Birch Bark Candle Warning

Talk about insanity. These Chinese-made Target birch bark candles were recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission back in 2005. It would appear (and logically, I might add) that the bark wrapping catches fire when the candle burns down. I stumbled across a scary press release by accident this morning from the furniture manufacturer, Roost, who posted a Federal recall of its own Chinese made birch candles, some three years later in November 2007. That’s last Christmas, folks. If you remember, Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn both sold birch bark candles during the holidays at stores in Dallas. How much do you want to bet they were also made in China?

I just tried to find the birch candles on the Crate & Barrel site, but they’ve been replaced by something more appropriate for spring, yet equally as potentially flammable — candles wrapped in natural jute and reed. They look chic, but don’t assume these candles have been tested by the government before they were put on shelves, or that they’ve been treated to keep them from catching fire. Especially if they were imported from China. Look at what happened with the birch candles — the CSPSC issued its first warning in 2005 but they are still easily found on the market.

I’m going to call Crate & Barrel’s corporate headquarters next week and find out if the new jute and reed candles have been treated to make them safe. I’ll report back.

Meanwhile, got a candle-bursting-into-flames story of your own? Email me.