Fisher-Price Recall 2010: 10 Million Kids' Products Recalled

WASHINGTON — Fisher-Price is recalling more than 11 million tricycles, toys and high chairs over safety concerns.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday that the tricycles and high chairs were blamed for children's injuries.

In the recall of about 7 million Fisher-Price Trikes and Tough Trikes toddler tricycles, the agency is aware of 10 reports of children being hurt. Six of them required medical attention.

The trikes – some of which feature popular characters like Dora the Explorer and Barbie – have a protruding plastic ignition key near the seat that children can strike, sit on or fall on, leading to injuries that the commission said can include genital bleeding.

Fisher-Price is also recalling more than 1 million Healthy Care, Easy Clean and Close to Me High Chairs, after 14 reports of problems. The pegs on the back of the high chairs can be used to store the tray, but children can fall on them, resulting in cuts and other injuries. Seven children required stitches, the commission said.

CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum said manufacturers need to do more to build safety into their products before they reach store shelves. But she also offered praise for Fisher-Price for "taking the right steps by agreeing to these recalls and offering consumers free repairs or replacement."

Most of the products were being recalled in the United States, but about 400,000 of them were sold in Canada.

The two other Fisher-Price recalls were:

_More than 2.8 million Baby Playzone Crawl & Cruise Playground toys, Baby Playzone Crawl & Slide Arcade toys, Baby Gymtastics Play Wall toys, Ocean Wonders Kick & Crawl Aquarium toys, 1-2-3 Tetherball toys and Bat & Score Goal toys. The valve of the inflatable ball on the toys can come off and pose a choking hazard to children, said CPSC. The agency said there were more than 50 reports of the valves coming off the balls.

_About 100,000 Fisher-Price Little People Wheelies Stand 'n Play Rampway toys. The wheels on the purple and green cars can come off, posing a choking hazard.

Fisher-Price, based in East Aurora, N.Y., is a unit of Mattel Inc. Consumers can visit the company's website at for more information on the dates of sale and model numbers for the recalled products. http://www.service.mattel.com

___

Online:

Consumer Product Safety Commission: http://www.cpsc.gov

Comments

[LeeCalif]

04:58 PM on 10/02/2010

YEARS LATER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CRIMINALS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No MORE Fisher-Price in our homes !!!

[peskime]

09:20 AM on 10/02/2010

Putting profits above all else ends up physically hurting children. Stop buying this sort of made in China crap and support companies that make products in America. My husband and I only buy toys for our kids that are made in the USA or are Fair Trade. My kids know that they can't have toys from Toys R Us or Target unless they are American made.

[zannamar]

11:39 PM on 10/01/2010

I always feel like a little perspective needs to be put on recalls. This is a voluntary recall. ONLY 10 children were hurt out of 11 million products sold. That is less than 0.0000009% injured per item. No one died, no one was maimed or permanently injured. Only 6 of the 10 needed medical attention.

[LeeCalif]

04:59 PM on 10/02/2010

Where'd you get your stats from ?

[revko]

07:19 PM on 10/02/2010

Fortune cookie

[sonoffestus]

03:22 PM on 10/01/2010

These were poorly DESIGNED products. Designed and engineered in the USA. I have spent the last 30 years working in the toy, gift and tabletop industry as a freelancer. Knowledge is no longer a valued commodity in the toy, gift or tabletop industries.

We are presently working for a major toy company in the states and they haven't a clue how things are made. Project managers are nothing more than administrators. It use to be that the folks we worked for understood design, tooling and manufacturing. Now they just ship it to China and let them take care of things. It's all about price kids.

Manufacturing is a lost art in North America, ask any tool maker or pattern maker, if you can find one.

[peskime]

09:22 AM on 10/02/2010

I am an artist, specifically a metalsmith, and more than ever people are appreciating those of who actually design and make our own work, here in the USA.

[BBinMT]

11:14 PM on 09/30/2010

Like everyone else is going to post here, I'll do it too. Quality control in China has been atrocious.

[SarahFiggTock]

04:18 PM on 09/30/2010

genital bleeding???? how horrible....poor babies. I own a lot of fisher price products, is anything safe anymore? I'm going back to wooden blocks....

[peskime]

09:24 AM on 10/02/2010

And there are still companies who make wooden blocks from the east coast

http://www.amerikid.com/?gclid=CKCN_c-jtKQCFQIEbAod_xc7zA

[Yikes11]

03:22 PM on 09/30/2010

The number and rate of product recalls are on the rise. According to the Consumer Protection Product Safety Commission, there were more recalls in 2001 than in most years during the previous decade. To name a few: Johnson & Johnson -heartburn drug Propulsid, Wyeth-painkiller Duract, Bayer-Baycol, ConAgra recalled 19 million pounds of groundbeef in July 2002, Grayco-child car seats, Tyco-recalled 35 million indoor fire sprinklers, etc . . .

RESULT OF DEREGULATION- big money talks.

[LogicalMathMan]

02:36 PM on 09/30/2010

Fisher Price, China!

I am not a xenophobe.

[marinemomof3]

02:27 PM on 09/30/2010

If it says "made in USA" it is only assembled here, parts made in China w/the special "lead paint" for the next generation.....nooooooooooooo we don't need government oversight......

[webgeek]

02:22 PM on 09/30/2010

All made in China?