ParentsR.Us » Recalls

Tainted eggs from… China, of course!

Stephanie — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:08:17 +0000

Poisoning our children with lead was not enough. Contaminating baby milk and candies was not enough. Let’s not forget our pets and the contaminated food for them. The latest in the China recalls is eggs. No, not chocolate eggs like the Cadbury eggs on the candy recall list. Real eggs from chickens.

W*lM*art’s [ sorry, that's a forbidden word around here ;o) ] “Selct” eggs have been pulled from shelves for containing over 2 times Hong Kong’s limit of the melamine chemical in food. At the moment it is unknown what countries have imported these eggs. To date, no illnesses have been reported, although, it’s unknown what consuming melamine in eggs will do to humans. Babies that drank contaminated milk suffered kidney problems and even death.

It’s suspected that melamine was added to chicken feed to increase profit. Chickens consuming the feed evidently showed no signs or affects, but passed the chemical on.

One has to wonder just how far this oh so lovely chemical has invaded the food chain and what the next hot item will be.

WAKE UP! STOP buying Chinese! If we’d stop manufacturing items in China and stop importing Chinese goods, maybe, just maybe, we’d have a little less to worry about. As the holiday season approaches, I urge you to buy your gifts from non-Chinese sources. Take the time and spend the money, your family deserves it! My favorite online shop for purchasing gifts for my kids is Oompa.com. Over at Oompa they go the extra mile. They list the country of manufacture, they only sell toys they approve.

Childrenâ€™s Animal Tracking Explorer Kit Recall

Stephanie — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:52:35 +0000

I just happened to see this recall while browsing around and decided to look more into it. Mindware is a company I rather like, they have some great things in their catalog that I would love to order. This kit is being recalled because it’s supposed to contain a packet of Plaster of Paris, however, that packet actually contains calcium hydroxide which is a big skin and eye irritant. A quick Wikipedia search tells me that calcium hydroxide is also a cancer suspect agent. Plaster of Paris is based upon calcium sulfate, not calcium hydroxide. While Plaster of Paris isn’t entirely safe, it is safer than the calcium hydroxide. Care should be taken either way. I’d much rather my kids be exposed to the safer of the two obviously. I’d like to think a company making a product for KIDS would ensure that it is the safest possible. Yeah, yeah, I know, no one is to be trusted to be entirely safe. I would love to know how this little mix up of chemicals occurred though.

So, I went to the website to find more information. The first thing I see is this lovely little banner on the left. I then looked all over the site to try and find some recall information. None to be found. I did find this though:

Toy Safety

MindWare has been in the business of developing and sourcing toys, books and games to stimulate learning since 1991. We have always selected products that are of high quality and safe for our customers. All products offered in the 2007 Fall and Holiday catalogs have been tested at an independent laboratory and have passed all tests required by law. If you have any questions regarding MindWare’s practices or standards on toy safety or testing, please email us at safetoys@mindwareonline.com.

Well, alrighty then. This item was sold in the holiday catalog. And guess what?! It was made in CHINA. Thumbs down to Mindware.

The First Years 3-in-1 Flush and Sounds Potty Seats

Stephanie — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:55:49 +0000

RECALLED “Hazard: Decorative plaque inserted into the back of the potty seat could have orange paint that contains excessive levels of lead, violating the federal lead paint standard.” The company’s solution? They’ll send you a clear protective cover to put over the plaque. The description says the plaque is inserted into the back of the seat. To me, that means it’s removable and clear protective cover may not keep my child from removing the plaque and playing with it. I don’t have the chair, I don’t know, but it’s something to think about.