As More Toys Are Recalled, Trail Ends in China

treehugger · **As More Toys Are Recalled, Trail Ends in China**

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/bu...=1&oref=slogin

jdawn_76 · 06-19-2007, 09:31 PM

Thanks a lot for that post! My son loves trains and we were thinking of getting him some Thomas the Tank toys. I have been looking on e-bay, but it has just been looking. I am glad that I read this. Thanks! Now I guess we have to be weary of not only the "junk" toys but the good ones that are expensive too!

desertmom · 06-19-2007, 10:00 PM

So who the heck is doing something to stop it? I see nobody doing anything. EACH and EVERY toy imported from China at this point (and elsewhere) should be tested for safety. Lead testing is very, very easy. You can get a kit at Home Depot - that would get very pricey for us parents. I once tested some mugs I got at Gloria Jeans Coffee house and they tested for lead. I took them back and told the manager. I had a fit with them, in public, when I went back a month later and they were still there. I sent a letter to their corporate office, and got no reply. Won't do business there again.

As a former buyer, I ensured everything that I got from a new vendor was inspected and/or tested. Stores, including Target, should be held liable - they need to test everything.

SoccerMom · 06-20-2007, 06:30 AM

OMG! I just read the article, that makes me sick to my stomach, just what are they doing to correct this massive problem, think of how many families have these toys and have no idea that their children are in any danger.

MandaRenee · 06-20-2007, 01:54 PM

Geez as if there wasn't enough to be freaked out about with all the food, pet food, toothpaste, now I'm worried about all the toys and baby stuff that we've bought. This is insane. Okay so we can't make China do it any differently? Then make the companies that are selling it or having it made check this stuff before selling it to our children. This is insane. I think I'll make our little girl some wooden blocks and old time toys to play with.

I am completely dumbfounded by this.

treehugger · 06-20-2007, 02:36 PM

Wouldn't it be nice if something said, "Made in America?"

MandaRenee · 06-20-2007, 03:01 PM

I would love to see more things saying "made in America" I would gladly pay a bit more to be able to read that and I'm sure many of us would.

Me&My2girls · ***I know this is Long, but it's worth it ***

As a person who knows a GREAT DEAL about American companies buying from other contries I feel like I should tell you all what I know for facts...

Products that say "Made in America" on them, don't neccessarily mean 100% produced, manufactured and made in America. In the USA the law states that only 55-60% (the larger majority) of a product needs to be manufactured in America to have that label on it...which means that the rest of that percentage is coming from other countries. The ONLY WAY you know for SURE if it is 100% made and produced in the USA is if it has the exact proper wording (which I have not memorized, I'll ask my hubby tomorrow).

My dh is a quality and design Engineer for a large company. He manages over 50 people and his job is to teach the people he manages how to look for material flaws, products that won't pass by USA standards and check for improper chemical use.

The USA factories are all competing for your buisness. For every product being made today, there are could be 5-500 companies that make the same product. So, with that being said I want to state what may be obvious to all of you, but it makes more sense when you look at the facts. everything is a big circle...

Lets say 20 companies make the same product/same type of produuct
US consumers look at 3 things...
Quality, Dependability and Price.
do you want to know what they look at first??? 76% of Americans look at price. Then, they look at quality and dependability...They think hmmmm i really want a portable DVD player, let's see how much they cost- NOT hmmm I really want a portable DVD player, lets see if there's a good quality one out there.

OK, next. Out of those same 20 companies only 3 of them sell all American made, produced and manufactured products...

the 17 that purchase some of their products from other countries (lets say China) have a lower priced product. AND if those 17 USA factories have done their job, they will in fact have a quality product to sell...because doing their job means that: they schedule visits to these China factories to TRAIN them how to make their product correctly, they show up to those factories unannounced to check on their products AS they are being made AND they TEST, TEST and retest the products that they receive to make sure that they are not putting a bad product on the shelf.

Now...The 3 all American made products have a lot to go up against. Because MOST consumers look at price first. 90% of American made items have to be more expensive, because it costs more to manufacture things here. Many Americans admit that with the price of things (like gas) going up, they cannot afford the more expensive items, so they have to buy the cheaper items, or they cannot get that item at all. So, because the consumer is buying cheaper all of these all American made companies go out of buisness.
Hundreds of americans loose their jobs because of it.

now out of those 17 companies that bought some product from China, lets say 2 of those companies didn't do their job- because they are trying to cut even more of their costs...well, then a recall happens because someone didn't do their job.

It is a big circle!!!

My hubby goes to China two or three times each year...as a matter of fact he has been to the china factory that was mentioned in the picture of that article (Dongguan, China) and because he does a good job at inspecting products and re-inspecting products and teaching those factory workers how to do the job correctly- he's never gotten a bad item from any factory in China! In China there are no standards! They have never been educated like the Americans. It is a bad thing and I hate the fact that they can't get their acts together! BUT, over all I DO BELIEVE that it is the USA factories that have ALL of the blame for all these recalled products because they are not testing and re-testing these products the way THEY SHOULD BE! They KNOW what the USA standards are! I would (as most others would too) love to purchase 100% American products! That is just not reality...reality says that USA consumers want the lower price. I am very sure that a huge majority of the products we use each day have partially come from other countries- but MOST companies do their jobs by protecting their consumers by testing all products they receive, so we don't think of it on a daily basis...

Me&My2girls · 06-21-2007, 02:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertmom

So who the heck is doing something to stop it? I see nobody doing anything. EACH and EVERY toy imported from China at this point (and elsewhere) should be tested for safety. Lead testing is very, very easy. You can get a kit at Home Depot - that would get very pricey for us parents. I once tested some mugs I got at Gloria Jeans Coffee house and they tested for lead. I took them back and told the manager. I had a fit with them, in public, when I went back a month later and they were still there. I sent a letter to their corporate office, and got no reply. Won't do business there again.

As a former buyer, I ensured everything that I got from a new vendor was inspected and/or tested. Stores, including Target, should be held liable - they need to test everything.

Each and every piece of material imported from other countries is to be inspected FULLY by the American company that purchases it! EVERY company that purchases anything from anywhere in the world has "test kits" and ways to test their items. If they are selling a product in the USA it needs to be safety compliant BEFORE it reaches the consumer...The only problem is that all these companies get for putting out bad product is a small slap on the wrist (some miniscule fine)...that's what needs to be changed in this entire picture!