close
close
You are Here
Glass or plastic? Old glasses were toxic
vefms

Glass or plastic? Old glasses were toxic

play

If you’re feeling nostalgic for McDonald’s cups this week, it’s time to check your cupboards. Some of your childhood favorites may be toxic.

Most consumers know that McDonald’s food is not good for them, due to its excess calories (and perhaps other factors), but there is also a history of problems with its non-edible products. Health and safety regulators have not always been “on board.”

McDonald’s on Tuesday launched a new Happy Meal featuring six novelty collectible cups, following reports that the multibillion-dollar company’s global sales fell for the first time in three years.

This latest promotion may bring customers back to McDonald’s in droves, as some do in search of a McRib sandwich or a plastic bucket for Halloween Boo. The chain’s collectible cups are equally popular, despite concerns that have been raised over the decades about its previous collections.

Below are some instances where McDonald’s products have confronted lawmakers and safety advocates.

McDonald’s voluntarily recalls ‘Shrek Forever After 3D’ glasses over toxic contamination fears

McDonald’s new collectible mugs feature a variety of popular characters — designs, McDonald’s spokesperson Morgan Flatley explained in a press release, meant to give fans “a keepsake they can hold in their hands.”

One of those cups makes a nod to the “Shrek” movies. It’s an odd choice, given that federal regulators probably haven’t forgotten about McDonald’s massive recall of “Shrek Forever After” 3-D drinking cups.

In June 2010, authorities discovered that the designs on the glasses contained toxic amounts of cadmium.

Image above courtesy of CPSC.

According to Consumer Reports, when added to commercial drinking glasses, cadmium creates more vivid colors (reds, oranges and yellows) in painted glass. Studies have linked it to cancer, kidney disease and bone disease if the element is ingested in excess over long periods of time.

The balance between federal regulators and manufacturers comes down to how much cadmium is present in an object and whether or not it poses a safety risk to the person handling it.

Regulators tested the Shrek-themed drinking glasses after receiving a tip in California and determined that a typical 6-year-old could be exposed to dangerous levels of cadmium after touching one of the glasses just eight times a day, according to a CBS report, which documented the lengths to which scientists at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission went to test the glassware.

According to the CPSC, about 12 million Shrek cups sold exclusively by McDonald’s were voluntarily recalled. McDonald’s urged customers to “immediately stop using the cups out of an abundance of caution,” and the fast-food chain went so far as to offer a $3 refund for a product that had charged about $2 to purchase.

While it remains illegal to sell, resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product, according to the CPSC, a quick look by IndyStar revealed used “Shrek Forever After” glassware for sale on online shopping sites like eBay and Amazon.com.

Other McDonald’s glassware products containing potentially toxic substances have even older origins.

McDonald’s “Great Muppet Caper” glassware sparked concern in Massachusetts in 1981

When Jim Henson’s film “The Great Muppet Caper” was released in theaters in 1981, McDonald’s was quick to release its own collectible Muppet cups to promote the film. However, Massachusetts state officials warned that the cups could contain dangerous levels of lead-based paint.

Lawmakers appear to have taken the matter seriously. In May 1981, the state legislature’s Health Care Committee suggested banning McDonald’s national promotional campaign in Massachusetts altogether, according to an article archived by United Press International.

“There was enough evidence presented to show that there was a clear health and safety concern,” said then-co-chair Rep. Theodore Aleixo, D-Taunton, whose views were met with stiff resistance from other state lawmakers, including glass manufacturers who insisted their lead paint levels had passed federal and state oversight.

Back then, discussions about lead content in McDonald’s glassware were nothing new in Massachusetts.

Effects of lead poisoning: Lead can alter personality and pose lifelong risks. It is still present in water pipes across the United States.

In 1977, the public health commissioner asked parents to put McDonald’s cups “out of the reach of children.”

Promotional cups distributed by McDonald’s contained dangerous amounts of lead-based paint and should not be in the hands of children, a Massachusetts state official warned in a 1977 article that appeared in The New York Times.

Then-Public Health Commissioner Jonathan Fielding said tests by both the Massachusetts Department of Health and the EPA found lead content up to 18 times the legal limit. He urged parents to stop using glass containers, according to the media outlet, and to “put them out of reach of children.”

According to a later New York Times article, both McDonald’s and its glass cup makers filed a lawsuit to demand that a court re-examine the cups in question. In the meantime, the fast food company stopped promoting and distributing its cartoon-themed glass cups, albeit temporarily.

Fielding, who was concerned that children might scrape or chip paint off with their teeth, warned of the long-term cumulative effects McDonald’s glassware could have, in addition to other sources of potential lead contamination, such as inhaling leaded exhaust fumes or swallowing lead paint chips.

He called it “a kind of unnecessary exposure.”

In 1977, the FDA did not recall McDonald’s cartoon-themed cups because “there was no indication of a serious health hazard,” the Associated Press reported. However, an FDA spokesman said it would be “prudent” for families not to use McDonald’s cups until more testing could be done.

Since 1978, the federal government has banned “lead content of more than 0.06 percent in paints and coatings accessible to children, and no viable consumer product safety standard under the CPSA would adequately protect the public from this risk.”

Lead paint is just the beginning: The danger of poisoning lurks in the pantry and toys

A ‘Lead Safe Mama’ and a McDonald’s Garfield cup spark memes

Decades later, Oregon resident Tamara Rubin, a self-proclaimed lead poisoning prevention advocate, began conducting her own tests using a professional X-ray fluorescence (XRF) gun to detect lead. Her findings about McDonald’s Garfield-themed glass cups sparked edgy memes on the Internet.

Rubin’s advocacy work has been highlighted among other citizen scientists by Consumer Reports. In July 2022, she tested a 1978 glass mug featuring Garfield, part of a series of glass items sold exclusively by McDonald’s. Rubin shared the results on her blog, Lead Safe Mama, and said the mug contained more lead (103,600 parts per million) than the current legal limit, which is 90 parts per million, according to the CPSC.

IndyStar was unable to verify or find additional testing done on similar cups by outside agencies to determine their overall safety.

Warning signs that your pottery or tableware contains toxic amounts of lead

According to the FDA, there is no safe level of lead exposure and consumers can take several steps to determine if their dinnerware or pottery might be contaminated with toxic heavy metals. Consumers, they advise, should look out for the following warning signs, which include checking dinnerware for:

  • Handmade with rough appearance or irregular shape.
  • Antique.
  • Damaged or excessively worn.
  • Purchased at flea markets or street vendors, or if you cannot determine if the pottery comes from a reputable manufacturer.
  • Brightly decorated in orange, red or yellow, as lead is often used with these pigments to increase their intensity.

Consumer Reports recommends that consumers limit drinking alcohol in painted glasses and avoid placing painted glasses in the dishwasher, even if they are labeled dishwasher safe. Heat, as well as wear and tear, they write, can cause the enamel to corrode or flake off. They recommend washing these items by hand.

Are the McDonald’s 2024 collectible cups made of glass? Are they painted?

The 2024 Collector’s Edition cups sold in U.S. stores are made of “Tritan plastic,” according to McDonald’s, but that’s not the case everywhere.

While they won’t be available in the U.S., Canadian stores will have them, but with one notable difference: none of the McDonald’s cups appear to be painted on.

An awkward anniversary: Twenty years ago, “Slow Motion” reigned as the No. 1 song and Dave Matthews’ bus rained down No. 2s on a crowded tour boat.

John Tufts covers breaking news for IndyStar and Midwest Connect. Send him a story at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at JTuftsReports.

Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Linkedin

Related Posts