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Consumer Safety Watch

The month of August has been a busy one for the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. They have initiated thirteen product recalls so far, with the products involved ranging from bicycle wheels to gas fireplaces. Three of the product recalls involve products marketed towards children, which we believe deserves extra attention.

Gymboree Corporation: Caroline Flower Baby Sandals

As most of you who have raised or are raising infants and toddlers know, one of the biggest dangers to the life of your child is the hazard of choking. Children between the ages of 1-4 explore the world by putting things into their mouths. According to the American Association of Pediatrics, food is the most common cause of choking among children of that age group, but closely behind that are common household objects such as coins, marbles, pen and marker caps, buttons, and small button-sized batteries.

So placing a purely decorative, flower-shaped button on top of a pair of baby sandals might not have been the smartest thing for the Gymboree Corporation to do. The company received four separate reports where the button fell off the sandal, and at least one report of a placing the flower in her mouth, which caused her to choke. Consumers who have purchased this product have been advised by the USCPSC to stop using this product immediately, and to return the product to Gymboree for a refund.

It should be noted that the recall is not listed on the Gymboree Corporation’s website, nor does the product turn up when you use the website’s search engine. www.gymboree.com While we applaud Gymboree’s cooperation with the USCPSC in initiating the recall, we think the public interest would be better served if they put more effort into spreading the word about the potential dangers of one of their products.

Kelty: Speedster Jogging Strollers:

Kelty has issued a recall for both its Speedster Deluxe and Speedster Deuce deluxe jogging stroller. According to the USCPSC website, there have been two reports of the handle coming loose during its use. Hopefully the users weren’t doing their jogging on a downhill slope.

Kelty has taken the high road and has opened a link on its website, which contains a copy of the USCPSC report.

Almar Sales Company: Children’s Watch

Marketers figured out long ago that children are attracted to things that are bright and shiny. If you take a walk down the cereal aisle at your average grocery store, you’ll notice that the cereals that are marketed towards kids are packaged in bright and sometimes outright garish colors. The Water Watch follows the same marketing principles as most products manufactured for kids. This product is basically a digital watch display that is attached to two cheap plastic bands. These bands are filled with a colored liquid that, according to the title of the product, should be water. It comes in a variety of bright colors (pink, blue, red, purple and yellow) and its cheap (retail price of $2). However, the “Water” involved in the watchband is actually a petroleum distillate, which causes irritation and redness of the skin, and is harmful if ingested. The plastic holding this liquid in place is not very sturdy, and there has been a report of a 2-year-old child who ingested it accidentally after biting into the watchband. These stores were sold exclusively at Dollar General Stores from March until July of 2005.
The recall notice was issued today (August 17, 2005), and as of yet neither Almar Sales nor Dollar General Stores have placed this recall information on their website. We will be monitoring these products over the next few weeks to see what action they will take.