PREVIOUSLY: Pet Food Companies Agree To $24 Million Settlement Over Killer Pet Food
(Photo: Ariana Lindquist)

FDA's working hypothesis is that this was intentional contamination, but this has not been proven.

"The complexity of the global drug supply chain creates new and emerging risks that call for new ways of thinking about, identifying and addressing vulnerabilities, and that resting on old standards - even ones that have worked for decades - is no longer enough.

Significant differences remain between the Senate and House legislation, but compromise seems assured on several key points:

• Funding for the Commission would rise from $63 million to over $100 million.
• The CPSC would be allowed to work without a quorum, but funding would be available for a full slate of 5 Commissioners.
• Lead would effectively be banned from all children's products, not just toys.
• Toy makers would be required to use independent labs to test their products for lead.
• Maximum fines would rise from $1.8 million to at least $10 million.
• 
  

Thirteen Senators think the bills goes too far and that their families are plenty safe without an expanded CPSC, thank you:

Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)

The White House has yet to threaten a veto. Stay tuned for updates as the bill heads to conference.

Senate Votes For Safer Products [Washington Post]
Vote Summary [United States Senate]
S. 2663 - A bill to reform the Consumer Product Safety Commission to provide greater protection for children's products, to improve the screening of noncompliant consumer products, to improve the effectiveness of consumer product recall programs, and for other purposes. [THOMAS]
Write Your Representative
PREVIOUSLY: How To Write To Congress

"I was trying to give my sister some candy and when I looked at it, it had a razor blade in it," said Chris, 10-years-old. His mother asked that we not use his last name.

The Pokemon cards and Valentines Day candy is imported from China by Sherwood Brands. In a recorded message Thursday Dollar General ordered all Pokemon candy and two others removed from store shelves.

"The items are the Pokemon cards and valentines candy. Dog valentine and pops and 20 strip, or 20 count strip Heart pops. Removing these items from the sales floor must become your most important priority today," said the recording from Dollar General Headquarters in Tennessee.

Importer Recalls Valentine Lollipops [AP]
(AP Photo/Polk County Sheriff's Office)

Maker of Thomas toys settles suit on lead paint [Chicago Tribune]

Many Chinese companies were unfamiliar with the concept: One furniture maker asked for kosher certification, drawing a polite rebuff. Another facility asked to get certified as kosher even though it was smoking eel on site, a kosher no-no. The company was turned down; it is now building a separate, kosher-only facility.

And many companies weren't ready for the grilling the rabbis gave them on their first visits to their plants, seeing it as a sign of distrust. "In China, everything works on relationships," said Grunberg of the Orthodox Union, which certifies more than 400,000 products worldwide.

Whether kosher foods are actually less likely to be contaminated with, say, E. coli bacteria remains up for debate. While research is scant in this area, experts say it makes sense that kosher food could be safer because it's more closely monitored. "Jews aren't allowed to ingest bugs, so produce must go through a thorough washing and checking to ensure that no bugs are found within the leaves or on the surface of the fruit or vegetable," says Moshe Elefant, a rabbi and chief operating officer of the Orthodox Union KOSHER, a kosher certification organization based in New York. But bacteria can remain even after this type of washing, so consumers can't assume they're less likely to get food poisoning with bagged spinach marked kosher than with a conventional bag.

The same caveat applies to poultry and beef. A salting process that removes blood from the meat has antibacterial effects, but salmonella and E. coli can still survive, says Joe Regenstein, a professor of food science who teaches a course on Jewish and Muslim food laws at Cornell University. Kosher beef, though, is much less likely to contain the misshapen proteins that cause mad cow disease, rare as that is, probably because the animals are slaughtered young, before the disease sets in.

Health-conscious consumers put their faith in kosher certification [The Globe and Mail via BarfBlog]
China going kosher after recalls [Mercury News]
(Photo: nicasaurusrex)

Previously, CPSC action has focused on manufacturers. Interesting. The cynic in me says this is a sure sign of how well manufacturers have the CPSC in the pocket. You know they're just itching to not be on the hook. Wouldn't it be more cost effective to focus on the source of the goods, rather than after the fact? On the other hand, everyone in the supply chain should bear some responsibility for the safety of the goods they sell. Perhaps if manufacturers know they can't make a defective product and have it be sold anyway, they will be more careful about what they make in the first place?

In addition, Nord announced the CPSC would use new funds to post full-time inspectors at high-traffic ports, took time to defend trips she took that had come under political fire and scrutiny, to decry presidential candidates using the CPSC issue as a political tool, to describe the media frenzy around 2007 product safety as having approached "hysteria", and settled once and for all that she definitely, definitely, did not break Mom's favorite lamp back at the old Cedar Brook house.

Safety Push Focuses on Retailers [WSJ]
(Photo: AP)

He writes:

so my wife and i and our 4 month old baby girl took a trip to the Poconos for a vacation back in December. we stopped at the Super Wal-Mart there (East Stroudsburg, PA) to get some supplies. my wife wanted to get some bibs for our baby.

she bought 2 packs of bibs with a vinyl backing so they wouldn't soak through onto her clothes because she always has her bib in her mouth... as it turns out these bibs have already been recalled in Illinois back in May of last year and later supposedly expanded nationwide for having high levels of lead. there were lots of news reports about this from back in May. after further research we found out the UPC numbers of the bibs and sure enough we had them. they were: Baby Connection 7-Pack Feeder Bibs UPC No. 01468151077. other upc numbers are: 01468152705 and 01468102732

so basically, it just makes us sick to our stomach that these companies will sell products to consumers that they know have high amounts of lead in them. why were'nt these bibs taken off the shelves in ALL of their stores. why does a child in Illinois have better protection than my child in New Jersey (although we bought the bibs in Pennsylvania)?

thanks guys, keep up the good work,

jeff

Walmart voluntarily agreed to pull the lead-ridden bibs back in May to avoid the fine-wielding ire of Illinois' Attorney General.

Mia Masten, a Chicago-based spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, said the vinyl portion of the bibs exceeded the lead levels set by Illinois for children's products. She said the company had worked with the Illinois attorney general's office to pull the items and later decided to expand the recall nationwide.

"We at Wal-Mart are committed to working ... to develop industry standards for the elimination of vinyl in children's products," Masten said.

Underage workers are forced to work overtime in dangerous conditions for little pay, a widespread reality factory owners easily conceal from incompetent inspectors.

A former Huanya employee who was reached by telephone gave a similar account of working conditions, saying many workers suffered from skin rashes after working with gold powders and that others were forced to sign papers "volunteering" to work overtime.

"It's quite noisy, and you stand up all day, 12 hours, and there's no air-conditioning," he said. "We get paid by the piece we make but they never told us how much. Sometimes I got $110, sometimes I got $150 a month."

In its 58-page report, the National Labor Committee scolded Wal-Mart for not doing more to protect workers. The group charged that last July, Huanya recruited about 500 16-year-old high school students to work seven days a week, often 15 hours a day, during peak production months for holiday merchandise.

Several students interviewed at the Guangzhou Technical School, less than two miles from Huanya, confirmed that classmates ages 16 to 18 had spent the summer working at the factory.

Some high school students later went on strike to protest the harsh conditions, the report said. The students also told labor officials that at least seven children, as young as 12 years old, were working in the factory.

"At Wal-Mart, Christmas ornaments are cheap, and so are the lives of the young workers in China who make them," the National Labor Committee report said.

Who is to blame? Economics. Factory owners will do anything to provide goods at everyday low prices. The reward for their productivity vastly outweighs the risk of a crackdown from China's notoriously corrupt regulators.

"The factories have improved immeasurably over the past few years," says Alan Hassenfeld, chairman of the toy maker Hasbro and co-chairman of Care, the ethical-manufacturing program of the International Council of Toy Industries. "But let me be honest: there are some bad factories. We have bribery and corruption occurring but we are doing our best."

Some factories are warned about audits beforehand and some factory owners or managers bribe auditors. Inexperienced inspectors may also be a problem.

Some major Western auditing firms working in China even hire college students from the United States to work during the summer as inspectors, an indication that they are not willing to invest in more expensive or sophisticated auditing programs, critics say.

Chinese suppliers regularly outsource to other suppliers, who may in turn outsource to yet another operation, creating a supply chain that is hard to follow — let alone inspect.

There is little that any Western company can do about those issues, no matter how seriously they take corporate social responsibility — other than leaving China.

We're amused/annoyed by the subtle way the TIA continues to push the idea that the bad toys of 2007 aren't the fault of U.S. manufacturers' decisions to cut corners. Just take a look at the language in this press release (emphasis ours):

"We are developing a system that will help to assure that products entering the U.S. market meet this nation's rigorous toy safety requirements, whether those requirements are defined in standards or regulations," association President Carter Keithley, said in a statement.

"Toy safety plan to debut Feb. 1" [CNN Money]
(Photo: Getty)

At the request of the chicken industry, the Senate farm bill would add chicken to the list of meats that would be labeled by country of origin beginning Oct. 1. Chicken producers have taken the opposite position of most beef and pork groups, which have opposed labeling. Richard Lobb, a spokesman for the National Chicken Council, said the industry asked Senate leaders to add chicken to the list because other countries have expressed an interest in exporting chicken to the United States and consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about the origin of food. Lobb noted that 95 percent consumed in the United States is domestically produced, but the Agriculture Department has granted Chile the right to export chicken to the United States and is considering an application from China.

Senate Slips Chicken Into COOL Farm Bill Provision [Cattle Network]
(Photo: foxypar4)

Survey: Global Manufacturers Staying Put in China [the smart cube blog]

This doesn't end the heavy scrutiny China faces in the EU for its shoddy safety record—the EU says it will continue to expect detailed reports every 3 to 4 months.

"To be honest we didn't expect such a positive response from the Chinese authorities," another Commission official said.

"But it just shows that the carrot and stick approach works. You cannot just go around banning everything from China. It would be ludicrous for both the industry and consumer, who would end up having to pay more in the run-up to Christmas.

"The two significant moves by China have been to increase their checks 10-fold, right down to regional level and the withdrawal of thousands of export licences," the official added.

If they lose the suit, the companies could have to pay as much as "$2,500 per day for each violation."

Mattel has responded by saying that they've been "in continuous communication" with California's attorney general's office and that they've "cooperated fully in the matter" throughout the recall. Apparently Mattel takes California more seriously than the CPSC then—remember when they told the Wall Street Journal that "the company discloses problems on its own timetable because it believes both the law and the commission's enforcement practices are unreasonable"?

Some companies named in the suit:

• Mattel Inc.
• Toys R Us
• Fisher-Price Inc.
• xMichaels Stores Inc.
• Sears, Roebuck and Co.
• Costco Wholesale Corp
• Eveready Battery Co.
• Kmart Corp.
• Marvel Entertainment

"California sues 20 companies for toys with unlawful amounts of lead" [SFGate]
(Photo: Getty)

Lead Plates Followup: Utah Wants To Know! [KUTV] (Thanks to Jay!)
PREVIOUSLY: Baby Poisoned By Lead-Tainted Walmart Plates

China Confirms Poison Was on Toy Beads [NYT]
PREVIOUSLY:
Recalled Date Rape Drug-Filled Toy Looks Pretty Cool
Popular Australian Toy Filled With GHB

Doctors at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, outside Sydney, first believed that the 2-year-old boy, whose name has not been released, had an inherited metabolic disorder. But when Dr. Carpenter checked urine samples the next day for the chemical markers of the disorder, he found GHB, which can render victims unconscious and even cause death through respiratory failure.

"We suspected at that time the child had been surreptitiously given" the drug by a family member or friend of the family, he said by phone from Sydney on Wednesday.

A follow-up test two days later showed that the GHB had disappeared from the boy's body, which confirmed that the chemical had been ingested and was not occurring because of a genetic disorder. It was then that Dr. Carpenter learned that the boy had vomited beads before and after going into a shallow coma.

Dr. Carpenter obtained more of the boy's beads and tested them in a mass spectrometer, a device that helps identify chemical compounds. "I saw a large peak of a substance I didn't recognize," he said.

The "peak" was an obscure industrial chemical used to prevent water-soluble glues from becoming sticky before they are needed. But when ingested, the chemical quickly breaks down to become GHB. The United States tightly restricts the chemical's sale and places GHB in the same category as heroin.

Sleuthing for a Danger in Toy Beads [NYT]
(Photo:Tony Sernack for The New York Times)

The article isn't clear on whether or not the drug is entirely imaginary, or whether it's actually being sold as a treatment for diabetes. But either way, it's an over-the-top scam—and, what with the executions and all, we think a dangerous one to pull in China. It even managed to get a Chinese official to speak in English idioms, according to the article's quote:

"This site is definitely not for real," an official at the regulator was quoted as saying. "These lawbreakers have got some balls!"

"Fraudsters fake Web site of drug watchdog" [Reuters]

RELATED
Real Chinese Health & Drug Website
Fake Site

Despite the announcement of the license suspensions, Chinese regulators said 99 percent of toy exports in southern Guangdong Province, near Hong Kong, met quality standards.

But those figures seemed contradictory; regulators in Guangdong said that they had visited over 1,700 facilities and that 764, more than a third, had their licenses revoked. Nearly as many were ordered to bring their factories up to quality standards.

China still hasn't addressed the rampant corruption at the local level that allows business to skirt regulations, nor have they reformed the nation's regulatory system. This is just a random cracking of the whip to remind us that China still hasn't forgotten about toy safety.

China Bars Exports by 750 Toy Makers [NYT]
(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Wal-Mart announced the recall after its own testing discovered high levels of lead, and it notified the CPSC of the results. A Wal-Mart spokeswoman replied, "We informed the supplier and the CPSC and we felt we had to let our customers know what we'd found." But Wal-Mart still won't provide more information on the recalled toys, leading to a strange battle of wills between the CPSC and the retailer. What gives, Wal-Mart? Afraid of losing your lead-toys competitive edge? The CPSC is legally bound to not disclose details now that the toys are being officially tested, but we're not sure what Wal-Mart's legal obligation is since it announced the recall on its own.

"US product watchdog agency: Wal-Mart toy recall lacked some consumer information" [International Herald Tribune]
(Photo: Getty)

For instance, China reported that only 82% of the food tested in medium and large cities met safety standards, and that although "it believes 99 percent of its food exports meet safety standards, only about 80 percent of food sold domestically has passed inspections."

In addition to the arrests, China announced it has banned 13 toxic pesticides from being produced in the country, and that since July, 1,000 tons of fake products have been intercepted at Chinese ports and recalled or destroyed.

"774 Arrests in China Over Safety" [New York Times]
(Photo: Getty)

One is dying from silicosis from making Char-Broil gas stoves. One lost three fingers making goods for Restoration Hardware. One is suffering from a precursor to leukemia after painting and varnishing furniture bound for America. Others have cadmium poisoning after making batteries for Eveready and Energizer. In all cases, not even basic safety protocols or safety devices were observed. It was simply a matter of what was cheapest and most expedient.

American Imports, Chinese Deaths [Salt Lake Tribune]

"Wal-Mart said independent testing revealed excessive levels of lead in the base material, not the surface coating."

It decided to issue the voluntary recall Friday after verifying the testing and notifying the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the manufacturer, she said.

Wal-Mart believes the manufacturer has also sold the toys through other retailers. Blakley said Wal-Mart has provided the maker's name and the test data to the CPSC and it would be up to the CPSC to work with the manufacturer to contact other retailers.

The retailer said it was posting photos and details of the affected toys on its Web site, http://www.walmartfacts.com. It said customers may return the product to any Wal-Mart store, with or without a receipt, for a full refund.

Wal-Mart Recalls Toy Animals for Lead [AP]

No. The company readily admits that the move is largely symbolic.

"We feel confident that all of our products from China meet the same high quality standards that we set for all of our products," the statement read. "However, our customers have voiced their concerns about products from this region and we have listened.

"We will continue to source products from other regions until our customers feel as confident as we do about the quality and safety of Chinese products."

Whole Foods has no plans to implement a similar ban.

Trader Joe's just says no to China [Chicago Sun-Times]
(Photo: Getty Images)

(Photo: Getty)

The toy hasn't been pulled from stores or recalled because Marvel wants to confirm the tests. "If we find a problem, we will do a recall, it's the only appropriate thing to do," a Marvel spokesperson said.

Caroline Cox, spokesperson for the CEH, told the Boston Globe: ""I was quite shocked. We have never seen a toy with levels so high."

Group: Curious George doll tainted with lead [Boston Globe]
Health Group Takes Action to Get the Lead Out of Toys [CES]

One source of extra costs is an increased inspection schedule. RC2—the company behind the infamous chinese poison train—used to inspect random batches of toys and perform factory inspections twice a year; now, they inspect every batch of toys several times and have bumped up the inspection rate to every quarter. Mega Brands, the company that recalled its Magnetix toys for magnet hazards, has increased its inspection schedule from twice a year to every two weeks.

The result, as another analyst tells Reuters, is "increased monitoring of toy safety could eventually result in a 'mid- single-digit' price increase for consumers."

"U.S. parents want safer toys, but will cost them" [Reuters]
(Photo: Getty)

...the import safety panel is expected to push for expanded use of technology to more quickly identify risky imports. Leavitt has supported the use of technology at the border that could read the contents of a sports drink bottle, for example, looking for potentially toxic chemicals without opening it. The FDA is developing a food-safety strategy to be unveiled this fall that would rely on risk-based inspection but has not asked for more resources to pay for more inspections.

Technology Seen as Key To Upgrading Food Safety [Washington Post]
(AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara)

The study concluded that the videos, when watched alone, were potentially harmful to the development of a child's vocabulary. (The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV for children under 2.)

Disney's CEO, Robert A. Iger, then issued his own press release, demanding a retraction from the University of Washington, calling the University's press release "grossly unfair, extremely damaging, and, to be blunt, just plain wrong in every conceivable sense."

The President of the University of Washington, Mark A. Emmert, politely refused to retract the press release, responding (in still another press release), that the researchers did not feel that the press release was inconsistent with their findings.

Today, Kids II Inc., a company that licenses the name "Baby Einstein," (the brand Disney was so worried about protecting from the "grossly unfair" academics at the University of Washington), recalled some "Baby Einstein" blocks because the paint contained "excessive levels of lead."

We truly, and without one hint of sarcasm, can't wait to hear what Robert A. Iger has to say about this.

Kids II Recalls Baby Einstein Color Blocks Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard [CPSC]

PREVIOUSLY: Walt Disney Demands Retraction From University of Washington Over Baby Einstein Video Press Release
University Of Washington Stands Up To Disney, Will Not Retract "Baby Einstein" Press Release
Disney, Toys 'R Us To Begin Random Testing Of Toys

RC2 sent an email out to customers who received the lead tainted apology toy:

Unfortunately, the discovery that certain Toad vehicles could be potentially unsafe was made in August, after Toads had been sent as bonus gifts to some families. Many of the Toad bonus gifts are safe, however some may not be. If you received a Toad vehicle as a bonus gift from us, please check its underside for the tracking code 1656OW00 to determine if it is one of the recalled toys.

(Thanks, rwshep2000!)

He bought a tube, and the next Monday he took a vacation day to bring it to a Health Ministry office. They directed him to a second office, naturally. They told him to take the toothpaste to a third office, and when he balked, they had him fill out a complaint form and leave the tube. Three days later, the story exploded when the country's top health official reported that a "shopper in Panama" had discovered the tainted product.

A year ago, those words would have meant nothing to him. "Nobody had ever heard of this stuff," Mr. Arias said. But a steady drumbeat of news about poison cough syrup had engraved the words in his mind.

"It was inconceivable to me that a known toxic substance that killed all these people could be openly on sale and that people would go on about their business calmly, selling and buying this stuff."

Here's a round up of advice:

The New York Times just ran around asking parents, bloggers and toy company owners about the issue:

Ms. Nemeth [who founded Discovery Toys in 1978 and sold the company to Avon a decade ago] said that if she had a toddler,"I'd avoid anything that is painted — I'd just wait until the industry shakes itself out." Besides, she said, "by bringing home wooden blocks that are unpainted, you're probably helping your child's creativity."

But plain wooden blocks alone probably will not satisfy most toddlers. Danielle Wiley, a 33-year-old publicist in Chicago, recalls a recent tantrum that her 2-year-old son, Max, had in the bathtub.

"I knew a new toy would help," Ms. Wiley said, but the only one in the house was a Fisher-Price Diego toy that had just been recalled for lead paint. Nevertheless, "I handed him the toy and he stopped," she said. After the bath, she said, she discarded the toy.

FAO Schwartz supposedly has country of origin labels in-store, but has no stores in Chicago:

If you're concerned about where toys are made, some retailers are helping customers find the product's origin. FAO Schwarz has put up signs throughout its stores to designate the country of origin; the retailer's Web site, http://www.fao .com, allows consumers to shop for toys by country of origin.

Kansas.com quotes one mom who is avoiding plastic (that the Thomas & Friends toys were wood seems not to matter):

"Anything that's plastic, we're just kind of staying away from," said Rachael Meza, a Wichita mom.

It could be that China is beside the point. The real risk in this company is its tired product lineup, says A.G. Edwards analyst Timothy A. Conder. He contends that stagnant sales of Barbie U.S. and American Girl and the difficulty replicating the Cars- and T.M.X. Elmo-related sales pop last year will hurt prospects.

"I feel this may well wind up being the safest holiday season of all," Toy Industry Association President Carter Keithley said.

Those are pretty confident words from the president of the Toy Industry Association following the recall of millions of toys from China due to lead paint.

Keithley just testified before a senate subcommittee. He says parents need to keep the 14 recalls from 11 companies in perspective.

"My first piece of advice is don't not freak out," he said.

We think you should just buy your infant an XBOX. Ok, not really. You should hand craft all of your toys out of fallen tree branches and delicious organic free-trade coffee.

(Photo:Maulleigh)