Leaking Pampers - Still a puzzle, for everybody

I promised readers feedback on the "bursting" Pampers nappies.

I've heard from about 70 parents around the country, all complaining about the same thing: that the Pampers they've put on their baby's bottoms have leaked their absorbent gel over their bodies, car seats, supermarket trolleys and cots.

All insist that it wasn't because the nappies had been left on too long.

"For the past four months, at least twice or three times a week, I was experiencing this problem and it was not pleasant at all," said Nothando Mvelase of KwaZulu-Natal.

"The last straw was when we were on a three-hour trip from Richards Bay to Pietermaritzburg - by the time we reached our destination, the gel had spread all over her car seat and on to the floor."

Julian Sawyer of Cape Town wrote: "My nine-month-old son's nappies have also been splitting. The nappy split and the gel was all over the room and lounge and his cot. Couldn't believe how much of that stuff can come out of one nappy."

Johannesburg grandmother Mimi Abdool said the Pampers No 5 nappies her granddaughter wore were a disappointment.

"We have found that the nappies continually leak and mess. After every wee, Baby has to be bathed and changed - lots of work and frustration."

Several parents said they hadn't had any problems with Pampers nappies a few years ago when their older children were babies, but it was a different story now.

I'd asked readers for feedback after Durban mother Jodi Adam had the leaking gel problem and said she'd heard many other mothers complaining about the premium brand.

Some mothers expressed health concerns after finding their toddlers eating the leaked absorber, but Pampers manufacturer Proctor & Gamble (P&G) assured them that the absorber - polyacrylate, which is a polymer - is not harmful.

To those who have complained about this issue, the company has generally apologised, offered replacement vouchers and suggested that they try a bigger nappy.

The complaints did not represent a "spike" in complaints, P&G said.

To my mind, the extent of the feedback I received in a short time was significant, given that the parents were all complaining about a specific, rather unusual problem.

P&G responded by inviting me to meet its managing director for southern Africa, Andrew Peterson, and visit its new nappy-making factory in Kempton Park, which began supplying the local market two weeks ago.

Of course, none of the nappies that have been complained about was made in South Africa - they were mostly made in P&G's plants in Poland and Germany.

But the P&G people were at pains to point out that the local plant is identical to those in other parts of the world - same equipment, same processes, same scrupulous checks.

For now, all the raw materials are imported, but the plan is to source and equip local suppliers, which will result in a cheaper nappy... eventually.

About 35 South African engineers were trained in Poland and Turkey to head up the plant, and it is indeed a vision of First-World innovation and efficiency.

So what's the deal with the "problem" nappies?

Well, as far as P&G is concerned, there isn't a problem.

"It would be easier for us to say there was a problem with a particular batch," Peterson said.

"But in response to your story and the response you had from your readers, we've examined our own records and spoken extensively to our plants around the world, and there's absolutely nothing to suggest that we are experiencing a quality issue."

External relations manager Khululiwe Mabaso confirmed that other countries in central and eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa that received similar products from the same plants as the South African market had no reports of the leakage issue.

Mabaso explained the company's rigorous global quality assurance programme and stressed that at P&G, the consumer was at the heart of the business.

So either those gel-leaking nappies are so few and far between that they're essentially a non-issue, or someone's missing something somewhere.

P&G's investigation continues, so if you have this problem, e-mail the company at zaconsumers@custhelp.com or call its customer care line - 0860 112 188.

And it wouldn't be a bad idea to take photos of the "burst" nappies.