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Over 8M Thermos jars and bottles recalled after 3 people lost vision
- x______________ 5mo agoInitially assumed it was due to some sort of contamination or production defect. Turns out people leave perishable and fermenting foods in the thermos, and after a while when opened, the pressure lifts the lid of the thermos at quasi-unimaginable speeds, striking the curiously unsuspecting humans straight in the face, with some instances causing permanent damage to vision. Coffee is hot, but a pressure release system is cool too..
- jmalicki 5mo agoI'm a little surprised it's a recall - is there some expectation that it should have pressure release? Can you not sell simpler products legally?
- traceroute66 5mo ago> is there some expectation that it should have pressure release? Scroll down in that article to the section with photographs of "recalled" and "not recalled" lids side by side.
- jmalicki 5mo agoWhy is there an expectation that it should be a required feature?
- traceroute66 5mo ago> Why is there an expectation that it should be a required feature? What point are you trying to make here ?!?! Given that it should be there, it is quite clearly a product feature on Thermos jars. So, of many examples that cross my mind.... let's say you were a long-term user of Thermos products. There's your "expectation". I assume it probably features in the product literature that comes in the box too.
- mschuster91 5mo ago> Given that it should be there I've never seen a thermos-style container with a pressure relief in my life. However, I'm European, it appears that in the US (a country where you have to write disclaimers on microwaves that you shouldn't dry hamsters in them) common sense has been going down the toilet. Frankly, I'm all for a bit of darwinism here. It's bewildering that there are people who think it's a good idea to open a thermos that has been fermenting for days if not weeks without a lot of caution!
- traceroute66 5mo agoOne word for you .... context. I said "given it should be there" because Thermos have just issued a recall notice where they openly admit liability and they openly state it should be there (see side by side photos in the recall). I was never seeking to pass judgement on the factual element of whether "it should be there" in the pure definition of the term. I was just saying "it should be there on THAT product because Thermos says so".
- Brian_K_White 5mo agoMost lids you've ever used have pressure relief. It's not an extra part or valve or anything, it's just the simple geometry to ensure that the seal opens before the lid becomes mechanically free.
- flowerthoughts 5mo agoThermos has only been producing flasks since 1904. There shouldn't be an expectation that they already have this on a checklist of things to watch out for in new designs. /s
- jeroenhd 5mo agoThought the same, but the recalled bottles were "food and drink" bottles, and they do usually have a pressure relief system of some kind. Seems to be like they sold a bottle designed for a pressure relief cap with the wrong model cap, turning food storage containers into launchers.
- getcrunk 5mo agoWell for one, so it doesn’t get recalled after getting a reputation for making people blind
- cucumber3732842 5mo ago[flagged]
- Brian_K_White 5mo agoIt's trivial to design a cap that leaks before it becomes mechanically free, and most lids are so designed. If this one becomes mechanically free at or before the seal allows any pressure differential to equalize, then it's an avoidable design defect that fails to meet current minimum standards.
- smallerize 5mo agoFrom the Consumer Product Safety Commission https://bsky.app/profile/cpsc.gov/post/3mkpsy7mgkk2j https://bsky.app/profile/cpsc.gov/post/3mkpsy7mgkk2j "Is this user error?" No. If we're recalling a product for a safety issue, it is not user error. There is an engineering error, or a design error, or a manufacturing error. Whatever the product is doing it should not be doing.
- ahoka 5mo agoI think most people have the expectation of not getting a cap in the eyes when opening something.
- RobotToaster 5mo agoBecause blinding people is bad and causes expensive lawsuits? How is this even a question.
- peterfirefly 5mo agoAnd you also shouldn't put your dog in the microwave to dry it.
- subscribed 5mo agoAre you saying that opening a food thermos is equivalent to cooking a dog in the microwave?
- pibaker 5mo agoEveryone who knows what a microwave is knows microwaving a dog kills it. How many people do you think realize that pressure can build up in a thermos if leftover food or drink ferments in it? And even if you know the danger, how do you know if the thermals bottle you are holding is dangerous or not? Should people call the bomb squad every time they see a thermos with unknown contents inside?
- jeroenhd 5mo agoThe bottles were sold as "drink and food" bottles, but expiring/fermenting food turns the food bottle into a pressure vessel. I was initially surprised too, because I mostly know Thermos from their coffee/water/etc bottles, but apparently they're also selling these with the intention of storing perishable goods, and in that case a pressure relief system of some kind is a necessity. Often bottles have special threads with holes in them to let out the pressure when you twist them open, but it appears they didn't do that here.
- subscribed 5mo agoIf the safety feature is THAT simple and the lack of thereof literally costs people eyes, why wouldn't that be expectation?!
- globular-toast 5mo agoThe whole point of Thermos is to keep things warm for a long time. That means pressure. It's a basic safety feature.
- mschuster91 5mo ago> The whole point of Thermos is to keep things warm for a long time. That means pressure. That by far is not enough to forcefully yeet out the cap, probably not even if you take it to an Antarctic research base in -40 °C outdoor weather. People forgetting about content that ferments however? Kaboom.
- globular-toast 5mo agoOn a planet where fermentation exists, such as planet Earth, the only planet on which we, humans, reside and therefore where these containers are made and used, that means pressure. Happy now?
- alentred 5mo agoYes, the article seems to be not detailed enough. They show the pictures, and it is evident what the pressure release valve is, but I agree that by this logic any container or any steel water bottle is dangerous. Maybe there is some other additional feature that makes it particularly dangerous compared to other models (like, the new seal keeps higher pressure, or the lid needs fewer rotations to disengage, etc.) that is not explained here and makes all the difference. Older models didn't even have a pressure relief valve, did they?
- Someone 5mo agoI guess the amount of rotation needed between “airtight seal gets broken” and “lid can come off” is fairly short for these thermos. If the difference is, say, a full 360° turn, pressure will get relieved before the lid can come off. See also https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48006887 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48006887. Apparently, many bottles have discontinuities in the threading to allow for that.
- aaron695 5mo ago[dead]
- iammjm 5mo agoIsn't the point of a thermos to put "perishable and fermenting foods" in it, like coffee or tea? Like this could totally have been me, like make a thermos-full of coffee one day, then forget about it only to come back to in some weeks just to open it and have one of my eyes blown off
- rimliu 5mo agogood luck of anything fermenting after dousing with boiling water..
- IAmBroom 5mo agoDousing with boiling water does not sterilize things. Fermentation is still possible. Likely, even, if slower to start.
- triceratops 5mo agoYou ferment coffee? Tea I can understand if you're making kombucha, but coffee?
- iammjm 5mo agonot on purpose, I just forget stuff until they rot
- triceratops 5mo agoLol. If I forget food in a container and expect that it's rotted, I'm holding it well away from my face when I open it.
- IAmBroom 5mo agoIf you expect that it's rotted, you haven't really forgotten it. That's the whole point: they expected empty containers. Which could happen to you, being (presumably) a human.
- jofzar 5mo agoI really hope we get a video out of this to see how bad it actually is and how much "pressure" is needed for this. > Incidents/Injuries: Thermos has received 27 reports of consumers who were struck by a stopper that forcefully ejected from these containers upon opening, including complaints of impact and laceration injuries requiring medical attention. Three consumers suffered permanent vision loss after being struck in the eye. That's an awefully large amount of reports about this. I wonder what about the design makes it a rocket compared to what I would assume is a pretty standard design? > The Stainless King™ 470ml Vacuum Insulated Food Jar is the ultimate day to day companion to keep your food at optimal temperatures. Keep fruit fresh and vegetables cool for up to 14 hours while you take on the day. For your favourite soups, pastas or stir fry, they’ll stay warm for up to 9 hours – ideal for taking last nights left overs. You can be sure that your food will be perfect for consumption at lunchtime after you pack it in the morning. The wide mouth makes it easy to fill and clean, and comes crowned with a stainless steel lid that doubles as a serving bowl. Plus, it comes with a handy stainless steel spoon that fits neatly into the lid compartment. It's meant for storing food, for anyone who is confused why someone would be.
- baq 5mo ago> I wonder what about the design makes it a rocket compared to what I would assume is a pretty standard design? Injuries nonwithstanding, the quality of the seal means it was an exceptionally well designed item for the purpose of storing 99% water. side note: there's a reason you get a visit from the FBI if you buy ten pressure cookers (e.g. if you find a great Black Friday deal and have a large family and plan Christmas gifts...)
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- data-ottawa 5mo agoI’ve exhausted the branches of my imagination, what is the danger of 10 pressure cookers?
- 5mo ago
- ButlerianJihad 5mo agoI own a vacuum-insulated flask that is not Thermos®. I purchased it with a one cap and immediately purchased an accessory cap. The original cap from the store has no pressure-release mechanism, other than the breaking of the seal when unscrewing it. The cap has an integrated carrying handle, which can also help when turning the cap one way or another. The accessory cap has a "sippy cup" feature along with a pressure-release valve. It is very common to have a second valve with any vessel that pours or dispenses liquid, even a lemonade tank, because that's how pouring works. When you remove liquid from the container, it must be replaced by a commensurate volume of air.
- perarneng 5mo ago> Turns out people leave I assume people forget they had food in them
- EDM115 5mo agoit's literally written on my thermos instructions to NOT put any carbonated drinks inside for this exact reason lol
- pizza234 5mo agoHappened to me once. I was emptying one of my child’s thermoses in the bathroom when it suddenly "exploded" and sprayed the contents all over the bathroom walls. Quite a remarkable day :) I didn't consider it a defect, though. I can hardly imagine cheap products adopting this solution.
- ludicrousdispla 5mo agoI would have thought they could design the screwtop so that it would relase pressure before fully disengaging the lid from the flask.
- teruakohatu 5mo agoThat is what I was wondering. I would have thought it would need to be opened at eye level for the contents to hit the eye before being depressurised.
- altacc 5mo agoIf it's a forceful opening and you're not holding the top tightly, then I imagine the top could launch upwards. I know from experience this can also happen if you put just a bit of boiling water in and seal it. The air expands under heat and will push the top out whilst you're unscrewing. A version of this top comes with a metal spoon & raised holder built in, providing some edges to hit you with and an extra projectile.
- jofzar 5mo agoNah I think most people would open it at waist level standing with the lid facing up (towards you face as you are looking down), and twisting to open. I can totally see how that would fly straight up at your face.
- traceroute66 5mo agoI too from the headline assumed it was some sort of chemical contamination during manufacturing. But then I read the words "The malfunction is due to multiple models of containers missing a pressure relief function in the center of the stopper." How non-existent does your quality assurance have to be in order to miss such a critical, obvious and easy to identify flaw ? Looking at the published photographs, you don't even need training to identify that manufacturing defect. A five year old could spot the difference between "lid has a hole" and "lid does not have a hole".
- _ink_ 5mo agoI would assume that it was some cost optimization that led to the removal of the pressure relief.
- fuzzfactor 5mo agoOTOH I would assume that they didn't add the pressure relief until after finding out that people were getting hurt. Seems logical to then be recalling any that are out there without the safety feature.
- Aachen 5mo agoI've never seen a thermos bottle with a relief valve. Not sure if all manufacturers in Europe have nonexistent QA or if it's just not a thing that's commonly needed since you can't heat the contents up in there anyway (it's not like an insulated water boiler, which does have a release valve). Never considered that someone might leave food in there long enough to build up explosive pressure. Feels a bit like saying a missing cat detector function in microwave ovens points at them having no quality control
- gcr 5mo agoI bet you’ve been using these your whole life without knowing it: in non-USA thermoses, the lid releases pressure before becoming mechanically free. You’d hear a “pop” and then the lid has to be twisted slightly further before it can be removed. Not all safety features have to be obvious/obtrusive.
- globular-toast 5mo agoSo who decided to cut costs by "simplifying" the lid design? A case of Chesterton's fence perhaps? My partner has one of these so just checked it. It does have the pressure relief feature, but it turns out it's also missing all the seals anyway so never would have been a problem!
- bilekas 5mo agoThis is wild.. It looks like they changed their lid to be a bit cheaper ? Looking at the version that's not recalled, I would guess it costs more to make.
- kjuulh 5mo agoHad this happen to me once, though totally my own fault. Was brewing kombucha, and left it out in the bottles a little too long before burping. Me standing there, kombucha and peach slices pulverized against the cap, kombucha leaving a large mark on the ceiling it all happened so fast, glad I was wearing my glasses. No injuries except my pride, but it did take some hours to clean up. I wouldn't do it in a thermos, but I guess those are mostly accidents?
- ErroneousBosh 5mo agoIt was bramble beer for me. Put a load of lovely ripe brambles in a batch of homebrew beer, one of the little pithy bits on the inside wedged up against the bottom of the airlock, and overnight the pressure built up enough to pop the cork out and spray the ceiling with brambly splats and beer. Tasted okay though. My mate brewed his bramble beer by putting his brambles through a juicer and only adding the juice and pulp, because he's cleverer than me and has a certain amount of foresight.
- _trampeltier 5mo agoThere is a well known solution. Look at most PET bottles. The thread (mostly on the cap) is not continuous. That's for the pressure to relieve before the cap is off, and that could happen from a coke bottle or so to you.
- thomascountz 5mo agoThe malfunction is due to multiple models of containers missing a pressure relief function in the center of the stopper. They have a well-known solution, but it was not implemented.
- _trampeltier 5mo agoYou have to activate it manually?
- hoppyhoppy2 5mo agoNo, it's activated by pressure
- ZpJuUuNaQ5 5mo agoI hate life a little bit more every time I stumble upon stories like this. Anything and everything can happen to you, suddenly, without warning, without planning, not necessarily because of any obvious fault of your own (from your perspective, at least). "Oh, you thought you already had enough problems and worries as it is? Congratulations, now you are blind in one eye, forever, because you wanted to keep your coffee warmer for a little longer."
- cindyllm 5mo ago[dead]
- roel_v 5mo agoThat sucks. I have both and the ones with the pressure relieve valve are a pain in the ass to clean. You have to pull out the rubber inner thingy, you can't get a towel inside the hole that thingy goes into, and in general the rubber thing gets lost easily. I wish Thermos would send me a few of those 8 million stoppers, I'll promise I won't be a dumbass with them :(
- edwcross 5mo ago> I promise I won't be a dumbass with them That's not very empathic of fellow people who might just have mistakenly forgotten food in the container. It's not like they were intentionally using this for brewing some illegal substance or misusing it in a way specifically forbidden in the manual or obviously unsafe (e.g. removing a magnetron and all of its protections from a microwave to make pretty wood carvings).
- sebastiennight 5mo ago> removing a magnetron and all of its protections from a microwave to make pretty wood carvings In case anybody's wondering, as I did: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/11/60/41/116041120bb6e701bd47e11f0c8ee7f9.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/originals/11/60/41/116041120bb6e701bd47... If you ask me, that's how the protomolecule got out
- brazzy 5mo ago> I'll promise I won't be a dumbass with them :( Can you also guarantee with absolute certainty that you'll never forget them anywhere another person who's unaware of the contents or the danger could find them?
- cucumber3732842 5mo ago>Can you also guarantee with absolute certainty that you'll never forget them anywhere another person who's unaware of the contents or the danger could find them? Why does he need to do that? We're talking about a product that lightly injured ~20 people for ~8mil units sold and seriously injured ~3. Should be be keeping his champagne in a protective enclosure?
- nirava 5mo agoAny (sealed) container designed to hold hot things should have a pressure release system. It can be seals that buckle before the lid. It can be a tiny hole with a soft rubber stopper. It can be one of many things that cost a couple of cents extra and a bit more engineering and testing effort. The cheapest disposable coffee cups I've used have a tiny hole for the express purpose of not pressurizing and spilling hot liquid everywhere. There's a lot of conversation in the comments about "was there was an expectation that the pressure release valve would be there" There absolutely is a safety expectation that a sealed container of hot food is designed with a pressure release system. BTW the fermented food thing is a misdirection. The pressure release system should have released pressure way before it even reached ballistic territory.
- odie5533 5mo agoMy steam cleaner recently was recalled and sent me a new cap with a built-in pressure-locking valve. People were opening it too early and getting burns. Heat and pressure can be very dangerous.
- ziml77 5mo agoWow I'm amazed that they shipped it without that. That's a standard safety feature as far as I know.
- deadbabe 5mo agoImagine the last thing you ever see is a Thermos exploding in your face… then you still have to live the rest of your life.
- harrouet 5mo agoThanks god they don't do this with Champagne!
- perarneng 5mo agoCouldn't this affect other brands as well? I would not assume many have thought of this
- dctoedt 5mo agoThis suggests a "knife skills" automatic habit to cultivate:† Whenever opening anything, point it away from your face, or at least move your face out of the line of fire. (Champagne, soda bottles, whatever.) † "Knife skills" automatic habits = things such as, • always cut away from yourself; • whenever holding something down with the non-knife hand to be cut, curl that hand's fingers under, so that the non-knife hand's knuckles serve as a guard for that hand's finger tips.
- fuzzfactor 5mo agoI would say this is a big factor for Thermos. with Champagne the injuries are probably more numerous, but this risk is part of the expected behavior.
- btach 5mo agoThis happened at the hospital I currently work at a couple years ago. A patient was brought some chicken noodle soup hot in the thermos but didn't open it. A few days later I was working night shift on that floor when we all heard a sound resembling a cross between a BOOM and a BANG (something you don't expect at 2AM). There was his thermos at the bedside table with no lid, still sitting upright. Scattered around (both floor and ceiling) was some fermented soup smelling of fermenting vomitus. And a lid-sized-and-shaped hole in the ceiling.
- whackernews 5mo agoAt this point it’s basically a risk to buy anything new from a large company who’s products are most likely worse than ever in terms of cost-cutting materials, build quality, and design.
- jadence 5mo agoWalmart had a similar recall last year for their Ozark Trail bottles. https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2025/Walmart-Recalls-Ozark-Trail-64-oz-Water-Bottles-Due-to-Serious-Impact-and-Laceration-Hazards https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2025/Walmart-Recalls-Ozark-Trai...