Today the toy recall from Mattel has been expanded to an astounding 18 million toys for parents to now confiscate from their children due to bad monitoring by Mattel in their production centers.
Beginning in June, Fischer Price, a subsidiary of Mattel, recalled 1.5 million Thomas Wooden train sets because of the use of lead based paint in the products. August began another Mattel recall of 1.5 million toddler toys including Dora the Explorer, Elmo and Big Bird because lead based paint was again detected in the products. We are told that only toys manufactured between April and June are affected, but most seem skeptical of these dates and the reliability of them.
Toys R Us also stated today a recall of their own on vinyl baby bibs they sold at their store that have been tested and confirmed to contain lead based paint. The bibs which featured such items as baseball bats, soccer balls and Disney Character Winne the Pooh, sold for under $5 under store name. The company which sells these to Toys R Us has also sold these to Walmart earlier this year although Walmart did not declare a recall of the bibs they did pull them from their shelves but only Illinois was required to order a recall based on their individual state laws.
What are parents and day care providers to do now? Where are we supposed to place our trust…. in a corporation which out sources jobs to foreign countries for their own bottom line, or do we protect our children from future recalls now by pulling all toys that are listed on the recall, no matter when they were purchased?
I feel we are placed in a very bad spot as parents. Do we take away toys from our children that they may play with everyday to proactively protect them and have the backlash from the children, or blindly trust the companies and their dates? I feel that this rise in recalls from China, starting with the pet food recalls, to wheat and corn products imported from China and now the toys our children play with, is insanity. Our country seems to be taking a very laid back approach on dealing with these highly important issues. For a country determined to fight terror and how that can affect our country, they seem to be neglecting us as consumers and keeping us safe.
We want to hear from you. Have you been affected by any of the past recalls? Do you feel enough is being done to safeguard our country from faulty products and food contamination? Write us your comments and we can post them here.
For a complete list of the recent toys recalled please visit the Mattel website
