CPSC Urges Consumers to Replace or Remove Latches/Locks on Lane and Virginia Maid Cedar Chests; 14 Deaths Reported

NOTE:  United Furniture Industries (UFI) of Tupelo, Miss. is no longer administering the recall and replacement latches and locks are no longer available.  CPSC urges consumers to completely remove the locks from their recalled Lane and Virginia Maid brand chests to eliminate the hazard.  If and when the replacement remedy becomes available again, this announcement will be updated. January 31, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is urging consumers to immediately remove the latch and lock on recalled “Lane” and “Virginia Maid” brand cedar chests.  The cedar chests were recalled because the chest’s lid automatically locks when the lid is closed.  

Fourteen children have suffocated to death inside these cedar chests after becoming locked inside between 1977 and 2015.  In 1996, The Lane Company recalled 12 million cedar chests with latches that automatically locked the lid when it was closed.  CPSC is concerned that millions of these recalled cedar chests remain unfixed in consumers’ homes and continue to pose a danger to children.

United Furniture Industries (UFI) of Tupelo, Miss. is no longer administering the recall and replacement latches and locks are no longer available.  CPSC urges consumers to completely remove the locks from their recalled Lane and Virginia Maid brand chests to eliminate the hazard.  If and when the replacement remedy becomes available again, this announcement will be updated.   

The old style latches on all “Lane” and “Virginia Maid” brand cedar chests manufactured between 1912 and 1987 should also be immediately removed by consumers to eliminate the hazard.  Chests can be identified by the brand name “Lane” or “Virginia Maid” located inside the cedar chest.  These chests are often handed down through families or purchased second-hand.