World Kitchen Sues Over Article It Claims Disparages Pyrex

The maker of Pyrex glassware claims in court that the American Ceramic Society disparaged its U.S.-made product in a “sensational” article that said it was more likely to shatter than foreign-made glassware, according to an article from Courthouse News Service.

World Kitchen sued the American Ceramic Society (ACS); Peter Wray, the editor of The American Ceramic Society Bulletin; and the co-authors of the article, Richard Bradt and Richard Martens, in Federal Court.

In its September issue, “Shattering Glass Cookware,” the defendants claimed that “American-made glass cookware, including Pyrex brand glass cookware made by World Kitchen, is unsafe for typical cooking in consumers’ kitchens, poses a significant risk of injury to consumers, and is substantially less resistant to breakage during normal use in consumers’ kitchens than foreign-made glass cookware,” according to the complaint. 

The suit claims that despite the safe use of billions of pieces of Pyrex and the lack of testing by the article’s authors of either American-made or foreign-made kitchenware in normal cooking conditions, the article claimed American glass cookware “is multiple times more susceptible to breakage during normal use in consumers’ kitchens and less safe than foreign-made glassware.”

Pyrex glass cookware is used in about 90 million U.S. homes, or 80 percent of U.S. kitchens, according to the complaint. 

World Kitchen says Pyrex has an exemplary safety record, and “consumer reports of injuries attributed to breakage of glass cookware from any cause, including incidents that involve product misuse or another manufacturer’s brand, represent only a tiny fraction of a percent of the Pyrex glass cookware used in American kitchens for generations.”

World Kitchen says it demanded a retraction on Sept. 22, but the defendants “provided no substantive response.” In its suit, World Kitchen demands a retraction and apology, a corrective press release and wants the defendants ordered to remove the article from its website.