Dive Brief:
- The Federal Trade Commission is sending over $88,000 in refunds to more than 10,000 customers who bought Pyrex measuring cups that manufacturer Instant Brands falsely claimed were “Made in USA,” the agency said in an Oct. 1 release.
- The refunds are part of the FTC’s finalized March 2023 order against the company over the false claims regarding products actually made in China. The order bans Instant Brands from making false claims about products being made in the U.S. and to pay the agency $129,416, which it is using to refund eligible customers.
- The agreement also requires the kitchenware maker to create records for the next 10 years, including consumer complaints and refunds. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dive Insight:
When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Instant Brands saw a spike in demand for some of its baking products, including the Pyrex-brand glass mixing cups, according to an FTC complaint filed in November 2022.
However, the manufacturer was unable to fill the domestic demand by 2021. Thus, Instant Brands shifted production of certain measuring cups from the U.S. to China between May 2021 and March 2022.
At the same time, the company continued to market two SKUs of measuring cup sets on Amazon as “Made in USA.” Despite receiving dozens of complaints, Instant Brands fulfilled more than 110,000 Amazon.com orders of the measuring cup sets made in China. At times, some of the cups were marked “Made in China” in red text, according to the complaint.
“Consumers rely on marketers to make truthful ‘Made in USA’ claims,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a January 2023 statement. “If marketers move their manufacturing outside the United States, even temporarily, they must update their advertising to make it accurate.”
In addition to the advertising ban and monetary fines, Instant Brands must hold on to each record for five years and submit compliance reports for the next 10 years, according to the settlement. However, the order will not be lifted until 2043.
The FTC has been cracking down on false “Made in USA” claims, according to a Bloomberg Law report. In May, the federal agency ordered furnishing maker Williams-Sonoma to pay a nearly $3.2 million civil penalty after the FTC found the company falsely advertised that some of its products were made domestically, but were actually made in China.
The refunds are just one of many issues for Instant Brands. In June 2023, the company filed for bankruptcy. In February, private equity firm Centre Lane Partners acquired Instant Brands’ housewares division, which includes Pyrex. The company rebranded under a new name, Corelle Brands.
The company also has manufacturing, product development and distribution operations in the U.S. and the Asia Pacific region, according to its website.
