Producer Of "Date Rape Drug" Toy Apologizes

The Hong Kong company that manufactured millions of poisonous toy beads in mainland China issued a public apology today, with the chairman saying that it had not occurred to anyone to check whether an inexpensive glue ingredient in the beads would be dangerous for children to eat.

The beads, marketed as Aqua Dots in North America and as Bindeez in Europe and Asia, were recalled earlier this month after at least 14 children became sick when they ate the beads; with several of the children briefly falling into comas. Medical researchers in Australia discovered that the human body breaks down the glue ingredient into GHB, the date rape drug banned in the United States and capable of causing unconsciousness that can lead to death.

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