Sigg Switzerland USA, the exclusive distributor of the Swiss company’s aluminum water bottles in the U.S., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It plans to sell its operations to Sigg’s Canadian distributor, and will continue to operate until the deal is closed. Sales of the aluminum bottles jumped in 2008 when Canadian and European authorities warned that some polycarbonate bottles posed a health risk, being made with the chemical BPA. It later came out, though, that Sigg bottles also contained the chemical, and it faced numerous lawsuits alleging that it exaggerated its health claims. In 2009 and 2010, the company had big losses as sales plunged. The company now says its bottles are completely BPA-free.
