Support and Information

Parents might remember 2007 as "the year of the toy recall," when the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) issued an unprecedented 81 toy recalls. While a few recalls affected many familiar toys, gaining national media attention, the media's attention in 2008 towards this subject has waned. Yet, the frequency of toy recalls continues unabated.

As of February 2008, there were 13 toy recalls, which puts 2008 on pace to surpass the record number of toy recalls issued in 2007.

Here are the ten most common misconceptions about toy recalls.

• Parents will hear about all toy recalls on the nightly news. Not true. The media does a nice job informing the public of the larger toy recalls, which were approximately 10 in 2007. However, smaller toy recalls, which may only impact 100,000 families, lose the competition for coverage to stories perceived as more newsworthy.
• 2007 was the first year for toy recalls. Not true. Recalls are common. Any company can unintentionally run into a manufacturing problem leading to a recall. Excluding the record 81 toy recalls issued in 2007, since the year 2000, the CPSC averages 33 toy recalls per year.
• Only toys made in China are recalled. Not true. While China produces more than seventy-five percent of all toys sold in the US, it follows that the majority of toys recalled were made in China. However, toy recalls in 2007 were also for toys manufactured in Mexico and the United States.
• Only parents of preschool children need to worry about toy recalls. Not true. Parents of preschool children must worry about toy recalls, especially if their children are prone to putting toys in their mouths. Yet, not all recalls are for toys that cause problems when ingested. Easy Bake ovens were recalled because children's hands were trapped and burned in the oven. Remote control airplanes were recalled because the batteries were catching fire or exploding and causing hearing loss. Toys were also recalled for breaking and causing lacerations.
• Toys from upscale stores are safe from recall. Not true. Toys are recalled from everywhere including: Pottery Barn Kids, Orvis, Gymboree, LL Bean, and ToysRUs in 2007.
• Once a toy has been recalled it is automatically pulled from the shelf. Not true. Recalls are voluntary, not mandatory, and retailers are not required to check their inventory for recalled products or remove them from store shelves.
• Only "toxic" toys are recalled. Not true. While lead paint in toys made the headlines in 2007, they accounted for only 41 of the 81 recalls, which was for just 4 million of the over 27 million toys recalled. The other 23 million toys recalled were due to magnets small enough to be swallowed, toys causing lacerations, severed fingers, burns, and loss of hearing.
• Only toys available in toy stores are recalled. Not true. Toys are available for sale or given away everywhere these days. In 2007, toys were recalled that were sold not only at toy stores but also at clothing stores, grocery stores, and craft stores.
• Once a threat is identified the toy is immediately recalled. Not true. Recalls have taken more than one year to be issued after a threat has been identified. In June 2005, the CPSC was alerted that a nine-month old child died in a defective crib. The CPSC did not send a field investigator until two years after the incident to examine the crib. It was not until September 2007 that the CPSC recalled one million of the cribs, and by this time two more babies died, seven more had been trapped, and more than fifty complaints had been filed.
• When a recall is issued, you will have the information necessary to know whether a toy was part of a recall. Not true. When parents were faced with toy recalls in 2007, which related to toys purchased as far back as 2001, most parents did not know when the toy was purchased, where the toy was purchased, and the product or UPC number (located on the toy's package) to determine whether the toy was part of a recall.

SmartToyChoice.com was created by concerned mothers to help keep parents informed about the safety of their children's toys. Through a subscription-based service at SmartToyChoice.com parents can easily register their children's toys in a personal account. When a toy recall is issued that relates to a registered toy within their account, parents receive an e-mail notification informing them if the recall affects any of their children's toys. A recall notification from SmartToyChoice.com provides parents the personalized information they need to quickly determine which of the children's toys may be impacted by a recall and the recommended action to take.

--Claire Johnson

Claire@SmartToyChoice.com