Severe Danger to Children Lurks in Pesach Cleaning

This heart wrenching photo above of a 2-year-old boy is not the result of abuse Chas V’Shalom but of something far more inconspicuous. The parents of this boy sent us the photo, in hopes of warning other parents, telling us that this was result of the little boy getting his hands on a well known oven/grease cleaner.

The damage done – besides the obvious swelling – is that the boy has not regained his eyesight in one of his eyes. All this was the result of a product called Well Done by St. Moritz and it carries a Hasgocha certifying it as Kosher for Passover.

In the email sent by one of the parents they write “please forward to everyone within your circle of influence. Please help us in eradicating this dangerous product from our home’s and force its removal from the retail grocery stores & supermarkets,” adding “thank you for helping us in spreading the word thus hopefully saving lives.”

45 Comments

  • Resident of the UK

    This is the reason why this product is ILLEGAL in England,

    and it is still illegally brought in to the Jewish community

  • Sad but could have been prevented!

    All cleaning supplies have a warning nit to get it in your eyes. I would be less concerned about getting the product taken off the shelves and more concerned about why it was in the hands of a two year old!

  • concerned

    you can clearly see on the label that it says “poison-causes severe burns” if any ones at fault here its the parents

  • Rivkah

    As unfortunate the story is.. the oven cleaner is not to blame.. if you google .. any oven cleaner is very dangerous due to the chemicals in it.. more dangerous than gasoline!.. would you leave a sharp knife near a 2 years old??? no.. The Danger is parents not placing these items in safe places.. as you would ANY OTHER dangerous item… chemical items shoudl be placed on a high shelf, better yet even locked… not under the sink like most poeple tend to do…

  • mom

    The child should have a complete recovery. It does state very clearly in the back that this product is very dangerous and gloves should be used and only in a ventilated area etc. I have one bottle that I hardly use because of this and want to get rid of. I try to stick with the basic cleaning supplies like fantastic or Mr. clean and maybe some bleach scrub. Those are not dangerous if you touch it as is this St. Moritz thing. Please lets all be careful.
    and Yes. Lets get these stuff out of the stores bec. they are so dangerous.

  • Chemicals

    Well wouldnt the same thing happen with any other cleaners? These products are harmful and the labels warning to “keep away from children” is not to be ignored!!

  • Penina

    A horrible tragedy, but all cleaners, especially ones for ovens, are very caustic and poisonous. It says poison right on the label. I don’t agree we need to remove it from store shelves, because if we.remove this we need to remove many other cleaners. Rather we should remember to store them properly, away from small children and animals.

  • Down with Dangerous Dreck

    This dreck contains the same active ingredient as drain cleaner in about the same proportion as Drano. Its sprayer is not childproof, and it is so poorly made that anyone can accidentally shoot himself in the eye with it.

    I do not even know if the hechsher is legitimate anymore because the product may be made in the company’s main factory in Hungary and not in Eretz Yisroel.

    Every year there is at least one serious injury caused by it.

    Even though hardly anyone listens to the “Beis Din,” CH rabbonim ought to issue a letter ossuring this dangerous product.

    Astonish paste and a little elbow grease do a great job in removing grease. Astonish paste is about as safe as any cleaner can be and I believe it is now quite easy to find in the US.

  • be smart

    This product is not safe even if a kid doesn’t play with it. I know someone who used it to clean the baby’s highchair and wiped it clean, then fed her baby, and the baby got severe burns in the throat. be careful with it if you can do without it is better, this is way more powerful than other cleaners.

  • Moish

    Terrible accident but ultimately the parents fault – banning the product won’t stop people from being plain irresponsible. It’s almost as absurd as banning children because they don’t know any better.

  • Be careful and alert

    May he have a Refuah Shelaima.

    Let’s all remember in these stressful days that children have a way of getting into everything! We need to take precautions and perhaps just not buy such dangerous chemicals or only use them when we can be sure that we won’t get distracted so that the cleaning products could be accidentally left where a child could find them.

    These accidents can happen anywhere. If you know that your kids could get to them, stick with safer alternatives or wait till they are asleep.

  • scary!

    wow if the parents read this they would be sad by how many people are judging them it could very well be that they put it high up and it fell or the cleaning lady left it lying around….very sad th boy should have a refua shlama a amediate recovery!

  • mon

    It is a dangerous cleaner as is many other cleaning supplies. it is however a very good oven cleaner and can be bought in a bottle with a brush. Not as easy as a spray but definitely safer! Refua Shileima! A Happy Kosher and safe Pesach to all!

  • To parents:

    My heart goes out to your child and yourselves. Just ignore the judgmental comments that you always find criticizing parents when accidents happen to their children, as if they are always 100% alert to their own children’s exploits, 24/7. I have never met a frum family that has never been to an emergency room with their children due to an accident of sorts…

    Please give us a progress report if your son’s condition improves. We (the silent majority who upon reading of the accident only felt empathy and sadness for your child) will give a collective sigh of relief to read upcoming positive news about your son, please G-d.

    May Hashem give you the strength I’m sure you can use at the moment.

  • Rez

    I agree with number 14, please try not to judge the parents. Nevertheless, the main points that earlier posts are brininging I agree with as well. Parents need to be very careful with cleans products. They can be dangerous and should be stored safely. Banning this product is not a solution.

  • To the Parents

    I am usually one of those silent types mentioned in #14 comment, but I could not stay quiet this time. Please know that I, and I am sure many, many others, agree with #14’s comment. I could not have said it better myself. Thank you #14 for putting our thoughts into words.
    May Hashem send your child a complete and speedy recovery!

  • Please stop breading stupid parents

    Title of this article should be changed to: “Severe Danger to Children Lurks in Entitled Parents Who Fail to Keep a Bottle Labled ‘Poison’ Out of Reach” – If the bottle had a smiley face with pink flowers maybe, just maybe I’d understand blaming the manufacturer. But, for gosh sakes, it says POISON right their on the stupid bottle!

  • Shulamit Nutovics

    That St Moritz product should be avoided!Iknow of two people(adults)who used it for Pesach cleaning one year. The result was severe skin inflamations!

  • Esther

    thank you #12; it is going to help no-one to blame the parents.-and certainly, # 17 to say that we should “stop breeding (please note spelling) stupid parents” is VERY unproductive.Yes, that stuff is VERY toxic,but there are many things in a household that are potentially very dangerous (such as a bucket of water, a bathtub, a car, Chas veSholom). Surely the parents are feeling terrible enough, let us not add to their Tsaar. Let’s all be extra careful while we are so busy, and – Hashem should give the child Refua Shelema uKerovah and Hashem should protect everyone and give Klal Yisroel only openly-revealed Brochos.

  • Down with Dangerous Dreck

    Regardless of any warnings, I know exactly what is in this product and it is harmful to adults as well as to children. It should be used by experienced personnel or at least people who have protective equipment.

    I’m to the right of Rush Limbaugh when it comes to the nanny state interfering with people’s lives, and if someone who knows how to use it wants to bring a bottle of this home from Hungary it is OK with me, but this product has no business being sold to non-professionals.

    It is not the same as brush-on oven cleaner, and it is three times as corrosive as spray oven cleaner.

  • SYMPATHETIC

    i am sure the parents are suffering terribly from the mistake they made so enough harsh comments!
    POOR BABY:(

  • not the first time

    I know of another girl that her sister spayed on the face with the same product and had a similar outcome. parents: we cannot watch our kids at all times, especially if we have many kids bh. JUST DONT BUY THIS OVEN CLEANER.

  • $$

    Refuah Shlaima to the boy!! Iyh he should get full recovery of eye. Interesting how this “poison” has a “hashgacha”! How pathetic! All about $$$$$

  • brian

    One more things to the idiots writing hurtful things to the parents:

    If the parents sent ch.info a picture of their son pleading to spread the word that this thing can be harmful, don’t you think they are caring parents? Of course they are! They obviously care about other’s children as well, so certainly they care for their own. These types of things happen to even the finest parents.

  • Mendy

    Does anybody know the name of the boy, and his mother. so we can Davin for a complete Refuah Shlaima

  • blaming the parents????

    anyone with children knows that as careful as we are, they can still manage to get into danger- this is an immense tragedy and not the time and place to point a finger at the parents who are definitely in a grieving state right now! may Hashem give this child a miraculous refua!

  • old fashioned

    Use baking soda and elbow grease. Do it yourself. The second you allow these nasty dangerous chemicals in your home, where there are children, you are waiting for an accident. Get rid of all the chemicals. Use vinegar. Use baking soda and leave the poison alone.

  • GELT

    Leave it on the shelves cuz some badatz kusher lipaisech is making big bucks on us cleaning freaks

  • Passover Hysteria

    This trauma is the tip of an iceburg of hell that takes place behind the closed doors of our homes in the weeks before peisach.

    The kids who don’t “help” scrubbing get slapped, personal belongings are trashed in the name of chumetz, fear of chometz sends many moms into fits of rage

    Its fine to be zahir but its insanity to fuss out

  • care for kids

    can’t the company make a safety top so that you can’t use it without unlocking it?? not that I use those chemicals, they are toxic to breathe

  • other cleaning options

    clean your house without dangerous chemicals!! i use vinegar and baking soda for almost all of my household cleaning. it’s not dangerous, not expensive, and works really really well.

  • Attention chachomim

    you claim “read the label”

    When was the last time you read the warnings on your cell phone contract? did you bother to read the Google privacy notice? when you install software are you saying you actually read the “license agreement”?

    I don’t,

    and I don’t know a sane person who does read it.

    Unless he is a paranoid schizophrenic.

    Can’t you see you are puppets of your own thoughtless society that punishes you for failing to read the “sign” the “warning” the “notice” the “stop sign”?

    What would you say to the parent if he or she read Hebrew but no English?

    ah, you would tell the companies to post warnings in Hebrew. ah, but then you also need to include Arabic. and Yiddish. and Braille.

    But you are SO smart you can even read. Your brain is actually a computer chip which was meant to be on the assembly line of an HP scanner. You were programed to read warnings on labels, not to accuse others for failing to read warnings.

  • Dangerous Caustic Product!

    Used the stuff once – couldn’t believe the way it burnt my throat. Never used it again. I have used many cleaners in my life, but never got a reaction like with this stuff. It is dangerous and should never be used!!!!

  • many thanks

    to the parents for alerting the Jewish community at large to this dangerous product. May their child have a complete Refuah Shelaima.
    Can someone post the child’s name and mother’s name for Tehilim and tefilos on his behalf?!

  • yudi

    refuah sheleima! thank you for sharing this, it really helps me and i’m sure other parents to see these results! u are saving allot of kids and you are brave to post the picture. thank you again and refuah sheleima!

  • dan l-chaf zechus

    Let me ask (because we all know we can’t monitor our children’s behavior every second, or maintain a 100% safe and childproof home all the time) – if this happened to your child, CV”S, would YOU put yourself into the ever-critical public eye for the sake of pekuach nefesh?
    And if you did have the strength of character to do so, would you ask those spreading the information to make the article about your parenting, rather than emphasizing the name of the product that did this?

    Certainly, the parallel message about safe product storage is INTRINSIC to the story – it’s so painfully evident that it does not (and should not) need to be spelled out – and certainly not by you and I, aka the people who’s houses will hopefully be a little safer for having been given this timely warning from these distraught members of our larger ‘Jewish/Chabad’ families.

  • Yes 12 and 14

    12 and 14 my thoughts exactly. Mistakes and accidents happen. The mother did a very noble, responsible, and brave act to share it with the public as a vivid reminder to be careful with cleaning products. May her son have a refua shalema and the family a chag kasher v’sameach.

  • THANK YOU

    Although I don’t have this cleaner I am now making sure to put my other bathroom cleaners and sprays well out of reach of my children.

    I appreciate you posting this. Please don’t listen to all those judgmental parents. Just ignore them and focus on the positive that by you posting this you have made others more aware of potential dangers..

  • concerned mother

    I use only shaklee because I’m a busy parent and I know my kidz might get to it somehow. The products are very safe and do a good job. for super cleaning power they have natural abrasives. Baking soda does a fine job too.

  • ILLEGAL IN US

    THis product is also illegal in the United States. But the Kosher stores bring it in from Israel because people are obessesed about their homes being spotless.

    It is more dangerous than the average cleaners in your home and from the bottle in the picture it does not seem to have a safety latch or childproof opening like many american products do.

  • Goyishe cleaning ladies should suffer?!?

    How do you safely dispose of the stuff since I don’t want to use my old bottle? When I was in the store, I warned an elderly man about this product but he didn’t care- his cleaning lady would be using it! Have we lost our sense of decency to our fellow creatures? Goyim should be inflicted with side effects from S. Moritz cleaner?!?

  • yoseph

    Attention #31 I sure hope you don’t mix baking soda and vinegar together. That is one way of making a home-made bomb!

  • Believer in scotch tape and silver foil

    This boy should have a refuah shleima and the parents bravery in exposing this disaster and tremendous ahavas yisroel in sharing this tragedy should have complete menuchas hadas and nachas in all of their inyonim.

    People yes we need to be warned and made aware of the dangers. However, at the prospect of being labelled …………..

    Do we not all tend to go overboard with Pesach. To what extent are we obligated to clean for yom tov?

  • A. Crews

    I don’t care who or what the circumstances here, The little boy suffered because a caustic corrosive got in his eye. People need to grow up and learn that there are devices on the market that could have prevented this tragic display of public stupidity.

    Instead of assigning blame and questioning the abilities of the parents, why not help the parente try to prevent such tragedies from happening again in the future. If people spent more time helping others, rather than running others down in the public forum, this world would be a better place.