommended that this type of merchandise is returned mainly because it relates to health and safety issues. Moreover, in this case is more important because it is a product that is normally used for babies,” Richard Agosto, spokesman for DACO said in Spanish as translated by Google.
In the alleged emails from Sam’s Club, the company is said to have stated that, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the B. cepacia bacterium poses little risk to healthy babies. People with weakened immune systems, especially children with cystic fibrosis, may be susceptible to infection though. This gram-negative bacteria is naturally resistant to many antibiotic and antibacterial substances. According to the article, the email suggested customers call 888-746-7726 during business hours for more information.
“My sister uses these wipes on my niece and c she was hospitalized about 6 weeks ago with an ecoli infection that spread to her kidneys. CHOP Hospital could not pinpoint how she initially started out with it. I’m wondering if these wipes had anything to do with it,” Stefanie Mogar Kalitz wrote in a blog comment about the Simply Right baby wipes concerns. “I just called my sister to tell her about this and she told me she pulled the last wipe out of the package the other day and it was DARK BROWN! They have been cleared from the shelves at Sams Club in Deptford, NJ but we havent been able to reach a live representative at this time from the Company.”
This article will be updated if additional information is released publicly by Sam’s Club about any recall involving the Simply Right brand of baby wipes. We want to hear from you in the meantime. If you managed to get in contact with a Sam’s Club representative during business hours yesterday, what did the representative say? Did you receive an email from Sam’s Club about a recall of the Simply Right baby wipes, and did you check to make sure the email was from a Sam’s Club email account?
Editor’s note: Sam’s Club representatives have sent email correspondence to the Inquisitr to clarify the issue.
“The wipes are not recalled at this point – As soon as we learned that a limited number of Simply Right baby wipes did not meet our quality standards, we voluntary directed all clubs to remove the product from our shelves and placed an electronic block at our registers so the item can’t be purchased.”
