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Pyrex Cookware

• Three Years Later: Pyrex Dishes Still Go Boom • The Company Lawyer's Response to Our Story • Pyrex Panic: Shrapnel in the Kitchen • Bakers Beware: Shattering Pyrex Pans --- • Consumer Complaints - Pyrex • Consumer Complaints - Anchor Hocking

deborah of honolulu, HI October 21, 2009

I read a recent email regarding exploding Pyrex. I was shocked!I didn' realize this was still happening. I read the thought that this may have only been happening as recently as 2005.WRONG! This happened to me in 1991. I Know the year for sure because I was on Maternity leave when this happened. I baked a batch of brownies in the clear square glass pan. It exploded while cooling on top of my stove. I hadn't bought the pan to long before the incident.

I had actually called Pyrex to report the incident at that time because I still had the receipt and wanted my money back. They said they never heard of anything like that happening and said I must have done something to damage it. I left it at that thinking maybe I did. I even remember calling my friend at work to tell her what had happened. Because that same week my washing machine broke down. So I was joking that I best get back to work soon.

I also never did use it as A "Freeze to the oven to the table" dish. I just never trusted that one could do that. Now reading this information I am shocked that this could all have been prevented LONG, LONG AGO! Please call me if you have any questions, I would be happy to testify. or even sign an affidavit. Exploding glass traveled from my stove top across to the counter and sink in my kitchen. I am one of the lucky ones that was not in the kitchen when it happened.

Gary of Mesa, AZ October 20, 2009

Two times we had our Pyrex dishes break since 2004. One was s Thanksgiving Ham which was destroyed and it took almost half the day to clean the oven. It "shattered" as I was taking it out of the oven(I was lucky no cuts). The other was just sitting on the counter when it "shattered". We no longer purchase anything with the Pyrex name on it. IT IS JUNK!!!!!!!

Logan of doesn't matter, IL October 20, 2009

Just ran across your article about exploding Pyrex. After reading the subsequent response from World Kitchen's lawyers, I felt that I needed to offer a rebuttal to some of their claims, since as a scientist I can tell you that the lawyers are seriously spinning the facts and misdirecting attention so as to avoid the blame that their company rightly deserves.

First off, I AM somewhat of a glass expert. Probably not as good as the experts you consulted from your original article, but I do hold a MS degree in Glass Science, and am currently doing materials research into glass-ceramic materials. With that said, some things you might want to consider. For ease in correlating arguments, I'll refer to the statements put out by World Kitchen's lawyers using their numbering system.

1. "Contrary to what Consumer Affairs Says, World Kitchen Did Not Change the Formulation of Pyrex Glass Bakeware; the Formulation is the Same as that used by Corning."

Response: Granted, I do not personally know when the formulation for pyrex glass was changed from borosilicate (BS) glass to soda-lime-silicate (SLS) glass. I don't work for Corning and don't have access to those records. What I DO know for certain is that after World Kitchen purchased Corning's kitchenware division they DID SIGNIFICANTLY change the formulation of the bakeware under the CorningWare brand label. That change was from a very strong (and extremely thermal-shock resistant) glass-ceramic material to a much weaker (and cheaper) stoneware ceramic. Although the materials changed, the dish appearances and names did not change. Thus, we have a very concrete example of World Kitchens deliberately changing product compositions for financial gain while depending on consumer expectations of the previously superior product to continue driving sales. If we cannot trust this company with the way they adulterated the CorningWare product line, why should we believe that they are telling the truth about Pyrex?

There is a simple way to test their claims. Just purchase several "antique" pyrex dishes from estate/garage/auction sales and send those off to a trusted facility to test their composition and construction. Based on the product stamps and/or packaging you can confirm if they were manufactured prior to 1998. If an independent lab can confirm that an old "beat up" dish still possesses superior composition and tempering than the new products, then your original calims will still stand, despite the lawyers' bluff.

2. "Contrary to what Consumer Affairs Says, Pyrex Glass Bakeware is Properly Tempered."

Response: In point number two, World Kitchen's lawyers posit that the tempered SLS glass is of equal (or superior) quality to that of BS glass. Despite their insistence, the scientific fact still remains that SLS glass -- tempered or not -- will ALWAYS have a thermal coefficient of expansion (COE) which is much greater than that of borosilicate glass. The COE for a glass is a physical property of the material and is a function of glass composition only. It is this thermal expansion that is ultimately responsible for causing bakeware to break in the oven when the Pyrex tempering fails to constrain the thermally-induced stress. Thus, as you and your glass experts initially stated, SLS glass articles are inherently inferior. What you'll notice in the lawyers' carefully worded response is that they claim the tempered glass is "comparably resistant to breakage," not comparably resistant to thermally-induced stress. However, it is only "comparably resistant" because the tempering process adds enough strength to cover the inherent flaw caused by the difference in glass composition. Borosilicate glass does not require the same tempering because the material itself is inherently superior. A tempered borosilicate article would then be vastly superior in not only thermal shock resistance but also mechanical resistance, leaving no advantage at all to the SLS dish.

3. "Consumer Affairs Ignores the Scientific Fact that Pyrex Glass Bakeware is Tempered Differently than Flat Glass." Response: "Tempered Differently" is NO excuse for TEMPERED POORLY. As a glass expert, I'll agree with World Kitchens than it is very difficult (and probably not worth the time and effort) to temper every square inch of a bakeware dish as evenly as a flat panel of glass. Also, I'll concede that Pyrex bakeware would not be expected to dice when it breaks. I've intentionally broken several antique Pyrex dishes in the course of my research, and they do indeed break into large shards instead of small crumbles. However, knowing how the tempering process works, it would reasonably be expected that two-dimensional regions of similar thickness within an article (such as the centers of the dish bottoms) would exhibit the same degree of tempering, and that the tempering from multiple pieces would be equal. As your experts noted and the lawyers conveniently ignored, the issue is not a question of whether it is tempered the same as plate glass, but whether it is tempered sufficiently to protect the consumer, and the answer that we've seen from the consumer experience is a resounding No. The question thus remains unanswered, how does the quality of tempering in today's dishes compare with those from before World Kitchens took over?

4. "Contrary to what Consumer Affairs Says, Pyrex Glass Bakeware is Durable and Impact Breakage is an Important Safety Consideration."

For the most part, this response from World Kitchens is valid. But, again the validity of their response hinges on the assumption that the articles have been manufactured with sufficient tempering to increase their strength. They also cite NEISS statistics to show that thermal shock accidents are far fewer than incidents caused by dropping. What we do not know from their response, and what should be investigated further, is how the relative incident rate for breakage by dropping has changed pre/post-world Kitchen era, since a decrease in production quality should see an increase in incidents. Also completely ignored by the lawyers is the point of consumer expectations – that is, consumers expect a dropped glass dish to break, while they do not expect a stationary one to shatter. In this case, even one to three incidents per year of spontaneous shattering is still too many when those could have been prevented.

5. "Consumer Affairs Misrepresents the Differences between Soda Lime and Borosilicate Glass Manufacturing, and Ignores the Damaging Environmental Implications of Borosilicate Glass Manufacturing."

Response: As a glass scientist, this argument from World Kitchens was the greatest affront, and practically had me laughing in disbelief at their attempt to redirect the argument. Dr Day's statements are solid fact, which is why the lawyers then proceed to set up several straw-man arguments around this point so that we'll try to ignore those facts. As I mentioned earlier, there is a great difference between comparing MATERIALS and comparing PRODUCTS. From a materials perspective, borosilicate glass is immensely superior to soda lime glass. That's why Corning Inc. still retains the right to make BOROSILICATE glassware for laboratory use under the Pyrex label. World Kitchen's "Pyrex" glass is only remotely similar due to their additional processing steps to add strength, and again, if they fail in that secondary process (as they apparently have) it is the consumer that suffers harm. Contrary to the lawyers' claim in this paragraph, the melting point of the glass compositions DOES impact the final product. If a manufacturer doesn't sufficiently melt the glass batch materials at a high enough temperature, it can cause stones and other inhomogeneous defects to end up in the final glass article. These defects then create stress points that induce failure in the consumers' kitchens. Finally, the "environmentally friendly" argument is laughable because the energy efficiency of the manufacturing process has nothing to do with safety of the consumer in their home, except when the company's focus on said energy efficiency (and subsequent cost savings) leads to an inferior product.

6. These arguments made by World Kitchens either involve conversations that I was not part of, or are petty personal attacks on the credibility of Consumer Affairs' website, thus I have no comment.

Bottom line: This issue is all about the MATERIALS first, and the production methods second. A material with very low thermal coefficient of expansion will not explode in a consumer's oven under normal use, regardless of the degree or quality of the tempering that it has undergone. Borosilicate glass is inherently safer because it cannot generate the amount of internal stress that soda-lime glass will. If World Kitchens really cared about the consumers and not just their stockholders, they would make their "Pyrex" bakeware out of the same borosilicate glass that Corning uses for their Pyrex labware -- the same material that the public EXPECTS when they buy a product with the Pyrex label.

Vicki of Warren, PA October 19, 2009

I had a "newer" 13*9 inch clear glass baking dish. I was reading your article that you have posted. Most "events" to other people were related to change in temperature -- oven- to room temperature. I was removing my dish from the storage cubbard when it shattered in a "million pieces" onto the floor. I was really taken aback. I own old pyrex that even has a small chip in it and have no problems with it. No change in temperature, no extreme temperature encountered. No oven, no dishwasher involved.

Lisa of North Vancouver, BC October 19, 2009

I was washing a 13X9 pyrex dish. It had not been in the fridge or anything, I had only used it to hold vegtables I had chopped. When I went to put it on the dish rack it exploded and I mean EXPLODED. I did have rubber gloves on at the time, so no injuries to my hands/face.

Deb of Milford, MA October 18, 2009

I put an apple pie in my pyrex pie plate and put it in the oven. About 10 minutes into baking I heard a loud noise. I thought maybe the oven rack fell, but when I opened the over door I saw that the Pyrex pie dish was in a lot of pieces, there was apple juice all over the oven and it was a complete mess. After reading some of these other stories I am glad it did not happen as I was taking it out. I had made pies in this dish for the past few years and never did I think anything like this would ever happen.

Barbara of Charlotte, NC October 17, 2009

This Pyrex dish was sitting on top of the toaster oven. The oven was on 350 degrees. I picked up the dish to move it and it exploded in my hand. There are chards of glass all over my kitchen. I don't know where I bought it. I've probably had it for 10 years. I did not know that Pyrex would explode. I have the piece that says Pyrex on it. My fingers had chards of glass in them. This morning after a thorough cleaning I still find glass all over the kitchen.

amy of monroe, OH October 17, 2009

I forget what I was cooking in my Pyrex 9x13. I removed the Pyrex from the oven, removed the food that was cooking in it and set the Pyrex in the empty sink. As I turned around to walk away, there was a loud CRACK/BOOM! I turned back around to find the Pyrex in thousands of tiny chunks in the sink. Kuckily, it was in my deep sink and the sink contained all the pieces of glass.

Dena of Savage, MN October 17, 2009

Today 10/16/09 I was cooking a roast in a pyrex glass ovenware, I was checking the roast as it was near done, as I opened the oven door and pulled the rack outward the glass exploded for no apparent reason. Luckily I had the door semi open so a hanful of glass shards flew across the room, the rest of the glass exploded throughout the oven sending glass pieces into my entire meal of potatos and bread not to mention the roast. I was cut by a scolding piece of glass, not severe however concerning. My 6 yr old daughter was next to me with her back turned and luckily only had glass graze her head. This is extremely alarming and not to mention hazardous.

The glass explosion was like a bomb - to further I have a complete mess of glass in my oven and a mess leaking all down the oven into the kitchen and no dinner. I am angry after reading the info here that no one has done something about this as it clearly is an ongoing issue.

I intend to contact Pyrex regarding this situation and am surprised that this company has not recalled there products, nor has the government intervined, nor has there been a class action lawsuit. This is unacceptable and dangerous, I personally will never use this cookware again and will be contacting the company in regards to their solution to my expensive stockpile of so called "safe" glassware. This needs to be addressed before someone is seriously injured!

David of Vallejo, CA October 15, 2009

My small Pyrex dish was being used to brown some peanuts in the oven at 300 degrees. I'd take the pan out, shake it a bit, put the pan back in. Took the pan out and set it down on the room temperature counter and the pan just exploded.

My wife heard the boom and it was quite loud. I stood there in shock, but was lucky that there were no real liquids or bulk - just a single layer of peanuts.

I thought it was a fluke and actually ordered a 5 piece set of Pyrex to replace my broken pan, but after reading these stories and after my own experience I'm not going to use these things in the oven anymore and may just throw them out and warn other people.

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