Thread: China Recall Stories

Kolcraft recalls 425,000 play yards
Federal government says changing table restraint strap poses a strangulation risk; products were made in China.
September 27 2007: 8:36 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Kolcraft Enterprises, which makes a variety of products for babies and toddlers, is recalling about 425,000 Chinese-made infant play yards following the death of a 10-month old child, the Consumer Producer Safety Commission said Thursday.

The recall involves 12 different play yards that pose a strangulation risk because of the changing table restraint strap.

Included in the recall was Kolcraft's Contours 3-in-1 Play Yard, which includes a cradle that poses a suffocation risk.

The play yards were sold at retailers nationwide from January 2001 through September 2007 for $50 to $130.

The play yards are the latest in a string of children's products that have been recalled in recent months.

Toymaker RC2 Corp. (Charts) announced a second recall of 269,000 of its Thomas & Friends wooden railway toys Wednesday because the surface paint on the products contained high levels of lead.

Consumers that own one of the Kolcraft play yards are urged to stop using the changing tables and rocking cradle and to contact the company either at (88 655-8484 or by visiting their Web site.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/27/news/co ... 2007092708

More Thomas & Friends toys recalled for lead
RC2 Corp., maker of the wooden railway toys, recalls additional 269,000 units due to high lead content in paint.
By Parija B. Kavilanz, CNNMoney.com senior writer
September 26 2007: 3:09 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Toymaker RC2 Corp. on Wednesday announced another recall of 269,000 of its Thomas & Friends wooden railway toys because the surface paint on the products contains high levels of lead.

This is the second recall from RC2 (Charts) this year for the same brand of toys. The company recalled 1.5 million other Thomas & Friends railway toys in June due to excessive lead content found in the paint used on the toys.
wooden_toy_recall2.03.jpg
The new recall from RC2 Corp. includes the All-Black Cargo Car, the Olive Green Sodor Cargo Box, the All Green Maple Tree Top and the Green Signal base.

Two months later, El Segundo, Calif.-based Mattel (Charts, Fortune 500), the world's largest toymaker and a company reputed to have one of the toughest safety standards in the industry, announced three recalls this summer for millions of its Chinese-made toys that were found to contain excessive levels of lead or posed a choking hazard.
China to eliminate lead paint in toy exports

The latest recall from RC2 involves five toys from the Thomas & Friends wooden railway product line: the all-black cargo car, toad vehicle, olive green sodor cargo box and all-green maple tree top, as well as signal base accessories. Two hundred thousand of these were sold in the U.S., with the remainder sold outside the U.S.

The front of the packaging has the logo "Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway" in the upper left-hand corner.

A tracking code may be located on the bottom of some of the products. Toys marked with codes containing "WJ" and "AZ" are not included in the recall.

The All-Black Cargo Car, included only in the Brendam Fishing Dock Set, is labeled "CARGO CAR" and has either no tracking code or one of the following codes on its undersides: 26833i, 28233i, 23243i00, 24643i00, 25343i00, 27443i00, 32043i00, 34743i00, 01553i00, 04553i00, 13353i00, 14753i00, 15453i00, 18353i00.

The toad vehicle with brake lever is labeled "TOAD" and has the tracking code 16560W000 on its underside. The Olive Green Sodor Cargo Box says "SODOR" on the side. The box was included only in the Deluxe Cranky the Crane Set.

The All-Green Maple Tree Top and Green Signal Base accessories were included only in Conductor's Figure 8 Sets.

Cargo cars sold in other sets are not included in the recall.
Mattel CEO contrite before Senate

The toys, manufactured in China, were sold at toy stores and various retailers nationwide from March 2003 through September 2007, priced between $10 and $40. Manufactured in: China

Although no injuries have been reported, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said consumers should stop using the recalled products immediately and contact RC2 Corp. for a replacement toy.

Consumers can also contact RC2 at (866) 725-4407 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday or visit the firm's Website at http://recalls.rc2.com. Top of page

http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/26/news/co ... 2007092615

BuyDirectUSA.com Has the American Version of this toy and it is non toxic and LEAD FREE!

http://www.buydirectusa.com/shop/woodcr ... ins2.shtml

Lan Enterprises Recalls Doll Strollers After Child’s Finger Tip was Severed; Product Also Poses an Entrapment Hazard to Young Children

September 28, 2007

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

A bout 21,000 Mini Zooper Doll Strollers Made in China Manufactured by Lan Enterprises, of Portland, Ore. have been recalled after a child's finger tip was Severed.

A child’s finger can become caught in the rectangular metal clip or the black plastic side hinge, and this can sever a child’s finger tip. Also, the strollers pose an entrapment hazard.

Pottery Barn Kids has received three reports of serious lacerations, including one partial finger severing on a 2 year old boy.

The Mini Zooper Doll Stroller has a silver metal frame with a bright pink cotton canvas seat cover. “Pottery Barn Kidsâ€

Risk of Impact Injury Prompts Recall of Estes-Cox Model Rockets

September 28, 2007
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

About 80,00 of the X-15 Flying Model Rockets Manufactured by the Estes-Cox Corp., of Penrose, Colo. The product was Manufactured in China.
The model rocket’s side or engine retainer ring can separate and cause the rocket to fall without the nose cone separating and the parachute deploying, posing a risk of an impact injury to nearby consumers.

Estes-Cox has received seven reports of the side or engine retainer ring separating and the nose and parachute failing to release and 25 reports of the retainer ring being lost during flight, including one report that a consumer was struck in the arm, requiring surgery.

This recall involves the X-15 flying model rocket, a 1:44 scale version of the North American Aviation hypersonic rocket plane. The model rockets are about 13.5-inches long and have a wingspan of about 5 inches. The rockets are black and yellow, and have the number 66670 on the tail. The rockets were sold individually (item #1890) and as part of a starter kit (item #1412). The item number is printed on the product’s instruction sheet and above the bar code on the product’s packaging.

Sold at: Hobby stores and other retailers nationwide from June 2005 through July 2007 for between $16 and $36.

Consumers should stop using the recalled rockets immediately and contact Estes-Cox for instructions on receiving a replacement product.

For additional information, contact Estes-Cox at (800) 576-5811 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. MT Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.estesrockets.com

http://www.buydirectusa.com/links/artic ... 330&page=1

Toy recall on top of toy recall
October 2, 2007

By JUSTIN PRITCHARD
Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The first recall was bad enough: A million-plus "Thomas & Friends" toys pulled because of lead paint. The second was surreal: The maker of the smiley-faced trains sent customers "bonus gifts" so they'd stay loyal - and now some of those toys have been recalled, too.

Even if you're not 3-year-old Zoe McGaha-Schletter, it's yet another mind-bending episode in a cascade of recalls that already had parents fretting what toys were safe for their kids.

"This is so exactly what the villain in a children's movie would do," said Zoe's father, Eban Schletter. "It's just ridiculous."

The year of the recall rolled on last week when the maker of popular Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway toys issued its second lead paint warning since June. Among the 200,000 or so items on the new list were about 2,000 tainted train cars that RC2 Corp. sent to customers who turned in recalled items over the summer.

The double recall dredges up issues of global supply chain management and China's role as factory to the world. It also shows how a company that says it's doing everything it can to ensure quality cannot guarantee that its products are lead free.

For Zoe, the consequences are simple: no more Thomas toys.

Her dad is tossing about $500 worth of trains, tracks and trestles, mostly from a spread he erected on a table at his Hollywood recording studio, where backup singers doing gigs for TV shows including "SpongeBob SquarePants" have plopped their kids as they worked.

While just 5 percent of Thomas toys have tested as exceeding the federal limit for lead paint (0.06 percent lead content in a product's paint), Schletter is severing all ties. He wants RC2 Corp. to do the same with China.

"It just blows my mind that no one even seems to consider the possibility of not doing business the way they do it," he said.

In June, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that Illinois-based RC2 was voluntarily recalling about 1.5 million items in what would become the first of several major roundups involving lead paint on toys made in China. Children who ingest even small amounts of lead can suffer brain damage; large doses can kill.

By mid-September, the company had recovered about 1 million items, sending bonus gifts to customers who returned a product.

The goodwill gesture flopped when further testing showed that lead in the paint covering about 2,000 "Toad" train cars in the bonus shipment was up to four times higher than acceptable levels. The company had sent the stick-of-butter-sized items as part of 146,000 gifts it distributed to customers such as Schletter. Last week, RC2 recalled the affected Toads, along with about 200,000 other Thomas items.

The company - which ranks in the top 10 of U.S. toy makers with 2006 sales volume of about $500 million - has dropped its supplier, Hansheng Wood Products, which made the Toad pieces as well as the items in the first recall.

In a letter addressed to "Dear Valued Thomas and Friends Customer," company executives recognized the anguish the second recall would cause.

"We are deeply apologetic for and embarrassed by this turn of events, and remain determined to make it up to you and restore your confidence," wrote RC2 CEO Curt Stoelting and President Pete Henseler.

It won't be easy - already parents are venting on blogs.

Finding another manufacturer to keep the trains running to market on time also will be hard.

It takes time for a new factory to secure materials, set up its shop floor and then refine its process to meet quality expectations that RC2 says it will ratchet up even more.

"In the short term, they would be having a huge difficulty," said Hari Bapuji, a professor of international business at Canada's University of Manitoba who has studied recalls in the U.S. dating back 20 years. He found that unlike the Thomas recalls, the majority can be blamed on poor design, rather than shoddy manufacturing.

Schletter said he felt for RC2's predicament, but not enough to stay loyal. "You're talking about kids' lives," he said.

The company is offering a replacement Toad and another gift to anyone responding to the latest recall. Schletter said he'll take a pass.

---

On the Net:

Read Bapuji's recall study: http://umanitoba.ca/news/images/toys-recalls-report.pdf

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.

http://hosted.ap.org/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 2, 2007
Release #08-002

Firm’s Recall Hotline: (800) 440-0680
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908

Target Recalls Plush Boys Rattles Due to Choking Hazard
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Plush Boys Rattles

Units: About 82,000

Importer: Target, of Minneapolis, Minn.

Hazard: The recalled rattles can break open releasing the small beads inside, posing a choking hazard to young children.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.

Description: The recalled rattles were sold in three styles: a white baseball with red stitching, a brown football with white stitching, and an orange basketball with black stitching. The tag sewn into the rattle contains: "Reg. No. PA5706(CN), Distributed by Double Nice Co Ltd. 3f-2 No. 325, Wu Chuan Road, Taichung, Taiwan, Made in China."

Sold exclusively at: Target stores nationwide from March 2007 through May 2007 for about $1.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should take the recalled rattles away from young children immediately and return them to any Target store for a full refund.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Target at (800) 440-0680 between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.target.com


Picture of Recalled Plush Boys Rattles

http://www.buydirectusa.com/links/artic ... 344&page=1

There have been 12 more recalls this month alone. I cannot post them all here. They are on BuyDirectUSA.com under News.

Boy Scouts badge voluntarily recalled for lead
Up to 1.6 million affected; plastic totem badges usually given to Cub Scouts

Updated: 7:45 p.m. ET Oct 4, 2007

DALLAS - The Boy Scouts of America said Thursday that a painted, plastic badge commonly worn by some of its youngest scouts is being voluntary recalled after a test revealed high levels of lead in the paint.

As many as 1.6 million of the badges, which are made in China, may be affected by the recall.

"We're doing everything we can," Boy Scouts spokesman Gregg Shields said.


The plastic totem badge is given to Cub Scouts, who are usually between the ages of 7 and 8. The badge has a yellow and blue border, includes a picture of a bear and wolf and reads "Progress Toward Ranks."

No illnesses have been reported, Shields said.

The unacceptable amounts of lead were discovered during a testing of Boy Scouts products, Shields said. He did not know the level of lead the test revealed.

The badges are supplied by Kahoot Products Inc., based in Roswell, Ga. The company is calling for a voluntary recall of the badge and asking parents to take them away from their children.

Lead levels trigger another massive toy recall

A phone message left with the company Thursday was not immediately returned.

Kahoot has supplied the badge to the Boy Scouts, based in Irving, Texas, for about eight years, Shields said. About 20,000 kits containing the badges have been sold each year since, he said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21139292/

October 2007 Recalls and Product Safety News

bullet Fluorescent Ceiling Light Fixtures Sold Exclusively at Home Depot Recalled by Lithonia Lighting Due to Shock Hazard

In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Lithonia Lighting, a division of Acuity Brands Lighting Inc., of Conyers, Ga., is voluntarily recalling about 50,000 Lithonia Lighting Nickel End Wrap Fluorescent Ceiling Light Fixtures. A wire inside the light fixture could be loose, posing an electrical shock hazard to consumers.

bullet Toshiba Recalls AC Adapters sold with Portable DVD Players Due to Burn Hazard

In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Toshiba America Consumer Products LLC, of Wayne, N.J., is voluntarily recalling about 142,000 Toshiba AC Adapters Sold with Portable DVD Players. The AC adapters can fail, causing the portable DVD player to overheat, posing a burn hazard to consumers.

bullet Christmas Tree Shops Recalls Glitter Candles Due to Fire Hazard

In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Christmas Tree Shops Inc., of South Yarmouth, Mass., is voluntarily recalling about 9,600 Sequin Glitter Candles. The candle’s exterior glitter coating can ignite, posing a fire hazard.

bullet Razor USA Recalls E300 Electric Scooters; Handlebars Can Detach Causing Loss of Control

In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Razor USA LLC, of Cerritos, Calif., is voluntarily recalling about 20,000 Razor® E300 Electric Scooters. A weld can break causing the handlebar to detach. This can cause the rider to lose control and fall from the scooter.

bullet P3 International Recalls IonizAirâ„¢ Air Purifiers Due to Risk of Fire

In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Razor USA LLC, of Cerritos, Calif., is voluntarily recalling about 20,000 IonizAirâ