Burns victim's family furious about Temu 'safety pledge'

The family of 10-year-old Daniella Jacobs-Herd is furious with online retailer Temu following a "safety pledge" announcement, after the child suffered horrific burns from a hoodie purchased on the platform.

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She's still really into trying to make herself look beautiful with perfume and makeup because she just doesn't feel pretty.

Daniella sustained severe burns to her face, neck, and arms in July 2024 while wearing a fluffy hoodie bought as a birthday gift from Temu. Her mother, Hannah Jacobs-Herd, described her daughter's ongoing trauma, including schoolyard taunting and her struggle to feel beautiful due to the scars. "She's a trooper, but she has her scars, and it's very hard," Hannah said.

Months after the incident, Temu recalled the hoodie for failing to meet mandatory safety standards. In June 2026, nearly two years after Daniella's injury, Temu voluntarily joined the Australian Product Safety Pledge. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) stated it would hold the Chinese retailer to enhanced standards of transparency and accountability beyond Australian consumer law.

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She's a trooper, but she has her scars, and it's very hard.

Temu issued a statement, saying the pledge reinforces its commitment to product safety. However, the company did not clarify whether it or its suppliers are responsible for product safety, nor did it respond to questions about improved standards, whether the hoodie's supplier was blocked, or liability for product safety. For Ms. Jacobs-Herd, who is engaged in legal action against Temu, the pledge offers little solace. Her lawyer, Taylor Hamilton, stated that Temu maintains it is an intermediary platform and that claims regarding the non-compliant hoodie should be directed to the "supplier," who has not responded to repeated attempts at contact.

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Joining the Australian Product Safety Pledge reinforces our ongoing efforts to strengthen product safety and compliance on the platform, building on our existing safeguards and supporting a safe online marketplace.

"It makes me so angry; it's sickening because they're targeting families that are low-income earners and want to give their children the best of the best at a cheaper price," Ms. Jacobs-Herd said. "And it [can come] with the cost of significant trauma for the rest of their life." The ACCC introduced the Australian Product Safety Pledge in 2020, a set of voluntary commitments to proactively prevent the sale of unsafe products, with founding members including Amazon, AliExpress, and eBay.

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It makes me so angry; it's sickening because they're targeting families that are low-income earners and want to give their children the best of the best at a cheaper price. And it [can come] with the cost of significant trauma for the rest of their life.