967,000 Fisher Price Toys Recalled

[Family Ties Forever!]

I think that imports from China need to be stopped.

link

Fisher-Price Recalls Toys Nearly Million Toys Recalled Because Of Concerns Over Lead Paint

Posted: 6:33 pm CDT August 1, 2007
Updated: 7:57 pm CDT August 1, 2007

Washington -- Toy-maker Fisher-Price is recalling 83 types of toys - including the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters - because their paint contains excessive amounts of lead.
The worldwide recall being announced Thursday involves 967,000 plastic preschool toys made by a Chinese vendor and sold in the United States between May and August. It is the latest in a wave of recalls that has heightened global concern about the safety of Chinese-made products.

The recall is the first for Fisher-Price Inc. and parent company Mattel Inc. involving lead paint. It is the largest for Mattel since 1998 when Fisher-Price had to yank about 10 million Power Wheels from toy stores.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, David Allmark, general manager of Fisher-Price, said the problem was detected by an internal probe and reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Fisher-Price and the commission issued statements saying parents should keep suspect toys away from children and contact the company.

The commission works with companies to issue recalls when it finds consumer goods that can be harmful. Under current regulations, children's products found to have more than .06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall.

Allmark says the recall was "fast-tracked," which allowed the company to quarantine two-thirds of the toys before they even made it to store shelves. In negotiating details of the recall, Fisher-Price and the government agreed to withhold details from the public until Thursday to give stores time to get suspect toys off shelves and Fisher-Price time to get its recall hot line up and running.

Allmark said the recall was troubling because Fisher-Price has had a long-standing relationship with the Chinese vendor, which had applied decorative paint to the toys. Allmark said the company would use this recall as an opportunity to put even better systems in place to monitor vendors whose conduct does not meet Mattel's standards.

He added: "We are still concluding the investigation, how it happened. ... But there will be a dramatic investigation on how this happened. We will learn from this."

The recall follows another high-profile move from toy maker RC2 Corp., which in June voluntarily recalled 1.5 million wooden railroad toys and set parts from its Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway product line. The company said that the surface paint on certain toys and parts made in China between January 2005 and April 2006 contain lead, affecting 26 components and 23 retailers.

"Anytime a company brings a banned hazardous product into the U.S. marketplace, especially one intended for children, it is unacceptable," said Nancy Nord, acting chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. "Ensuring that Chinese-made toys are safe for U.S. consumers is one of my highest priorities and is the subject of vital talks currently in place between CPSC and the Chinese government."

Carter Keithley, president of the Toy Industries Association, praised Mattel's quick response to the problem, and suggested Mattel will use this setback as a lesson for not only the company but for the entire industry. However, he expressed concern about how the recall and other toy recalls will play out in consumers' minds in advance of the holiday season.

"We are worried about the public feeling," said Keithley, adding he observed how toy companies are embracing strict controls during a recent toy safety seminar in China. "We have thought all along that (consumers) can be confident in the products," he said. "But if companies like Mattel have this, then you have to ask how did this happen?"

Owners of a recalled toy can exchange it for a voucher for another product of the same value. To see pictures of the recalled toys, visit http://www.service.mattel.com. For more information, call Mattel's recall hot line at 800-916-4498.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[Ireneparalegal]

They had this recall abt a month ago. My son had some of those Thomas train items and I got rid of them. That is so scary.

It also makes me wonder, with all these product recalls and chemicals being found in toothpaste products, etc. if it isn't in fact some sort of terrorist act behind all of this? I mean, it may not be, but imagine if someone poisons a product that millions of Americans use daily. This would be chemical warfare on a different and unsuspecting level. We always think it will be some poisonous gas that will be leaked in a city, but how do we know that it won't be on some level as product tampering?

[Mikado]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

They had this recall abt a month ago. My son had some of those Thomas train items and I got rid of them. That is so scary.

It also makes me wonder, with all these product recalls and chemicals being found in toothpaste products, etc. if it isn't in fact some sort of terrorist act behind all of this? I mean, it may not be, but imagine if someone poisons a product that millions of Americans use daily. This would be chemical warfare on a different and unsuspecting level. We always think it will be some poisonous gas that will be leaked in a city, but how do we know that it won't be on some level as product tampering?

I doubt it Irene, more likely , it has to do with the Chinese manufacturers cutting corners to make bigger profits ( much like manufacturers here used to do before consumers groups and Underwriters Laboratories kept them in check )...of course, such independant testing is harder to do when the products are made in China, far from these groups. Perhaps theres a silver lining here, if China "drops the ball", maybe some of these jobs will come back .( Although,I doubt that TOO )

[catlover79]

I see what Irene means - it's a bit fishy that all these tainted products have been coming from China. We need to stop bringing them into this country!!

[Corolla]

Nothing surprising... there have been so many recalls lately.

[Janice]

[Crimson and Clover]

Lor has about 6 of those toys but hers werent affected by the recall.

[Corolla]

Originally Posted by Janice

Where do you get all those pictures?