Kitchen Scale Batteries Pose Child Fatality Risk If Swallowed: Recall

A federal recall for nearly 350,000 digital kitchen scales warns that lithium coin batteries included with the product could cause child deaths if swallowed. The U.S. Consumer Safety Commission stated that the Greater Goods-brand scales come with two of the potentially dangerous batteries — one pre-installed battery that can easily be accessed by youngsters and a spare that comes without child-resistant packaging as required by law — posing an ingestion hazard.

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“The recalled scales also do not have the required warnings,” the commission stated. “When button cell or coin batteries are swallowed, the ingested batteries can cause serious injuries, internal chemical burns, and death.”

The commission announced the recall on Jan. 30, affecting some 349,500 digital kitchen scales sold under the Greater Goods Digital Kitchen Scales brand name. No related injuries had been reported, the commission stated.

The scales were manufactured in China and sold through importer Greater Goods LLC, of St. Louis, from May 2023 to September 2024 via Amazon, Walmart and Greater Goods at a price of “about $10,” and in colors including gray, black, blue, green, pink, red, silver and white. Affected scales can be identified by their model number, found on a labeled sticker along with the brand on the back, as well as by the Greater Goods logo found on the top of the scales’ front panel; recalled models include 0480, 0455, 0456, 0458, 0473, 0479, 0481, 0747, 0748, 0749, 0751, 0752 and 0754.

Sellers reportedly are contacting all known buyers of the scales directly. Federal safety authorities instruct anyone in possession of one of the scales to remove the batteries, and place them somewhere out of a child’s reach until they can dispose of or recycle the batteries according to local hazardous waste procedures. Consumers should also contact Greater Goods to receive a free recall kit, which includes a replacement battery door that can be secured to the scale, as well as the legally required labeling and an updated instruction manual.

For step-by-step instructions and a video tutorial on how to replace the kitchen scale battery door upon receipt, go to the Greater Goods website. For more information on this recall, call Greater Goods at 866-991-0397 or email recall@greatergoods.com, or go to the commission website at cspc.gov/recalls.