Fall Hazard Prompts NHTSA, CPSC and Evenflo to Announce Recall of Embrace™ Infant Car Seat/Carriers

Recall Insight

This CPSC action (record #07186) was formally reported on May 10, 2007. It is classified under Moderate severity, with a current status of Active. Evenflo Company Inc., of Vandalia, Ohio is listed as the recalling firm. Federal records indicate About 450,000 units are affected, a scale large enough to require multi-state distribution tracking.

The documented reason for this recall is: When used as an infant carrier, the handle can unexpectedly release, causing the seat to rotate forward. When this happens, an infant inside the carrier can fall to the ground and suffer serious injuries. Distribution information was not included in the agency filing, so consumers should assume broad potential exposure until the firm publishes point-of-sale details. The remedy documented by the agency is: Consumers should not use the handle until the repair kit has been installed. The product can continue to be used as a car seat when secured in a vehicle. Contact Evenflo to receive a free repair kit … — consumers holding this product should act on that instruction rather than relying on general guidance.

To put this record in context, PlainRecalls indexes 83,949 recalls across the FDA, CPSC, NHTSA and USDA FSIS going back to 1995. Within the same product category, the database holds 6 closely related recalls, of which 1 were also issued by CPSC. That clustering is a signal — repeated actions in a narrow category often indicate a systemic quality-control issue, a supplier-wide contamination, or a design defect that has propagated across product lines. This recall is roughly 19 years old; older recalls can remain relevant because many units enter resale, rental, and secondary-market channels where the original warning never reaches the end user. Always cross-check the recall number against the official agency page before relying on any summary.