Fisher-Price , the US toy maker, is recalling more than 1m toys made in China because their paint may contain too much lead, marking the latest in a string of recalls that have fuelled US-China tensions over the safety of Chinese products.
The worldwide recall involves plastic pre-school toys, including replicas of popular children’s television characters such as the Cookie Monster, Elmo, Dora and Big Bird, which were manufactured in China and coated with paint that contains excessive amounts of lead. The largest product recall for the company in almost 10 years comes amid widespread concern about the potential dangers of Chinese exports, sparked by a series of safety scares involving products ranging from pet food to toothpaste. [Full Text]
See also: Toys recalled over safety fears from BBC News and a full list of the recalled toys. China Rises blog comments on the fact that China Daily reported the recall yet failed to mention where the toys had been made.
UPDATE: Reuters points out that while American parents are up in arms over the latest recall, Chinese parents have to deal with potential lead poisoning as a fact of everyday life.
[Image: The recall affects 83 different types of toy currently on sale in the US, from AP photo]