Thermos recall hits 8.2 million

Thermos containers are supposed to solve one problem — keep food or drinks hot for hours. But this recall is about a second problem building inside the bottle. On April 30, Thermos and the Consumer Product Safety Commission pulled about 8.2 million Stainless King food jars and Sportsman bottles because the stopper can blast out when someone opens it. That turns a lunch jar into a projectile hazard, and the injury reports are serious — including permanent vision loss. ### Which products are affected? The recall covers Thermos Stainless King Food Jars with model numbers SK3000 and SK3020 that were made before July 2023, plus all Thermos Sportsman Food & Beverage Bottles with model number SK3010. These came in 16-ounce, 24-ounce, and 40-ounce sizes and were sold in multiple colors through big retailers including Walmart, Target, and Amazon. (cpsc.gov) ### What is actually going wrong? The problem is the stopper design. Older recalled versions do not have a pressure-relief feature in the center. If perishable food or drinks sit inside for a long time, pressure can build up. Then, when the user starts to open the container, the stopper can eject forcefully instead of releasing pressure gradually. Basically, the bottle is acting less like a thermos and more like a shaken-up sealed container. (cpsc.gov) ### How bad were the injuries? This is the part that makes the recall land. Thermos said it received 27 reports of the stopper ejecting or striking consumers. Six injuries were reported, including cuts and blunt-impact injuries. Three of those cases involved permanent vision loss after the stopper hit a user in the eye. That is why this is not being treated like a routine “lid may leak” recall. (cpsc.gov) ### Why are older bottles the issue? Thermos’ current product pages for Stainless King food jars now describe a pressure-relief stopper, which is the feature missing from the recalled versions. That suggests the design changed, and the recall is aimed at units made before that fix was standard. So if someone bought one recently, it may be fine — but older bottles sitting in cabinets, lunch bags, garages, or camping bins are the ones worth checking first. (cpsc.gov) ### How do people check theirs? Look at the model number and the stopper. The recalled products are SK3000, SK3020, and SK3010, with the manufacturing cutoff applying to the two food-jar models before July 2023. The company says the recalled stopper lacks a pressure-relief center, so that visual detail matters. Thermos set up recall support online and by phone, and the remedy is a free replacement stopper. (thermos.com) ### Why is this recall so large? 8.2 million units is a huge number, but the timeline explains it. These containers were sold in the U.S. from January 2014 through March 2026, and another roughly 220,000 were sold in Canada from January 2014 through December 2025. That means the affected products were in circulation for more than a decade — long enough for lots of people to forget they even owned one. (cpsc.gov) ### What should people do now? Stop using the recalled container until you confirm the model and get the replacement part. The risk shows up when food or drink has been stored long enough for pressure to build, so this is exactly the kind of thing that could surprise someone on a commute, at school, or on a camping trip. The catch is that the dangerous bottle may look completely normal from the outside. (cpsc.gov) ### Bottom line This recall matters because the failure mode is violent, not annoying. A thermos stopper should release pressure safely. These older ones can launch. And with millions sold over 12 years, a lot of the risk is probably sitting in cupboards right now. (cpsc.gov)