SIGG Aluminum Bottles Contain BPA After All; SIGG CEO Almost Contrite, Almost

by Ellis Watts, Manager, Strategic Marketing

A little BPA (Bysphenol A) never killed anyone, right?

/fact checking…

Ok, so apparently it has the potential to kill many people. Luckily as the BPA scare emerged last year there was one company, SIGG, that did a great job of marketing their bottles as safe alternatives to harmful plastic Nalgene bottles.

Until it came out last week that wasn’t really the case and SIGG bottles contained BPA after all.

So let’s review. In order to avoid drinking out of my plastic Nalgene death-bottle, I shelled out $20 for a fancy SIGG aluminum death-bottle.

/swears under breath

SIGG CEO Steve Wasik had some ‘splainin’ to do last week. Here’s his official statement. In it, he italicizes (for emphasis!) some honest and unintentional oversight: “I am sorry that we did not make our communications on the original SIGG liner more clear from the very beginning.”

I’m pretty sure he’s not so sorry about the 250% sales increase between 2006 and 2007 as result of those unclear communications.

Wasik was interviewed by TreeHugger back in April, 2008 who flatly asked him outright if his bottles contained BPA. Mr. Wasik clearly stated that testing shows no presence of BPA (among other harmful chemical byproducts), but was unwilling to share what specifically his liners were made from, when in fact they do contain trace amounts of BPA, it was just that the BPA didn’t leach.

One blogger put it best with the following:

“Granted, tests have shown that the BPA from Sigg bottles does not leach into the water in the bottle. But that’s not really the point. The point is that there is a strong expectation today for companies to be transparent, especially companies that are considered on the more sustainable end of the spectrum. When a trusted company goes through such lengths to hide the truth, it makes consumers like me question why we should ever rely on their products again.”

SIGG is currently at the public’s mercy (and right now it’s not looking so good). Class action lawsuit, anyone?