Starbucks Issues Giant Recall After Metal Straws Lacerate Kids’ Mouths

August 03, 2016

For all we talk about our love of Starbucks and their delicious seasonal menu items, they do occasionally step in it. At least they’re making it right, though. After receiving four reports of children receiving mouth lacerations while drinking from their stainless steel Cold-to-Go drinking straws (three in the U.S. and one in Canada), Starbucks announced a recall of the straws on their site. According to the press release, “about 2.5 million [straws] were sold in the U.S., and [an] additional 301,000 were sold in Canada.” Now, four reported cases out of 2.8 million doesn’t seem like much. But keep in mind, according to Starbucks, these lacerations happened to “young children.” Think of the children! They don’t know any better! In the press release, Starbucks PR mentioned that the straws “feature a ridge at the bottom that keeps the straw attached to the lid”. The release didn’t explicitly state whether this ridge is the cause of the lacerations, but how else would a straw cut your mouth open? What do you think? Was Starbucks right to recall the straws, or was this an overreaction? Let us know in the comments below or @WhatsTrending on Twitter!