Sterno Recalls Tea Lights Due to Fire and Burn Hazard
Home product recall 12-710. Announced by CPSC on Jan 5, 2012.
- CPSC: stop using it
Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. CPSC’s own notice is on cpsc.gov.
The short answer
Announced by CPSC on Jan 5, 2012. Copied from CPSC on Oct 19, 2026.
- Stop using it what CPSC tells owners to do now (needs attention)
- Refund what’s offered
- About 10,000 cases units, as CPSC gives them
- Reported injuries, in the notice (needs attention)
Every line below is in CPSC’s own words, with its source beside it.
What’s wrong with it?
The tea light wax can overheat resulting in the wax catching fire, posing a burn and fire hazard.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What should you do?
Stop using these candles immediately and return any unused candles to the place of purchase for a full refund. Food service distributors and restaurant supply stores have been directly notified about this recall by mail.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
- What the company offers to fix a recalled product or vehicle: a repair, a replacement or a refund, as the recall notice says. For a vehicle, dealers make the safety repair free. Follow the notice’s own steps, or contact the company it names. Source: CPSC; NHTSA (49 U.S.C. 30120).: refund.
- How to reach the firm: For additional information, contact Sterno toll-free at (877) 478-3766 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s website at www.sterno.com
Which ones are recalled?
The recall involves Sterno Bulk Pack 5 Hour Tea Lights, item numbers 505TL and 505S. The tea lights are standard sized, white wax tea light candles contained in small aluminum cups with no additional identification markings. The tea lights were sold in cases containing 500 tealight candles. Each case contains 10 boxes with 50 individual tea light candles. This recall only involves tea lights with codes ranging from 11060 to 11151 which can be found printed on both the outside of the case and on the back of the box of 50.
About 10,000 cases units, as CPSC gives them.
5 Hour Tea Lights.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
CPSC’s photos
CPSC shows 1 photo on its notice. Hearth Record doesn’t copy them; each opens on cpsc.gov.
Who made and sold it?
- Distributed by The Sterno Group LLC, Des Plaines, Ill.
- Food service distributors and other restaurant supply stores nationwide from April 2011 through October 2011 for between $36 to $50 per case. The recalled tea lights were not sold to retail consumers.
- Made in Thailand, as the notice gives it.
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Was anyone hurt?
Sterno has received several reports of the flame from the tea lights catching the wax on fire. No reports of injuries have been received
CPSC, Recalls API. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
What the record doesn’t say
- The notice lists no UPCs, so check the model, the description and the photos.
- The notice lists no model numbers in a field of their own; its description may give them.
- How many have been returned or fixed isn’t in the notice.
Hearth Record wrote these lines.
Sources
-
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Recalls API.
Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily. Public domain (U.S. Government work). CPSC asks to be credited, and that no endorsement be implied.
Recalls of kids’ and home products are from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). CPSC does not endorse Hearth Record. Copied on Oct 19, 2026.