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Fisher Price recalls China toys

02/08/2007

Toy maker Fisher Price has announced a global recall for thousands of products made in China, after revealing that the company which manufactured them used paint containing lead in their production.

Reports suggest that up to one million toys across 83 different product ranges may be recalled because on the lead scare.

Lead is toxic if it is ingested by young children and in a statement today Fisher Price owner Mattel said that it regarded the use of lead paint by its Chinese manufacturing partner as a "serious mistake".

The Californian-based company stressed that it was conducting a "thorough investigation" into how the paint came to be used on the plastic pre-school toys sold under the Fisher Price brand.

Toys that are affected by the recall were sold from May onwards this year and include popular figures such as the Dora the Explorer toy produced by Fisher Price, which is based on the character from the Nickelodeon cartoon series.

Sesame Street's Big Bird and Elmo characters are also among those being recalled by the company.

Announcing the recall, Mattel chief executive Robert Eckert said the toy firm was determined to correct the problem and improve its systems in order to "maintain the trust" of families who purchase its products.

Describing the circumstances which led to the recall, the company's senior vice president of worldwide quality assurance, Jim Walter, said: "We require our manufacturing partners to use paint from approved and certified suppliers and have procedures in place to test and verify, but in this particular case our procedures were not followed."

Mattel has said that it will take "appropriate action" if it is determined that the Chinese manufacturer in question "knowingly ignored" safety procedures.

The company has also announced a review of the operations of its other Chinese vendors.

Commentators say that the recall is likely to increase global concerns about the safety of products made in China.


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