With the recalls am I going to have to boycott China toys?

[hillview]

So I try not to totally over react but really I don't think I can buy any more toys from China til they get their act together. I feel somewhat xenophobic thinking/typing this but the recalls are really awful. I have a bunch of Melissa and Doug toys and am starting to wonder about them (just emailed M&D to see what they have to say about their testing standards).

I think these toy companies really dropped the ball and will have a lot to account for if any children have lead issues.

/hillary

[randomkid]

I completely agree with you. I just bought DD M&D lacing beads this week and they are made in China. My Dad about freaked out saying "I know there's lead in this paint!" Makes me want to toss out all of DD's toys that have paint on them and were made in China. Guess she would be left with Tupperware and shoestrings!

Let us know what you find out from M&D as we have several of their toys and puzzles.

[shilo]

i'm struggling with this too. hope i don't offend anyone with this, i'm just speaking to where my mind has been wandering with this. i keep having thoughts of how hypocritical i'm being, always looking for the 'bargain' and then turning around and being angry when corners are being cut. but then i think "that wasn't the case with the thomas stuff, it sure wasn't a bargain toy" and i'm back to square one. i know in my heart of hearts, it really doesn't matter to me if it's china or texas, but rather the danger it's posing to children (and probably the workers in these factories as well, sigh). but i do worry about the stereotypes being perpetuated - equating 'china' with 'inferior/dangerous' in my mind isn't a great thing. and how a whole region of the world/it's culture's and people's can be lumped into that stereotype along with a single country in the american media witch hunt mentality. i don't know what the answer is. i know i wish we were screening/testing all children's products including these imports before they hit store shelves. of course i want to protect my family and will probably be reading labels more closely, and exercising my dollar a little differently than before. but just because i have the knowlegde to seek out (hopefully) safer countries of manufacture, and have the resources to do so, doesn't mean it's right for me to assume everyone else does too. the mom shopping at the dollar store or goodwill for her DS's birthday present has just as much love for her child and just as much anguish at the thought of something she's buying doing her child harm as i do. just personally boycotting toys and products manf. there isn't going to cut it for me personally. anyway, i'm hoping others have some insights to offer, this is a toughie for me.

lori
Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.

[hillview]

This is the response (less then 12 hours and overnight) I got from Melissa and Doug.

Hi Hillary -

Yes, we definitely appreciate and understand your concern.
Please be assured, we test for lead VERY frequently.

It's quite possible to make great quality children's items in China, which meet all safety regulations, but the key point is that you have to test and inspect very frequently to be sure that your factories are always following your instructions explicitly. I assure you that's exactly what we do.

From our experience, the key to doing this correctly is not simply to insist that your factories follow your instructions, but then to go one step further and to AUDIT, INSPECT, AND TEST very frequently. That is the most important part of the process, and it's something our company has always taken VERY seriously.

Thanks again for asking, and for your support also.

Your Dedicated Customer Service Team

Melissa & Doug, Inc.

800-284-3948

Monday-Friday 8:00-5:00 EST

[Radosti]

My neighbors are going to visit their family in China for 2 weeks. I am keeping an eye on their house while they are gone. So, they asked me if I'd like them to bring me anything from China. I feel so bad, but all I could think about was the recalls - toys, pet food, toothpaste. So, I said, no thanks, just enjoy your trip. She kept insisting that she wants to bring something back for us, so I told her that if she sees something that she thinks is neat, to bring that back. I feel so bad and ungrateful.

[gatorsmom]

This is a tough situation, isn't it? I understand your mixed feeling completely. Unfortunately, it is easy to equate poor quality with chinese-made products right now because that is where all the recalled products have come from. I have always thought that the human mind stereotypes as a survival factor. When our motherly instincts say- "must protect my kids from dangerous products," and so many are made in China, it's instinctual to make that link and be weary of ALL chinese products. It really takes a conscious effort to look past those gut feelings to think of chinese products differently. (you know, it's kind of like when you get sick from some food that is rotten or has gone bad. That experience can turn you off to that type of food for years. It's instinct- if it made you sick once, your body tells you to avoid it because it might make you sick again. Even though you know that is just your gut talking, it's a hard instinct to fight, kwim?)

I've always said you can't have everything. It's cliche but it is true in so many ways. The bargains we are searching for may be positively affecting us, but somewhere they are negatively affecting someone or something else. We want cheap products but don't want to think about how that requires a single mother in Thailand to work for slave wages. We buy stuff more cheaply at Walmart (and make Sam Walton's kids more wealthy) but don't want to see how our choice to shop at Walmart has taken business away from a small mom and pop store that needs that money to just survive. We want stuff to be cheap but we want world peace too. It just doesn't work.

I think that if Americans want to see a change in the quality of the products we buy we will have to do one of 2 things- either start showing that we are willing to pay more for quality products (of course, as you said in the Thomas Trains case this doesnt' guarantee anything); or elect officials to government that are willing to pump more money into government agencies for more testing to be done, enact new import regulations and new write stricter laws mandating manufacturers to get their act together. Either way, it means more money out of our pocket. We really can't have our cake and eat it too.

Lisa
Mom to Gator July 2003
And Cha-Cha July 2005
and surprise! twins due 11/07!

[jenjenfirenjen]

I totally understand your concern. I was upset too. But honestly, I think this is being blown out of proportion.

First of all, think about all the toys that are made in China and then exported to the US. Tons right? Like, probably 98% of the toys we have in our house are from China (even though I try to get Haba and wood toys, we still have mostly things made in China.) Although the recalls seem huge (and lately, frequent) I would guess they make up a miniscule percentage of the huge sum of toys that we buy from China.

On top of that, I was listening to a report on NPR about all this today and toys as a whole make up a tiny percentage of total Chinese exports to the US. So if one were to truly consider boycotting all Chinese products, toys would mostly like be only the tip of a giant iceberg.

Things are recalled all the time in the US. Just think about all the food recalls we have had recently. Most of those had nothing at all to do with China, just good old Americans using cost-cutting agricultural practices that ultimately hurt some people. I don't know if there are any documented cases of children that were hurt as a result of these recalled products. I do know though that some children were killed as a result of food recalls in the US.

So, while I share your concern, I think this issue is being a bit overblown. It certainly would be a good idea IMO to urge our representatives in Congress to pass legislation requiring more stringent testing standards. And honestly, I would love to see our trade deficit with China go down so I while I personally think it would be great if we would stop buying so many Chinese made products, I don't think doing so out of fear is all that logical.

And Rada, I think you missed out :-( My mom was working in China last year and brought the boys back Olympics gear and got me a beautiful wood carving of a mother breastfeeding her baby and some beautiful silk brocade fabric that I had made into a sling. There are some wonderful souvenirs to be had in China and I don't think you need to worry about their safety.

[kelly ann]

We just got back from China a few weeks ago. The whole recall thing was on my mind, but it didn't keep me from finding stuff to buy :) And many other tourists were shopping way more than me. You can't go wrong with silk products or even the Olympic gear. The grandparents loved the Olympic stuff we brought back. My favorite find was a jigsaw puzzle for DS with Mickey and Minnie dressed up in Chinese clothes. Also, we bought a beautiful set of chopsticks - they have stores dedicated to only chopsticks!

[KBecks]

I think it's good to have a greater awarness of the toys you bring into your house and maybe do more checking on how those toys are made. Maybe you can scale back some toy purchases or do homemade toys and activities, etc. etc.

That's how I'm planning to approach it. I know Alek's next b-day will be a no-gifts party and I'm going to limit and be a little more conscious of what toys are in our home.

[randomkid]

If I recall correctly, many of the food recalls occurred due to imported ingredients that were contaminated. Maybe the food items were produced in the U.S., but the ingredients came from somewhere else.

I just wonder how many products are contaminated or have lead in the paint that have not been recalled and we just don't know about it.

[jenjenfirenjen]

I was thinking specifically of the produce recalls, such as the spinach recall that killed a toddler. No foreign ingredients there.