Accusations from parents claiming that they have found tiny shards of glass in Huggies' baby wipes have been addressed by the company, following a social media ruckus over the weekend.
Parents who conveniently use the wipes all the time were first alarmed by a video posted online, where a mother demonstrated how rough the Huggies wipes were.
"It's kind of hard to see in the angle I'm in, but if you see all that stuff shining, those are all glass shards," said Melissa Estrella on Facebook. "I'm not lying you guys, this is glass on my daughter's wipes. I'm just so heartbroken that I didn't notice this sooner."
The video generated over seven million views on Facebook, but it was removed. Below is the same video posted by Estrella on Youtube.
The "shards of glass" allegedly caused skin irritation to other kids, according to My Fox Houston. One mom claimed that she stopped using the wipes altogether when her toddler refused to have these touch her skin. The three-year-old allegedly developed skin irritation because of it.
On Instagram, using the #huggieswipes hashtag, thousands of parents also posted their own "testimonies" of the product, echoing the claims of Estrella.
Despite the controversy, Huggies baby wipes have not been recalled. The company believes that their product is not endangering the kids using these. Instead, Kimberly-Clark Corp., the company that owns the Huggies brand, updated the Frequently Asked Section on their website to issue a clarification.
"We can confirm NO glass or fiberglass was present," according to the statement. "In extremely rare occasions, the manufacturing process can cause tiny particles of microfiber to form on the wipe that can be felt, but do not present a safety risk. Based on the findings of the independent testing, we are confident that our product is safe."
The company also said that as part of their investigation into the matter, they are testing the product from the consumer and have gotten in touch with the mother who made the video complaint. Additionally, LocalSYR reported that the company is responding individually to other parents.
Huggies also issued a statement on their Facebook account, saying, "Some of you have commented about the shiny particles seen in our wipes. While this condition is not normal, it does happen infrequently during the manufacturing process. When combined, the fibers in our wipes have on occasion created shiny particles, similar to what was found by this parent."
Thank you all for your continued patience as we work to respond to everyone expressing their concerns and asking...
Posted by Huggies on Friday, August 21, 2015
