Nov. 8, 2007 - Yet Another Recall
Yet Another Recall! This one is big... Here is the Associated Press Article:
Toy containing date-rape drug pulled
- The Associated Press
Published 7:15 pm PST Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Millions of Chinese-made toys have been pulled from shelves in North
America and Australia after scientists found they contain a chemical
that converts into a powerful "date rape" drug when ingested. Two
children in the U.S. and three in Australia were hospitalized after
swallowing the beads.
With only seven weeks until Christmas, the recall is yet another blow
to the toy industry - already bruised by a slew of recalls last
summer.
In the United States, the toy goes by the name Aqua Dots, a highly
popular holiday toy distributed by Toronto-based Spin Master Toys. It
is called Bindeez in Australia, where it was named toy of the year at
an industry function earlier this year.
Moose Enterprises said Bindeez and Aqua Dots are made at the same
factory, which is located in Shenzhen in China's southern Guangdong
province. Last week the Chinese government announced an export ban on
more than 700 toy factories in the region because of shoddy products.
The company said that the product is distributed in 40 countries but
that it was up to the individual countries and distributors to
determine whether the product would be pulled.
The toy beads are sold in general merchandise stores and over the
Internet for use in arts and crafts projects. They can be arranged
into designs and fused when sprayed with water.
Scientists say a chemical coating on the beads, when ingested,
metabolizes into the so-called date rape drug gamma hydroxy butyrate.
When eaten, the compound - made from common and easily available
ingredients - can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma
and death.
Naren Gunja from Australia's Poisons Information Center said the
drug's effect on children was "quite serious ... and potentially life-
threatening."
The recall was announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission on
Wednesday several hours after published reports about the recall in
Australia.
The two U.S. children who swallowed Aqua Dot beads went into
nonresponsive comas, commission spokesman Scott Wolfson said
Wednesday. A 20-month-old has recovered completely while the other
child, whose age was not known, has been released from a hospital
after five days and is recovering, he said.
"To prevent any other child from being hurt, we are calling upon
parents to take the product away immediately," Wolfson said.
In Australia, the toys were ordered off store shelves on Tuesday when
officials learned that a 2-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl were
hospitalized after swallowing the beads. A 19-month-old toddler also
was being treated.
The news jolted the toy industry because Aqua Dots has been one of
the few bright stars of the toy selling season, which, along with
overall retailing, has gotten off to a sluggish start. The item,
which had been heavily advertised, had appeared on many toy experts'
list of must-have holiday toys, and toy sellers are now in the midst
of canceling advertising and scrambling to figure out how to replace
it.
Chris Byrne, a New York-based toy consultant, noted that the
incidents could have been isolated, and Spin Master may be erring on
the side of caution.
"This is something that they could not have foreseen. This is an
extremely hot toy. ... It's a little scary," Byrne said.
In a statement, Toys "R" Us Inc., said that it issued on Tuesday
a "stop sale" on the entire Spin Master Aqua Dots product line in its
North American stores and on its Web site after it learned of the
news. "We understand that Spin Master and U.S. regulatory authorities
are investigating this product and we have asked Spin Master to fully
explain what it believes happened," said the toy seller in a
statement.
Meanwhile, a separate recall was announced for 405,000 children's
products made in China, most of them toy cars, because of dangerous
levels of lead.
The recall includes about 380,000 Pull-Back Action Toy Cars imported
by Dollar General Merchandising Inc. of Goodlettsville, Tenn., and
7,500 Dragster and Funny Car toys imported by International Sourcing
Ltd. of Springfield, Mo.
Four of the recalled products were imported by Schylling Associates
Inc. of Rowley, Mass., including the items Duck Family Collectable
Wind-Up Toy, Dizzy Ducks Music Box, "Robot 2000" collectable tin
robot and Winnie-the-Pooh Spinning Top. The company recalled another
66,000 spinning tops Aug. 22.
Representatives from Schylling Associates Inc. were not immediately
available for comment.
Wednesday's recalls include about 7,200 "Big Red" Wagons imported by
Northern Tool & Equipment Co. of Burnsville, Minn. Totaling about
405,700, the recalled children's products all had excessive levels of
lead in their surface paint.
Although no illnesses connected to the toy car recall have been
reported, lead is toxic if ingested by young children. Children's
products found to have more than 0.06 percent lead accessible to
users are subject to a recall.
A spate of recalls of Chinese-manufactured toys this year was
highlighted by U.S.-based Mattel Inc.'s recall of more than 21
million toys worldwide last summer.
|
