Helmet Safety a Puzzle for Parents

Parents seeking to comply with a new California law requiring children to wear bicycle helmets after Jan. 1 are finding there are no uniform safety standards for helmets.

Unlike motorcycle helmets, child safety seats and other protective devices, the government doesn’t set standards for bike helmets. Instead, three private organizations set voluntary standards and manufacturers choose which to follow.

These organizations are American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Snell Memorial Foundation and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Manufacturers usually state which set of standards they follow on the helmet package--or inside the helmet--but don’t tell consumers much about them.

The new California law says that manufacturers must meet the Snell or ANSI standards. The ASTM standard, developed after the law was passed, is considered comparable to Snell. The ANSI standard is less demanding.

To test helmet safety, manufacturers drop them on a flat piece of steel to simulate what would happen if a helmet hit the street or sidewalk. They also drop helmets on a round piece of steel, representing a car bumper, pipe or pole. The tests measure a helmet’s ability to absorb the force of hitting a hard surface, thus protecting the head.

The Snell and ASTM helmets are dropped in the flat-steel test from a height of two meters, while ANSI helmets are dropped from a height of one meter. In the round-steel test, the Snell helmet is dropped from a height of 1.3 meters, the ASTM helmet from 1.2 meters, and the ANSI helmet from one meter. The higher the drop, the tougher the test.

There are also differences in how standards are enforced. Before approving a helmet, Snell conducts its own test--in addition to any testing by the manufacturer--to make certain a helmet meets its standards. It also purchases helmets at stores and conducts random testing to make sure manufacturers remain in compliance.

Neither ANSI nor ASTM test helmets directly. However, ASTM requires manufacturers to have an independent laboratory test the helmet and certify it complies with ASTM standards. There is no random, follow-up testing.

New York-based ANSI and Philadelphia-based ASTM bring together manufacturers and other experts to set performance standards for everything from concrete and metals to textiles and sporting equipment. They then sell their standards, or rules, to manufacturers.

St. James, N.Y.-based Snell, named for an amateur auto racer killed while wearing a poorly designed helmet 37 years ago, develops standards for helmets only. It charges manufacturers that meet its standards a certification fee.

Legislation making its way through Congress would make parents’ choice easier. The House of Representatives and the Senate have each passed versions of a bill that would require the Consumer Products Safety Commission to develop nationwide standards for bicycle helmets. Supporters of the bill expect that the differences will be reconciled early next year and that President Clinton will sign the legislation.

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Add one cup confusion: How many servings are in a single-serve bag of Orville Redenbacher’s snack-size popcorn? According to its nutrition label, a single-serve bag contains 2 2/3 servings.

“I feel I’ve been hyped,” wrote Karen Spring, a reader in San Diego confounded by the label. “It’s hard enough keeping track of what we eat.”

Hunt-Wesson Inc., manufacturer of Orville Redenbacher’s corn, said the confusion results from differing definitions of serving size. Hunt-Wesson’s marketing research shows that a typical serving is 8 cups of popcorn--the contents of a single-serve bag.

But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which regulates nutrition labeling, says a typical serving is 3 cups. This means that, for nutritional purposes, a single-serve bag contains 2 2/3 three-cup servings.

Hunt-Wesson spokeswoman Kay Carpenter said the company has revised its label, dropping “single-serve” on new shipments of snack-size pop corn, to eliminate any confusion.

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It’s 25%, more or less: Dozens of people contacted us saying we were too hard on coffee equipment manufacturer Melitta in last week’s column.

The company is selling a box of 50 coffee filters for the price of 40. The coffee filter box says “25% FREE.” We said that wasn’t quite right. Only 10 of 50, or 20%, of the filters in each box are free.

A number of readers said we were wrong. A sampling of comments:

“It seems that you didn’t get the fact that when Melitta wrote 25% free they meant 25% more free,” said reader Eric Taub.

“It’s clear what is going on here,” said USC marketing professor Michael A. Kamins. “It is 25% more .”

“The consumer gets 25% more free,” wrote Nels O. Kristofferson, an engineer from Camarillo.

The box indeed contains 25% more filters. The problem--as an eighth-grader in Arcadia pointed out last week--is that Melitta doesn’t say “25% more FREE.” A number of readers picked up on that.

Wrote Carl Abe of Westlake Village: “Maybe the (label) should read, ‘25% extra filters for free.’ ”

“The error on the Melitta label is in the wording,” wrote James B. Ellern, director of the undergraduate organic chemistry laboratories at USC. “Probably the person (at Melitta) who did the calculation had it right, but somehow ‘25% more, no additional cost,’ or words to that effect, was changed by an advertising person.”

Melitta insists its label is accurate. What’s more, wrote Barbara Hausner, a public relations manager for Melitta, “not one Melitta customer has ever complained about our offer.”