Starbucks Korea conducts voluntary recall on giveaway items

Starbucks Korea, owned by South Korean retail juggernaut E-Mart, conducts a voluntary recall of its line of summer travel bags, following health concerns over cancer-causing formaldehyde.

The company issued an official apology late last month after confirming allegations that one of its seasonal giveaway items, the Summer Carry Bag, contains the toxic chemical. The company had previously requested a formal investigation by an unnamed government-approved research institute.

There are 1.08 million such garment carriers in circulation. 

Starbucks Korea announced Thursday it will conduct a voluntary recall of the summertime merch through October 11.

Also on Thursday, the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards and the Korea Consumer Agency announced the results of their joint formaldehyde detection test. 

The test found that between 20 and 681 mg of formaldehyde per kg was detected in the bags' outer layer and between 26 and 213 mg per kg in their inside layer.

The chemical is a toxic and carcinogenic yet naturally occurring organic compound, often distinguishable by its pungent smell.

The seasonal giveaway was made available to customers who had accumulated enough reward points through drink purchases and reserved one of the coveted bags online. 

But due to the formaldehyde scare, about 36% of the total number of Summer Carry Bags distributed were exchanged since July 23. 

Separate from the recall, Starbucks Korea is receiving applications for compensations to customers who purchased at least 17 hand-crafted beverages from July 9 through Aug. 22. 

They can be gifted with a new merch named Desk Module or a Starbucks Rewards Card worth 30,000 won ($23).

A customer can get three drink coupons if they present the garment carrier at any of the Starbucks stores through October 11. 

To increase the recall rate, users of the Starbucks mobile app can sign up for a free-of-charge courier service. 

Starbucks Korea is slated to share the recall status to the government. 

The company reaffirmed its commitment to restructure and expand its quality control department and work with experts to establish its own safety standards.

The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards and the Korea Consumer Agency will begin to monitor the safety standards of bags and curtains, which are not obligated to be screened for harmful materials under the existing regulations. 

The formaldehyde allegations first surfaced via an anonymous post on the online bulletin platform Blind, popular among working professionals, whose author claimed to be a researcher at the government-funded FITI Testing & Research Institute.

Write to Soo-Jung Ha at agatha77@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.