IKEA expanded its LETTAN mirror recall after wall fittings kept breaking

IKEA's LETTAN is a rectangular mirror that hangs on the wall horizontally or vertically. In 2023, IKEA and Health Canada issued an expanded recall because some of the plastic fittings that attach the mirror to the wall were breaking, which could make the mirrors fall and injure someone. Health Canada's notice was first published on 12 January 2023 and updated on 13 September 2023.

The expanded recall covers every LETTAN mirror size with a date stamp up to and including 2105 (year and week), and also every size from supplier number 21944 with a date stamp up to 2325. Canadian sales ran from February 2020 to June 2023, with 27,825 units sold in Canada through IKEA Canada. The mirrors were made by two Chinese manufacturers, Ganglong Mirror Art and Jiangsu Tonda Furniture.

As of 29 August 2023, IKEA had received no incident or injury reports in Canada. Globally it had logged 65 incidents of mirrors falling due to what appeared to be breaking wall fittings, with minor property damage and one minor injury reported.

27,825 mirrors sold in Canada alone, free replacement fittings or refunds with no receipt, and 65 incidents globally including one minor injury.

The plastic fittings that hold the mirror to the wall were breaking, so the mirror could fall.

The failures were not confined to the first batches: the expanded notice pulled in a second supplier's units made up to week 25 of 2023.

The mirrors had been on sale from February 2020 to June 2023, so tens of thousands were already hanging on walls when the recall was widened.

A fix scoped to one production window can miss other batches; when failures keep arriving, recalls have to be re-drawn around the part, not the first suspect lot.

IKEA urged owners to stop using affected mirrors and offered either free replacement wall fittings or a return for a refund, with no receipt required. Under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act the recalled mirrors cannot be sold, redistributed or given away in Canada.