Ace Bayou Bean Bag Recall Issued After Deaths of Children

The deaths of at least two children have led to a recall ofabout 2.2 million bean bag chairs sold nationwide, due to design problems that may cause children to suffocate.

An Ace Bayou bean bag recall was announced by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on August 22, indicating that the chairs pose an unreasonable risk because of the capability to unzip.  The CPSC indicates that causes a serious safety hazard for children, who may crawl inside and become trapped, or choke on the foam bead filling.

The CPSC has become aware of at least two fatalities related to the bean bag chairs, which were opened by children of very different ages. A 13 year old boy from Texas and a 3 year old girl from Kentucky both suffocated and choked in separate incidents involving the bean bag chairs, after unzipping the fabric to crawl inside. Both children were found trapped inside the chairs by their parents or guardians.

The recall impacts nearly 2.2 million round and L-shaped chairs with vinyl or fabric outer layers, which are filled with polystyrene foam beans. The chairs were sold in a various sizes and in the colors purple, violet, blue, red, pink, yellow, Kelly green, black, port, navy, lime, royal blue, turquoise, tangerine, and multi colors.

The round bean bag chairs were sold in 30, 32, and 40 inches in diameter and the L-shaped bags measure 18 inches wide by 30 inches deep by 30 inches high. Both styles of bean bag chair have the brand name “ACE BAYOU CORP” printed on a tag sewn into chair’s seam.

The recalled bean bag chairs were manufactured in China under Ace Bayou Corporation of New Orleans, Louisiana where they were sold at Wal-Mart, Meijer, Bon-Ton, Wayfair, and School Specialty stores and online at Amazon.com, Walmart.com, and Meijer.com before July 2013 for between $30 and $100.

The CPSC recommends that customers check any bean bag chairs they may have to see if the zippers can open. If the zippers open, customers should remove them from children immediately and contact Ace Bayou for a free repair kit to permanently disable the zipper so that the bag chairs may not be accessed.

Multiple bean bag chair recalls in the past have been issued due to similar hazards for children when the zippers are not disabled. Children tend to play on the chairs and will open the zippers to climb around inside.

Non-disabled zippered bean bags can cause serious injury because the children are not aware they can accidently inhale the foam beads and begin choking, causing them to become trapped in the fabric. Incidents in the past have suggested that children suffocate in the bean bags because the fabric they are created with is not a “breathable” material resulting in little amounts of air inside of them.

Production of bean bag chairs do not require the bags to be permanently closed under certain warning labels, but voluntary industry standards require non-refillable bean bag chairs to have closed and permanently disabled zippers. In light of the two recent deaths, the CPSC will reevaluate whether the standards need to be made mandatory.

Consumers with questions can call Ace bayou toll-free at (855) 751-8151 or visit the company’s website at www.acebayou.com and click on “Recall Information.”