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About the Company
Evenflo is one of the few bottle and sippy cup manufacturers that began its life as an infant care products company. Founded in the 1920s, the company now produces car seats, strollers, high chairs, play yards and activity products in addition to a few models each of bottles and sippy cups. Evenflo is one of the few major producers of glass baby bottles in the U.S., and the only U.S. baby bottle manufacturer to be compliant with World Health Organization standards on the marketing of breastmilk substitutes. It is for this reason that consumers will not see Evenflo products marketed through hospitals, and why Evenflo bottles are not discussed on the company's own website.
In recent months Evenflo has begun manufacturing a series of polypropylene versions of previously polycarbonate bottles, and will be labeling all BPA-free products as such beginning in 2008. Given the size of the company, we do not expect to see such products on the shelves until late spring, and consumers should use the "BPA-free label" as their guide when making purchases of products by this company, which is in a major state of transition.
Evenflo customer service representatives stated to Z Recommends on February 15, 2008 that the company had discontinued multiple polycarbonate bottles. Company representatives would only confirm that the Elan has been discontinued. The broader claims made by customer service reps that Evenflo was poised to become "BPA-free" (quote) with their bottles was not confirmed by company executives, but is consistent with statements made by an Evenflo sales rep to told Baby Bargains at the ABC trade show in the fall of 2007, again without management backup.
Evenflo's purchase of Ameda was completed in January 2008, and the company plans to take over customer service and manufacturing from Ameda in the summer. Neither Evenflo's nor Ameda's PR representatives returned calls prior to our publication deadline to attest to whether Ameda's breast pumps, currently made with polycarbonate, Bisphenol-A containing plastics, will be redesigned to be BPA-free. Evenflo's polycarbonate breast pump, the Elan, has been retired, and their new breast pump, the Comfort Select, is BPA-free.
To further muddy the waters, the company is an active member of the aggressively pro-BPA Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, with Thomas Sparno, Evenflo's Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, serving on its board of directors; the company has also been confirmed by the PR firm behind the Coalition for Consumer Choice, a nebulous pro-BPA group, as a current supporter of the organization as recently as December 2007.
Company Rating
Fair. Evenflo could rise to "Good" status in the Z Report by retiring more BPA-containing products and being more open about the company's future plans.
BPA-Free Products
Bottles: Classic Tinted, Classic Clear, Classic Glass, Comfi (all labeled "BPA-free")
Pumping Supplies: Comfort Select Breast Pump, Comfort Select Breastmilk Storage Containers, Elan Disposable Storage Cups (discontinued)
Pacifiers: Mimi Soft Touch, Mimi Premium, Mimi Neo One-Piece, Vizion (labeled "BPA-free"), Fuzion, (labeled "BPA-free"), Illuzion (labeled "BPA-free")
Cups: Fun Sip Spill-Proof Cup, Fun Sip Straw Cup
Utensils: Soft Bite Spoon
Products Containing BPA
Bottles: Classic Tinted, Classic Clear, Elan (discontinued)
Pumping Supplies: Elan (discontinued)
Pacifiers: Vizion, Fuzion, Illuzion (when not labeled "BPA-free")
Cups: Sip-Rite Spill-Proof Cup, Dazzler Straw Cup with Imagimotion (discontinued), Elan Sippy Cup (discontinued)
Utensils: None
Contact
Phone: 800-233-5921
Website: www.evenflo.com
Last updated: 2/21/08
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