Tainted Chinese Imports Common

... the recalls of faulty American toys, to be exact. Maybe we Europeans should consider importing less American products. Too dangerous.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to use the apple flavoured Baby's Bliss gripe water because it could be contaminated with a parasite that causes intestinal infection.

The gripe water carries the code 26952V and an expiration date shown as 10/08 (for October 2008).

It is sold as a 4 oz plastic bottle inside a cardboard carton that bears the Baby's Bliss logo and the product name Gripewater Apple Flavor.

According to FDA information the product label carries the following text:

* Baby's Bliss. Pediatrician Recommended Gripe Water. Apple Flavor.
* An herbal supplement used to ease the gas and stomach discomfort often associated with colic, hiccups, and teething.
*
* Other ingredients: Deionized Water, Vegetable Glycerin, Fructose, Natural apple flavor, Citric acid, Bioflavonoid Extract, and Grapefruit Seed Extract.
* Distributed by: MOM Enterprises, Inc., San Rafael, CA 94903 USA.

About 1 Million Simplicity Cribs Recalled Due To Failures Resulting in Infant Deaths

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is announcing today a voluntary recall with Simplicity Inc., of Reading, Pa., of about 1 million cribs. The drop-side can detach from the crib, which can create a dangerous gap and lead to the entrapment and suffocation of infants. CPSC is aware of two deaths in Simplicity manufactured cribs with older style hardware, including a 9-month-old child and a 6-month-old child, where the drop-side was installed upside down. CPSC is also aware of seven infant entrapments and 55 incidents in these cribs.

CPSC is also investigating the death of a 1-year-old child in a Simplicity crib with newer style hardware, in which the drop-side was installed upside down. CPSC is warning parents and caregivers to check all Simplicity cribs to make sure the drop-side is installed right side up.

The drop-side failures result from both the hardware and crib design, which allow consumers to unintentionally install the drop-side upside down. This, in turn, can weaken the hardware and cause the drop-side to detach from the crib. When the drop-side detaches, it creates a gap in which infants can become entrapped.

CPSC is also aware of two incidents that occurred when the drop-side was correctly installed with older style hardware, though the upside down installation greatly increases the risk of failure.

The recalled Simplicity crib models include: Aspen 3 in 1, Aspen 4 in 1, Nursery-in-a-Box, Crib N Changer Combo, Chelsea and Pooh 4 in 1. The recall also involves the following Simplicity cribs that used the Graco logo: Aspen 3 in 1, Ultra 3 in 1, Ultra 4 in1, Ultra 5 in 1, Whitney and the Trio.

The recalled cribs have one of the following model numbers, which can be found on the envelope attached to the mattress support and on the label attached to the headboard: 4600, 4605, 4705, 5000, 8000, 8324, 8800, 8740, 8910, 8994, 8050, 8750, 8760, and 8996.

The cribs, which were made in China, were sold in department stores, children's stores and mass merchandisers nationwide from January 1998 through May 2007 for between $100 and $300.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07307.html

This particular Canadian basher of Chinese products is NOT even considering an apology. I'm very suspicious of Mattel's apology - and will continue to check everything I buy to try and determine if there are any Chinese components, so that I can avoid them.

Setanta has boycotted Chinese-made products as long as I've known him.

I may not agree 100% with how he got to the boycott, but I got there as well.

Mattel apologizes because where else will they go for cheap mass producing labor. They have to tone the media down because it's such a two way street and neither side wants to rock the gravy train.

(that's precisely my suspicion)

China province eyes libel suit on Mattel
Nov 5 11:27 PM US/Eastern

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A Chinese province is likely to join a planned libel suit against US giant Mattel, accusing the toy maker of harming the region's reputation, state press said Tuesday.

The government of Guangdong province is considering the suit after Mattel issued a safety recall on more than 21 million Chinese-made toys this summer, but later apologised saying 85 percent of the recall was due to its own design flaws, the China Daily said.

"The incident has stained the reputation of Chinese toy manufacturers and made a large number of toy factories in Guangdong lose a great deal of money," it quoted Chen Lipeng, director of the province's fair trade bureau, as saying.

"A simple apology cannot compensate for the losses."

After the highly publicised recalls, Mattel made a surprise apology to the Chinese government, saying safety concerns over the toys were due to its own design flaws and not Chinese production processes.

Chen declined to say when a lawsuit would be filed in a US court.

"The plan is still under discussion because a lot of preparatory work has to be done if we really need to file charges against Mattel," Chen said. "I do not know when a real suit can be filed."

Lida Plastic Toy Co, based in Guangdong's Foshan city, is supporting a lawsuit due to the large losses it incurred following the recall, while Chinese lawyers expect "billions of dollars" in compensation, the paper said.

"A lawsuit may help us reclaim part of our loss resulting from Mattel's actions. But it will be a long-term process," a Lida manager told the paper.

So, does this confirm or contradict your suspicions?

Toy beads found to contain precursor to 'date rape' drug
An award-winning toy made in China was recalled in Australia after it was found to turn into a date-rape drug if swallowed.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/07/business/toys.php?WT.mc_id=newsalert

My whole family and many of my friends boycott China-made products for a variety of reasons. This latest information about the quality of their products doesn't surprise me in the least, but from a humanitarian perspective alone, we don't support them. For me it's like buying a blood diamond or, in fact, any De Beers diamond.

about 5 years ago a large meat-packing plant in the western US found they had 1,000's of pounds or perhaps tons of contaminated meat they could not sell in the US so they sold it to Japan. The Japanese gov't inspected the meat and found it to be contaminated so they sent it back.

We're just a greedy bunch of shites with no integrity, aren't we?