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Mattel recalls 155,000 new toys

Other News Materials 7 November 2007 01:45 (UTC +04:00)

Mattel has recalled 155,000 toys made in Mexico because of fears that small pieces could break off and cause young children to choke.

The toy concerned is the company's Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Learning Kitchen, specifically those made between May and October of this year.

About 7,000 examples of the toy have now been withdrawn from sale in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

In August, Mattel was forced to recall 21 million Chinese-made toys.

Mattel said the latest recall was because "small pieces of the tap or the clock hands pose a choking hazard to young children if liberated from the toy".

It urged consumers to contact its Fisher-Price unit to establish if their product was affected.

European Union officials said there was one case of a child requiring hospital care after choking on a small part from the toy that broke off.

EU Consumer Protection Commissioner Meglena Kuneva told the Reuters news agency that the whole toy industry would have "to significantly raise their game".

"They risk, if they do not take action, to lose the trust of Europe's consumers. That trust has been badly shaken in recent months."

Also on Tuesday, the China Daily newspaper reported that China's Guangdong province was likely to join a planned libel suit against the US toy giant Mattel.

China is angry at the bad publicity garnered by the mass recall in the summer, centred on the use of lead paint.

While Mattel recalled more than 21 million Chinese-made toys, it later said that 85% of the recall was due to its own design faults.

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