BPA in Sigg Bottle Liners, Company Comes Clean
Good Morning. We have preempted our regular Farm to Family feature here today to keep you up to speed on the news that broke earlier this week when Sigg executives admitted that bottles manufactured before August of 2008 had liners that contained BPA.
Treehugger.com was one of the first to break the news and I got the scoop about them when it hit the Twitterverse with a wave of “You’ve got to be kidding me” reactions.
The scoop straight from Steve Wasik, CEO of Sigg, is that yes indeed their liners in bottles made before August of 2008 have BPA in them. No leaching (the independent testing shows SIgg has always been one of the safest bottles out there). But, BPA. Read the whole letter to the public HERE
Sigg endeavored as early as 2006 to come up with a new liner option, and I respect the reality that you can’t just throw up your hands and say “Hey, stop production on that liner right this minute. We’ll have a new one for you in the morning.”
The new eco liners were introduced last August. But, I’ve got one major question for Mr. Wasik (and, I will say straight up that I am seriously angry about this). Why, when I went and bought two Sigg bottles from a local retailer last month (July 2009), was mine an eco liner, and my daughter’s one with a BPA-filled liner?
Why, Mr. Wasik, if you are so concerned about safety, were the BPA liner bottles not taken off store shelves?
And, why did I have to be the one to inform your local retailers that they still have bottles on their shelves that have BPA liners?
Why did I have to follow treehugger.com on Twitter to find out about it?
So, while I’m stewing about this, go run and check the liners in your Sigg bottles.
New ones are a dull yellow (silvery on top) color like this:
Old ones are a coppery bronze color like this:
For a better look at the differences, go HERE
There’s been lots of debate on the issue, and I tend to side with Treehugger.com on this one that Sigg bottles may be some of the safest bottles on the market, but the reality is that, when pressed last year, the company skirted the issue by claiming that testing showed no BPA and then had to come clean about it.
This is not an issue of safety, it’s an issue of corporate integrity.
On the positive side, I e-mailed Sigg Canada as soon as I realized we had one of the old bottles and Julie Murphy in Sigg’s Ontario office sent me the following e-mail:
Dear Robin,
Please know that all SIGG bottles utilize a leach proof liner and there
is no health risk. Independent tests have been conducted that prove
this. These tests can are available for your review at
http://mysigg.com/bulletin/testing.html
However, we understand your concern and will gladly replace your
bottle[s] with brand new SIGG bottles featuring our Eco Care, BPA free
liner. We ask that you return your old bottles to us as proof of
purchase so that we may recycle them. Please confirm you have the old
liners in all bottles being returned to us by visiting
http://mysigg.com/liner
Please contact me at your convenience with your contact information
(phone number and address) as well as a description of your current
bottle(s) so we may arrange for the replacement.
Please reference BRA# 71
Thank you,
Julie Murphy
Sigg Canada
2810 Matheson Blvd.,
Mississauga, Ontario
L4W 4X7
905-267-3812
I cannot imagine the beating that Ms. Murphy is taking right now. I don’t envy her job. I felt taken care of when dealing with her and it’s obvious that Sigg knows it’s time to take care of consumers who feel handily duped.
I will, indeed, have our daughter’s Sigg bottle replaced for free…but, getting me back as a SIgg customer will be a very tough sell.
There’s one thing you can’t buy in this life – and it’s consumer confidence.
We’ve all fallen victim to some sort of corporate cover up – some people in much more severe ways than others.
I could care less if Sigg’s bottle linings were proprietary (which was claimed as the reason for not talking about this sooner). They knew – in the midst of a huge uproar and banning of products with BPA in them across the globe – that the liners they were putting in kids water bottles had the offending compound in them and continued to sell those bottles even after replacing the liners.
Greed.
I’m also unconcerned with the science and safety testing that was done. Don’t get me wrong, I think that testing is a crucial piece of regulating major corporations whose products can and will have substantial impact on our health and well being. But, Sigg – knowing that it was going to have a major public relations disaster on its hands as BPA became a much more public concern – continued to tout its bottles as the safest, the best.
Whether they are or not, I have no respect for a company who can’t simply say at the beginning “Hey man, our liners have some of this crazy stuff in them. We test them, and nothing leaches. But, no way can we continue to use a product that has such obvious potential to be harmful. So, we’re creating a great new liner with everyone’s health in mind.”
Cool, a proactive company who takes a health concern in hand and deals with it like pros.
Sigg, I’m sorry. You lost me.
Next time, I suggest thinking less about your bottom line and more about what’s best for the kids who are slurping their morning drink out of your bottles.
Category: Canadian News, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
About the Author (Author Profile)
Robin Rivers is Our Big Earth’s Publisher and Sr. Partner. Able to survive on coffee alone. Often can be found leaping tall buildings with the help of great friends. Predisposed to odd hats and the color orange. In love with imagination, her kids and that crazy guy who married her.Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
Oh Sigg, you’ve lost me too.
My family has always used Kleen Kanteen because I was suspicious of the mystery lining in Sigg bottles. I guess I am just a conspiracy junkie. I feel so sorry for the retailers that trusted Sigg and sold their bottles in good faith – thinking to provide a BPA free option to their customers, families and friends.
Recently I switched to Purica bottles though. They are identical to the Kleen Kanteen bottles. Really identical – the caps are interchangeable, the colours are the same. They must have worked out a deal. The difference to me is the Kleen Kanteen is from California and Purica is local! It is based out of Duncan. It makes me very happy to be healthy and support local jobs. I found the Purica bottles at Regenesis in Comox.
Heather,
Sounds like you have a good gut when it comes to these things.
I hadn’t heard about Purica.
Thanks for the tip.
Thanks Robin, we don’t have the Sigg anymore, but I too was leary of the liner but was reasured by the retailer. Its to bad the retailers end up looking bad too because they have been telling everyone that they are safe bottles. I will never purchase a sigg again.
Thanks for the info Robin
I’m mad at myself for choosing to buy a Sigg bottle over Kleen Kanteen for my daughter because it was “cuter”. I’m not normally one to not do exhaustive research for myself, or blindly trust the scientific reports, but I did this time. I only have myself to blame about that. I would never have purchased them if I knew there was BPA in it, simply because I don’t trust the fact that it is leech proof! The only thing I can be happy about is the fact that most of the time, I’m too busy/scattered to remember to grab it when I go out the door – therefore it’s use has been minimal.
Interesting, now it makes sense why some of the Sigg bottles would get a weird taste in them sometimes…
Heres to good health!
Robin please use the bottle I gave you last month. It is a 304 grade Stainless Steel and manufactured in a socially responsible facility. We spent a very long time researching the origins of this bottle.
It goes to Canadian Ryan’s Well Foundation helping hundreds of thousands of children and people have access to clean drinking water around the world!
As the local retailer I feel the need to respond to some of what is being said. I too was surprised to hear about SIGG’s announcement. If you read closely, what SIGG is saying is that their formula had TRACE amounts of BPA, and that there was NEVER any leaching in any of the testing that was done on these bottles. Without being required to, SIGG has agreed to allow me to return all my old liner style bottles for the new ones. While I understand why some people are upset about this issue, I feel that SIGG is trying to make things right by offering to replace the bottles….if they were all about the $$$ then this would not be the case. I also believe there are some unanswered questions about Stainless Steel bottles, ie. what is the seam in the bottle made from ??? What about the Nickel content/leaching??? There does not seem to be 1 specific right answer in the safest bottle question, but I believe that SIGG makes a superior product, they have been a trusted name in the industry for over 100 YEARS. No one is perfect and I think it took courage for SIGG to own up to it’s mistake and do everything it could to correct it, that is a sign of a company with integrity.
Wow I am shocked! I just purchased several SIGG bottles last week at London Drugs since they had them on sale. I thought it was a good buy and was thinking I was being smart purchasing them and sending them with my kids to school.
After reading your post I checked the bottles. Every SINGLE ONE was the old liner! I purchased 5 bottles. I feel betrayed and lied to! I cannot believe how SIGG could come out publicly time and time again proclaiming how safe their bottles are over others, etc, etc and now to find out that they have lied to us all this time.
Sorry Brian but I do not feel that they are a company of integrity! And they’d better replace your bottles along with every other retailer that sells the bottles with the old liners! That has nothing to do with integrity. Obviously they knew all along that there was an issue with the liners and instead of being upfront and honest with the public they decided to work on a new liner behind the scenes. Kept everyone in the dark about it and decided to continue selling the old stuff with the BPA liners while continuing to tell the public that their bottles are the best and the safest! What a bunch of BS!
If they were a company of integrity they would have done the right thing at the beginning and taken the bottles off the market and replaced them all with the new ones. That would of been honest and would of shown integrity. Instead they decided that they would keep everyone in the dark about what was really going on while continuing to put our children’s safety at risk. How despicable of them! And now because of their greed I hope that parents across North America will gang up on them to make this right! It will probably cost them more now than had they taken care of this a year or so ago.
SIGG has lost me as a customer as well!
Brian since you are a retailer of this product….. have you asked SIGG as to what they will do with the stock you are returning to them? Are they going to do the right thing and actually dispose of them or are they just going to turn around and send them to another retailer who might not be aware of this situation?
I am fuming mad about this!
I to am totally choked about this whole SIGG scandal. We originally purchased Kleen Kanteens but my daughter fell in love with the colorful siggs so I bought one because I was told it was BPA free and would have NEVER bought it had I know the truth. Leaching or not leaching BPA we deserved to have known a heck of a lot sooner than this!! As for the comment from Brian above, I don’t think it’s enough that they are offering to replace the bottles, I want my money back for being duped! Needless to say I won’t be touching another one of their bottles again.
Brian ~ will Sigg replace all of the old water bottles?? we bought ours last summer in Cumberland. is that your store? can I bring them to you to have them replaced?
Bummer…the 3 sigg bottles we own all the old liners. Thanks for the info, I didn’t hear about it till I saw it on here.
I am not a happy camper either. We also have 5 bottles with the old liner that have been used extensively. I bought them ages ago and it makes me cringe to think that despite the fairly extensive plastic purge that went on in our house, we still were exposing our kids to this scary stuff.
Thank you so much Robin for bringing this to our attention.
Now this is frustrating! I bought three at London Drugs last week for back to school. Two of the three have the old liners…. It makes me wonder if they are trying to blow out the old ones instead of doing the responsible thing and pulling them. I don’t even want a replacement I am taking them back!
oh boy am i mad!
I am wondering if you could please provide the email address for SIGG Canada. I emailed [email protected] (I believe it is for SIGG USA) and got a reply that required me to ship my bottles down to New Jersey. Just wondering if the SIGG office in Ontario is supposed to deal with Canadian customers. Thanks.
I just bought some Kleen Kanteens from Eco-Centric they have a nice selection of sizes & lids!
However I dont think that we all need to worry about the trace amounts of BPA that may be in the SIGG water bottles look at how many years we were all using regular plastics!? Creating large amounts of waste may be worse in the long run….
I brought mine back to REI. They gave me my money back with no hassles. You should be able to bring it back to whatever store you bought it from. I think that is even more powerful and sends a stronger message to SIGG because then the retailers start to see that they are loosing money because of it as well. I will not be buying SIGG anymore and I am truly just as dissapointed as you all are.
The power of the consumer is important!
It’s hard not to believe this is just one more health trend that will in time be turned around to show that plastic bottles are healthier than Stainless Steel. Forgive my cynacism but I am on the side of Brian with a greater concern about the sourcing of the stainless steel used in some of the other bottles and the nickel leaching etc.
Sigg have been around for generations and continue to offer a fantastic product with outstanding customer care and service. Not many companies would take back any bottle (or product) purchased any time before August 2009 WITHOUT a receipt and offer a quick replacement with new product.
I’ve used Sigg for decades and have never had an issue. To purchase Sigg for use by my family and children was a natural choice (and we still use Nalgene bottles too! Gasp!). We too experienced some concern with the liner but only due to an odd taste developing in the newer bottles. The return process was a simple, painless process dealing with Sigg in Ontario. My hat is off to Sigg for their professionalism and efficiency AND for making a superior product that they too believe in. I will be a Sigg customer for life!
Rob…
The issue is not which technology is healthier (though, only ONE was banned in Canada because it contained BPA) but the fact that SIGG willfully lied to Canadians to so they could protect their financial interests.
This is about CONSUMER CONFIDENCE and TRUST and the fact that SIGG choose to hide behind their public status as the healthy alternative to BPA saturated plastic bottles. The ruling in Canada enhanced their stature, marketability and profits and they went along with the lie even though they themselves were not in compliance.
It’s yet another example of a corporation caring more about it’s profits than it’s consumers and it’s loyal customers expected more of SIGG.
That’s the point Rob no matter how hard you want to try and wave your hands… that’s the point.