It seems that the list of recalled items continue to grow with Baby Einstein being added to the list of endless contaminants being produced by China over the last few years.
Are we as a country insane? Can we not at this point just empty our shelves of all China made toys and start fresh? It is disturbing to me that our children have been in danger for this long-some of these toys were sold in 2006! Why would we not be better scrutinizing these imports?
Before I go off on my soapbox, here is the quick list of the latest recalls from the Associated Press.
About 35,000 Baby Einstein Discover & Play Color Blocks, distributed by Kids II Inc. The blocks were sold around the country between June and September. For more information, or to arrange for a free replacement block, call 866-203-6788 or visit http://www.kidsii.com.
About 79,000 "Pirates of the Caribbean" medallion squeeze lights, imported by the Eveready Battery Co., a brand of Energizer Holdings, Inc. The flashlights were sold nationwide and online between September 2006 and October 2007. For more information, or to receive a voucher for another Eveready product, call 800-925-0628 or visit http://www.Energizer.com.
About 15,000 Totally Me! Funky Room Decor Sets, manufactured by Hong Kong-based CKI Toys and imported by Toys "R" Us Inc. The kits were sold at Toys "R" Us stores around the country and on the company's Web site between May and September 2007. Return the sets to any Toys "R" Us store in exchange for store credit. For more information, call 800-869-7787 or visit http://www.toysrus.com.
About 10,000 wooden Pull-Along Alphabet & Math Blocks wagons, Pull-Along Learning Blocks wagons, 10-in-1 Activity Learning Carts and Flip-Flop alphabet blocks, imported by KB Toys Inc. The toys were sold at KB Toys stores around the country between August 2005 and September 2007. Return the toys to any KB Toys store in exchange for store credit. For more information call 888-843-9520 or visit http://www.recall.kbtinfo.com.
About 63,000 green, plastic cups shaped like Frankenstein's head, imported by Dollar General Merchandising Inc. The cups were sold at Dollar general stores around the country in September. For a refund or replacement product, return the key chains to the place of purchase. For more information, call 800-678-9258 or visit http://www.dollargeneral.com.
About 192,000 key chains imported by Dollar General Merchandising Inc. The key chains feature a metal charm engraved with "wisdom," "truth," "believe," "love," "hope" or "dream." They were sold at Dollar General stores around the country between June 2005 and August 2007. For a refund or replacement product, return the key chains to the place of purchase. For more information, call 800-678-9258 or visit http://www.dollargeneral.com.
About 150,000 bookmarks and journals, imported by Antioch Publishing. The products feature a variety of decorations including breast cancer awareness and Winnie the Pooh. The bookmarks and journals were sold at book, card and gift stores around the country between March 2005 and October 2007. Some of the bookmarks were sold with bracelets. For more information, or to arrange for a refund, call 800-543-1515 or visit http://www.antioch.com.
About 11,200 Alpine Design aluminum water bottles imported by The Sports Authority Inc. The water bottles are decorated with pink flowers, a mouse or a zebra. They were sold at Sports Authority stores around the country between April 2006 and September 2007. For a full refund, return the bottles to a Sports Authority store. For more information, visit http://www.sportsauthority.com.
How sad is this? These are our kids. I can not tell you as a mom of young children how much of a big deal Baby Einstein products are to my generation of moms. It isn’t like we aren’t hit from every way possible. First Sesame Street, Barbie, Batman, Mattel, Fisherprice, etc., how much more can we honestly take as parents.
I can say as a mom that this will make a huge impact on my purchasing this holiday season. Add to that, the commission spokesperson that the Associated Press interviewed said there will still be more recalls. What do we do in the meantime? Lock all of our toys up? I think this is a huge issue that the government should do more as far as its role with China.
But for now, we will just sit and wait to see what other toys are affected. In the meantime, I will just have to pray for the safety of my kids.
