Nesquik and the FDA have issued a recall for its strawberry “milk” powder. In addition to all the nasty colors and flavors found within the carton, it appears pieces of aluminum have also been found. Nestle has issued a voluntary recall for the two product codes affected by the aluminum fragments. The codes (found on the bottom of the carton) are “82255880″ or “82265880″. Nestle requests that you return the affected products to the store it was purchased from for a full refund.

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As my Cool Mom Picks co-founder Liz Gumbinner stated last year, 2007 was definitely the “Year of the Recall,” as too many toys to count were taken down from shelves (well, at least they were supposed to be) due to high lead levels. But the improbable has now happened and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act has passed “with a veto-proof majority.”

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The Impotent CPSC

I have written many posts on the CPSC’s failures.  Now, for the second time in a year, the agency will become useless, as it loses its quorum.  The CPSC requires three members on the panel; however, only two members are currently holding positions. The extension granted by Congress to operate with only two members expired in January.  According to the Washington Post,

Congress has not passed another one, and the Bush administration has not nominated a new chairman who could restore quorum since its last pick, industry lobbyist Michael E. Baroody, withdrew his name in May after protest by Senate Democrats and consumer groups.

Of course, the agency can still oversee voluntary recalls, but they can no longer issue mandatory recalls or impose civil penalties.   What a relief…I feel so protected!

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It’s no secret: I hate Wal-Mart. Honestly, I have only been inside a Wal-Mart store four times in my life, including buying batteries in Colby, Kansas on a cross-country childhood vacation, and every time I leave the store, I feel disgusted with American consumerism. This company’s initial practice of establishing stores in small communities to drive out “ma and pa” stores has contributed to the homogenizing of American retail. Furthermore,

Over 70% of products on Wal-Mart’s shelves are made in China. The recent string of product recalls shows the dangerous and even deadly consequences of Wal-Mart’s corporate bullying strategy to drive down the cost of products. Suppliers are forced to ship production to places like China where quality and labor standards are far less stringent.

Wal-Mart’s race to the bottom strategy leads to more than just unsafe products - it forces suppliers to cut corners when it comes to their own workers as well (walmartwatch.com).

I don’t care how green Wal-Mart attempts to be when they still sell dangerous products for children. I was shocked to learn that Wal-Mart is still selling, in some states, PVC vinyl backed baby bibs that contain lead despite a recall in Illinois.

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Export Licences [sic] of 600 Toy Makers Revoked

China is cracking down on toy makers in an effort to save the industry. “We have thoroughly inspected all 3,000-plus toy makers for export during the rectification work that began last August,” said State Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) Deputy Director Pu Changcheng. Changcheng also blamed overseas importers for design flaws and changing standards that created the current recall situation.

Toy Makers Mount Drive to Salvage China’s Safety Reputation

The US Toy Industry Association is attempting to salvage the image of toys made in China, and the toy industry remains committed to making toys in China. They claim there is no realistic alternative to Chinese manufacturing. “Are you going to pay twice as much for a doll because it’s not made in China?” Mr. Shoptaugh, owner of Shoptaugh Games, added. “The thing is you cannot make these products in the United States and have them be competitive on the shelf.”

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2007 will go down in history as the year when toy safety was no longer assumed by parents in the United States. Gone are the days when parents blindly selected any toy from the shelf of a big box store and thought their child was protected from lead and other heavy metals. This year has been plagued by recall after recall, and unfortunately, children have been injured by these unsafe toys. The following is a summary of recent news on toy safety to end our year.

On December 19, 2007, the US House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill lowering the allowable lead levels in toys, as well as mandated independent toy testing. Funding for the Consumer Product Safety Commission would also be increased through this bill. The senate will not take action until 2008 on the issue. According to the Daily Grist,

The current draft of the Senate bill would do many of the same things the House-passed version does, but would also allow state attorneys general to sue to enforce federal product-safety laws, protect employees who report safety law violations, increase the civil penalty cap to $100 million, and give industry less time to comply with the lower lead standards…Meanwhile, presidential candidate Barack Obama went even further yesterday by calling for a ban on the import of all toys from China.

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“There is no hot toy this year!”

“Because of all the recalls, safety is of utmost concern to parents. Instead of running store to store looking for one particular toy, shoppers are picking up box after box frantically reading labels to make sure they are making the right purchases…” “Taking the time to research toys rather than just buy what’s on ‘hot’ lists is the smart choice for any child.”

That seems to be what the child development experts have been saying all along. It took the recall scare to get the word out. Ms. Szymanski goes on then to list smart toy buying tips for parents.

1. Read the package and age guidelines. Make sure the age matches a child’s skill level. Not all children develop at the same rate and this is a safety concern.

2. If made in China and the shopper is hesitant, keep in mind any toy made anywhere (not just China) at anytime can be recalled for any reason.

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Some of the companies being sued are: Wal-Mart, Mattel, Toys R Us, Target, Costco, Sears, KB Toys, etc. This lawsuit of course follows the millions of toys that have been recalled, most of which were manufactured in China. Attorney General Jerry Brown said, “Despite the lengthening global supply chain, every company that does business in this state must follow the law and protect consumers from lead and other toxic materials.” The companies could pay a $2,500 fine for each violation, according to the lawsuit.

Image courtesy of Scripophily.

In the past two months, there have been millions of toys recalled for dangerous levels of lead content, and other products that contain smaller levels of lead, such as lunchboxes, have not been recalled. In fact, doctors warn that lead levels considered safe by the CPSC still put children at risk. According to WebMD,

Lead poisoning interferes with neural development in children and developing fetuses. High levels of lead in children can cause learning and behavior problems.

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Four years ago, before America was awash in greenwashing, Mothering Magazine featured a great article title “No More Junk Toys: Rethinking Children’s Gifts” by Judith Rubin. Rubin writes,

Like junk food, junk toys can be fun but are devoid of nutrition. Buying them requires little forethought. They are excessively commercial, and are often linked to cross-marketing schemes. They excite children at first, but that initial flicker doesn’t endure. Also like junk food, junk toys have hidden environmental and social costs for which the consumers pay.

The environmental and social costs of junk toys are huge! Plastic toys are often made in sweatshops, sometimes by children themselves, and many of them send the wrong kind of messages to children. For example, Bratz Dolls sexualize young girls, as well as have unfair labor practices, and Barbie’s proportions are unrealistic. According to Empoweredparents.com,

If she were alive, Barbie would be a woman standing 7 feet tall with a waistline of 18 inches and a bustling of 38-40. In fact, she would need to walk on all fours just to support her peculiar proportions. Yet media advertising, television and Hollywood would reinforce her message, influencing what would become the American ideal of beauty.

Besides the materials and energy used in the production of junk toys, these plastic toys end up in landfills and oceans. Life Magazine reported that there is a swath of plastic garbage twice the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean. Life reports, “Except for the small amount that has been incinerated — and it’s a very small amount — every bit of plastic made still exists.”

The safety of toys made in China has been in question lately with the recent rave of recalls. Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law a ban on toys containing phthalates. The Governator said, “These chemicals threaten the health and safety of our children at critical stages of their development.” Phthalates have been linked to cancer and reproductive problems. This follows a ban last year in San Francisco on toys containing BPA and certain levels of phthalates. Despite such legal actions, junk toys still dominate the toy shelves.

How can you tell a junk toy from a good toy? Field naturalist Alicia Daniel offers the following list of questions to ask when selecting toys:

1. Will this toy eventually turn into dirt-i.e., could I compost it? Stones, snowmen, driftwood, and daisies-they will be gone, and we will be gone, and life goes on.
2. Do I know who made this toy? This question leads us to search for the hidden folk artist in each of us.
3. Is this toy beautiful? Have human hands bestowed an awkward grace, a uniqueness lacking in toys cranked out effortlessly by machine?
4. Will this toy capture a child’s imagination?

Every year, I send my family a reminder that we do not want any plastic toys or clothes made from synthetic fibers. I wish I could say that they always followed our wishes, but somehow, the message flies out the window when they see some “adorable” plastic thing they think my children can’t live without. My husband has changed the motto to “No More Toys” this year, but the grandparents have already scoffed at the idea. Perhaps I should try sending my family Alicia Daniel’s list to help them make appropriate gift selections. If we are going to tell our children to reduce, reuse, recycle, shouldn’t our holiday gift giving and receiving reflect this practice?

This post originally appeared on Green Options.

Melissa and Doug See and Spell is very appealing to the children in my program, and a great way to teach letter recognition, letter shape, phonics, etc. Each wooden “card” has two sides, totaling 20 words in all children can spell. The words are all high frequency, three and four letter words. This toy is recommended for children 4-7 years old; however, I have found that younger children really enjoy it too, especially with a little bit of scaffolding. Parents can limit the letter choices for very young children to ensure their success. Of course, young children require close supervision for choking hazards. The letters are large, but they say that anything that can fit though an empty toilet paper roll is a choking hazard. For my six-year-old daughter, the toy is too simplistic to sustain play when no longer novel.

I have noticed that many readers have come to Eco Child’s Play by searching for Melissa and Doug toy recalls. It is true that most Melissa and Doug toys are made in China; however, this company is not involved in any of the recent recalls. Melissa and Doug state that they test each batch of toys twice (once in China and once in USA) before distributing them. The testing is not done by an outsourced company, but by Melissa and Doug employees. For more information, please visit:
Duck Duck Goose Boutique
Crunchy Domestic Goddess
China Free Christmas
If you are boycotting Chinese toys because of safety concerns, then you may feel comfortable with Melissa and Doug. If you are boycotting Chinese toys because of their human rights violations, then you will not feel better knowing Melissa and Doug test their toys twice. I have heard conflicting thoughts on boycotting China because of the situation in Tibet. I have heard that the Dalai Lama has said that it would hurt people to boycott China, and this would not be the compassionate approach. I have also read that many Tibet liberation groups support such boycotts. Personally, I have adopted a modified boycott of Chinese products, weighing in man factors before making purchases. Perhaps this is lame, perhaps it is not. I don’t really know…

Wooden toy recalls:

• Additional Thomas and Friends (200,ooo) due to lead paint-All-Black Cargo Car, Toad vehicle with brake lever, Olive Green Sodor Cargo Box, Green Maple Tree Top and Green Signal Base Accessories
• Guidecraft Children’s Puppet Theaters due to lead paint. I usually love Guidecraft toys and have similar puppet theater in my preschool room.

Here are the other current recalls:

• Kolcraft Play Yards : A 10 month old child died when becoming entangled in the straps of the changing table.
• Children’s Toy Gardening Tools and Chairs due to lead paint-sold at Target.
• Knights of the Sword toy due to lead paint-made by RC2, just like Thomas the Tank Engine.
• Toy Rakes sold at Jo-Ann Fabrics due to lead paint.
• Spinning Wheel Metal Necklaces due to lead exposure-beware of crappy kids’ jewelry!
• Toby and Me Jewelry Sets-more crappy jewelry.

All of these products were manufactured in Taiwan or China. Sometimes, it is so hard being a parent. These recalls are always called “voluntary”. This term is really starting to bug me in terms of recalls. They voluntarily used lead based paints, they voluntarily harm our children, and then they voluntarily recall toys. The term “voluntary” is getting a bad rap!

I highly suggest you sign up for email recall alerts from the CPSC, if you own any toys made in China.

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In addition, the Minnesota State Health Department positively tested Veggie Booty for Salmonella Wandsworth. Preliminary independent tests suspect the veggie seasoning to be the source of the contamination. And as you might expect, the source of origin for the seasoning is China!

The problems with products from China continue to reveal themselves: Lead paint in toys, deadly dog food, tainted toothpaste, etc. Thanks to Thingamababy, I read about a family that lived a year without “Made in China” products and a NY Times article titled “As More Toys are Recalled, Trail Ends in China“. Thingamababy also reports about a journalist that was retained in China when trying to investigate the Thomas the Tank Engine recall. For the safety of our children and our planet, we need to end our addiction to cheaply made Chinese products.

Lawyers are already springing up to represent Veggie Booty recall clients. I am not sure how I feel about this. If it was my child that was poisoned, then I would be angry and want some sort of compensation. On the other hand, I feel we need to improve our food industry by eliminating Chinese imports or somehow strengthen the quality control of overseas production, and I am not sure personal lawsuits in this country will bring about the global change that needs to occur. I welcome your thoughts on this issue.

Thank you Sheri for alerting us to this expanded recall.

With the majority of products consumers purchase being manufactured overseas, the incidence of “accidental” contamination will continue. As Warren writes, “It is important to do what we can to prevent the import of dangerous toys. But it is at least as important to help our international partners curtail the use of lead and other toxic substances in their own markets. Lax product safety and environmental regulation overseas undoubtedly lowers manufacturing costs there, but it also perpetuates the risk to our children and guarantees harmful exposure to both workers and children in countries that continue using lead as blithely as we once did.” Lead is very dangerous stuff that causes irreversible damage in humans.

No family anywhere in the world should have to suffer from the effects of this known poison, especially in an effort to produce cheap products for the world market. As a world power, we need to do something to extinguish this hazard globally. We have some protection in this country, despite President Bush slashing of the Consumer Product Safety Commission budget by 10%, yet our children are still exposed to lead in their toys. Who knows how many children throughout the world play with lead tainted toys?

We have several of the recalled trains; however, they were purchased before 2005 when my daughter was a toddler. One of the problems with toy recalls, besides the fact that there are too many of them-unsafe products should not be on the market in the first place, is that most small toys are not registered. Parents are good about filling out registration cards for car seats and other big ticket items, but a $10 wooden train does not even come with a registration card. Parents must rely on news reports, friends, and families to find out about recalls of this nature. Thank you Dad for telling my mainstream media avoiding family about this recall of Thomas the Tank Engine toys.