Recall of our Kids Cups

Since our founding, Cupkin has always been guided by a strong commitment to producing safe, quality products. Our products are rigorously tested by United States CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission)-accredited labs to ensure we provide our consumers with safe products to make their jobs as parents better by using our products.

After recently receiving feedback from consumer advocates and additional follow up testing, we discovered that the double walled vacuum 8oz and 12oz cups may pose an unacceptable exposure to lead if the cup bottoms are mistreated. Liquids in the cup are not exposed to lead due to the double walled construction of our cups.

Working closely with the CPSC, we have issued a voluntary product recall of the Cupkin 8oz and 12oz cups.

We are encouraging consumers who purchased these products between 2020 and February 19th, 2023 to immediately stop using the cups.

Consumers can click on the “Submission Form” link below and follow the instructions to receive a refund or replacement. Consumers are asked to fill out their name and address. Due to the volume of refund requests, we ask for your patience as we process through every submission.

The affected products cannot be returned to Amazon.

Refund Submission Form

If you have already submitted your information above and have not received your refund, please take a minute to make sure you have submitted the correct Order ID.  Order ID verification is a requirement for receiving your refund / replacement.

 

Here's What Happened

When we initially developed these cups, our manufacturing partner confirmed multiple times that absolutely no lead was used in any part of our production process. As parents to young children, our plan was to have a 100% lead-free cup.  We took it a step further and had our cups tested by 2 separate 3rd party US CPSC-accredited labs. CPSC stands for Consumer Product Safety Commission.  You can find the testing reports at the bottom of this page.

Our cups have multiple CPCs (Children’s Product Certificates) issued by both CPSC-accredited labs. This means that these labs tested our products thoroughly for lead, sharp edges, phthalates and other heavy metals / toxins but came back negative for everything.

Cupkin was simply a side project that Soo Jin and I originally created to show our daughters what "grit" looks like in the real world.  It has become bigger than any of us could've imagined, but this is a fantastic opportunity to give our girls another example of what doing the right thing looks like.  Learning that our manufacturing partner and not 1, but 2 CPSC-accredited labs let us down is a heavy set back both financially and emotionally.

However, no matter the cost...we are going to be as transparent and proactive as possible to resolve this ASAP.  We will take this opportunity to completely redesign our cups to make them even better.


We’re firm believers in radical transparency and, as such, will update this matter as soon as more information becomes available.

If you’re interested in getting a refund, please fill out this form, and we’ll contact you about the next steps.

 

Max, Soo Jin, and the Cupkin team


Timeline

    • January 9th, 2023
      • We became aware of a posting online and are actively working with them to understand how they arrived at their findings.
      • We've sent an email to all customers that have been affected.
      • We've removed all instances of "lead-free" in our graphics and marketing for the time being while we research and test all of our current inventory.
    • January 10th, 2023
      • Cupkin.com
        • We've removed all instances of "lead-free" in our graphics and marketing for the time being while we research and test all of our current inventory.
      • Amazon.com
        • We've removed all instances of "lead-free" in our graphics and marketing for the time being while we research and test all of our current inventory.
    • January 11th, 2023
      • Max started having conversations with new manufacturing partners to get a solution in place while our primary manufacturer is currently on holiday until next month.
    • January 12th, 2023
      • Engaged suppliers for quotes to obtain a Handheld/Mobile/Portable XRF Spectrometers to have one on hand to regularly spot test new inventory. We’re expecting to invest $43,000+ into this device with training/certification to use the scanner.
    • January 14th, 2023
      • Max, Soo Jin and the girls got in a car and drove over 3 hours south to meet with Lead Safe Mama in order to test previous generations along with a bunch of competitor products.
    • January 17th, 2023
      • Received confirmation from our testing lab that they did not test the bottom of the cup. We immediately sent out products to the lab so they could run a new test. They will be running 3 different tests.
    • January 18th, 2023
      • Tested tested the top selling household kids cup brands and found lead under the stainless steel discs for every single kids cup brand.
    • January 19th, 2023
      • Notified CPSC that we are aware of the issue and are awaiting official test results from our lab.
      • We outlined a full plan based on the available information and shared contingencies depending on the lab test results.
    • January 20th, 2023
      • Confirmed with a new manufacturer to proceed with manufacturing of 304 grade stainless steel plates with 3M adhesive backing to put on all existing inventory.
    • January 23rd, 2023
      • Followed up with our lab again to get an update for testing. We were told testing would be accomplished no later than Friday 1/27.
    • January 27th, 2023
      • Met with the lab and they performed a couple tests.
      • Surface detection test - They tested the paint and the seal dot with the powder coating in tact. There was zero traces of lead detected.
      • Sub-surface detection test - They used acetone and a scalpel to remove the powder coating at the seal dot and scuff up the seal. Lead was detected.
      • SUMMARY FROM LAB: Powder coating provides a complete barrier that prevents any potential exposure to the seal ball.
    • January 29th, 2023
      • Our manufacturers came back into the office from Chinese New Year and we’ve been coordinating on the expedited production of the stainless steel plate.
    • January 30th, 2023
      • The manufacturer said that there will be a 17% increase in our cost to produce cups with 100% lead-free seal balls. We obviously agreed to the increase in price as this was always the original plan to use 100% lead-free seal balls.
    • January 31st, 2023
      • Preparing to send an amended corrective plan of action to the CPSC by EOD.
    • February 3rd, 2023
      • Submitted the official corrective plan of action to the CPSC and currently waiting their response
    • February 16th, 2023
      • Received our first response from CPSC and we are currently working with them to provide all of the documentation we have gathered.  The next step is to determine the best course of action with the CPSC.
    • February 19th, 2023
      • We made the decision to proactively close our Amazon listings for our 8oz and 12oz cups while we wait for a decision from the CPSC.  Currently waiting on Amazon to help us remove the remaining 4 listings that we are unable to close on our end.
    • March 7, 2023
      • The official recall is live.

       

      Name of Products
      8oz and 12oz kids cups.

      Hazard
      If the bottom powder coating gets compromised that covers the seal dot containing lead. 

      Remedy
      Consumers should immediately stop using the cups and submit a refund request above.

      Consumer Contact
      For additional information, contact Cupkin at cpsc@cupkin.com.

      Incidents/Injuries
      None.

      Sold at
      Cupkin.com and Amazon

       

        Research / Documentation