Date: 19 December 2022
Reference Number: 5984
Urgent safety alert issued for baby self-feeding products
Cheshire West and Chester Council wants to make residents aware of an urgent warning against the use of baby self-feeding products.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has issued a Product Safety Alert for baby self-feeding products and has asked local authority trading standards officers to take action to remove them from the market.
The products may not be available to buy in mainstream retailers in the UK, but there are a number of online retailers selling these products that ship to the UK, as well as listings on online marketplaces and some Instagram-based sellers
Baby self-feeding products are designed to enable babies to bottle feed with little or no assistance from a caregiver holding the bottle and controlling the feed. However, this creates risk of serious harm, or even death from choking or aspiration pneumonia.
The warning follows on from a previous safety alert regarding self-feeding pillows and prop feeders last month and now applies to all baby self-feeding products.
The Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Strategic Transport, Councillor Karen Shore said: “The most common reason for babies to choke on feed is because the liquid is being dispensed faster than the baby can swallow.
“Babies do not have the ability to control the flow of a bottle feed, or to know when to stop feeding, or to act to raise the alarm if something is going wrong.
“If you have purchased one of these products, please stop using it immediately and dispose of it safely.”
Local authority trading standards teams will take action against businesses that sell baby self-feeding products as they do not comply with the safety requirements set down in the General Product Safety Regulations, 2005.