Yeti recalls nearly 2 million soft cooler bags over magnet hazard

Popular high-end cooler company Yeti is recalling roughly 1.9 million soft cooler bags and gear cases because magnets in their lining can detach, posing an ingestion risk and potentially leading to serious injury or death.

The recalled Yeti bags have magnet-lined closures that can degrade or fail, thereby releasing the magnets from the lining of the bag and creating an ingestion hazard, according to a statement issued Thursday by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). An additional 40,800 units were sold in Canada, the statement said.

The recalled products include: 

• The Hopper M20 Backpack
• Two iterations of the Hopper M30, a tote-style cooler
• The SideKick Dry gear case

The bags were sold at retailers including Dick’s Sporting Goods, ACE Hardware and Amazon.com from March 2018 to January 2023. All were available in a variety of colors, and ranged in price from $50 for the gear case to $350 for the large soft cooler. 

The products’ main pockets stay closed with high-powered magnets covered in a heat-sealed plastic strip. There have been roughly 1,400 reports of the magnet lined closures “degrading or failing,” resulting in stray or missing magnets. 

That poses risks because if two or more high-powered magnets are ingested, they can attract to each other and become lodged in a person’s digestive tract, resulting in risk of death or injuries such as perforations, intestinal blockages, infection or blood poisoning, the statement said.

Yeti has not received any reports of magnet ingestions of injuries. 

The CPSC urges consumers to stop using the recalled products and to contact YETI for a full refund or replacement product of equal or greater value. Customers who opt for full refunds will also receive a $25 Yeti gift card.