CPSC and Carter’s Advise Parents of Rashes Associated with Heat Transferred, or “Tag-less,” Labels

Many blogs have been reporting on this issue for a few weeks now. While this advisory claims that the Fall 2007 collection is to blame, some parents have been seeing rashes since the Spring.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Carter’s, Inc., of Atlanta, Georgia, are advising parents and caregivers that they have received reports that a small percentage of babies and infants have developed rashes on the upper back after wearing Carter’s clothing with heat-transferred, or “tag-less,” labels.

This advisory applies to Carter’s Fall 2007 product line. The Fall 2007 line utilizes a label on the inside back of the garment that has a raised surface with a solid, rather than a stenciled, background. This advisory does not apply to previous and current product lines, which utilize labels with stenciled backgrounds.

The garments, which were made in various countries, were sold at Carter’s own retail stores and at department and national chain stores.

If your child develops a rash on the upper back after wearing garments that have a “tag-less” label with a solid background, you should stop using these garments. If the rash persists or worsens, you should contact your pediatrician. For additional information, visit Carter’s website at http://www.carters.com/corporate/tagless_message.aspx, contact Carter’s toll free at 1-888-282-4674 or by email at contactus@carters.com

For parents who are not aware of how serious this issue is, please see the photo posted left. This photo was taken by mom, Luiza Carneiro. Her 9-month-old daughter started having severe reactions to Carter’s brand tag-less clothing when she was 3 months old. She writes:

I couldn’t figure out at first the cause of her reaction. I went to several doctors and their opinions ranged from food allergy to eczema to body wash to detergent. Her back will turn very red and start oozing right where the tag (stamp) is in the back, the rash will appear as the exact size and shape of the stamp. The redness will then spread out from there. After her clothes got smaller I used different brands that fit her. The rush had completely disappeared. Last night I put on a Carter’s shirt and in the morning the rush was back. I don’t know what material in the stamp is causing the reaction. Has anyone else experienced the same problem?

Another child, whose mom has posted her story for others to see at Ava’s Tagless Horror With Carters, needed to be hospitalized after her child contracted a Staph Infection from her open wound. She writes:

Then one day, the burn got worse and Ava was clearly in unbearable pain. We immediately took her to the pediatrician. The doctors in the practice saw Ava’s wound and agreed she should immediately be admitted to the children’s hospital emergency. Ava caught a staph infection from her open wound. As you may know, staph can be life threatening, especially to an infant; Ava was barely 3 months. She had to be in a strict sterile environment (medical masks, gloves and gowns were required by all who entered who room) and we waited for IV Antibiotics to mitigate further health risks. Ava and my wife were in the hospital overnight. We were alarmed by doctors who all claimed the issue to be very severe but none of whom could diagnose it. We were all horrified and traumatized by this, wondering if our daughter would recover. Ava was on antibiotics for at least a month, the burn subsided but never healed and continued to painfully affect her.

Some info from Carter’s Website: Is there a recall on the Fall 2007 products?
No. Carter’s has used tag-less labels on hundreds of millions of products and our experience with these labels is that they are safe. Carter’s has coordinated directly with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on this issue.

If there is no recall then why is Carter’s issuing a release with the CPSC?
Naturally, we are very concerned about any child who may have had a skin rash while wearing our garments. We are working closely with the CPSC to make sure that consumers are alerted to the situation in the event that their infant has an allergic reaction.

---