Pacific Spirit Marine Institute
China-Free, Mattel-Free: It’s time to put our ‘collective’ foot down!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Healthy and safety officials in the US are saying that parents shouldn’t trust Mattel to make safe toys for their children. That it is the parents responsibility to be sure products are safe! Just think about that statement for a moment. How in the world would anyone that wasn’t an engineer or a chemist be able to do that?
Of course a parent knows what pieces and parts can choke, pinch, or harm a child. But, there is no way on earth a parent can detect the hidden dangers in any product.
In a statement totally from left field the acting head of the Consumer Products Safety Commission in the US told viewers during a press conference that 9 million toys in the US, (18.5 million in total) recalled yesterday that were made in China, was only a small drop in the bucket. The vast majority of imports, when looking at the picture in totality, were safe. Oh really? This leaves the impression they are all being tested or monitored; clearly not so.
The very idea that the vast majority of imports from China, be they toys or any other product is ludicrous. How would anyone know? China knew.
Reuters is reporting today that China knew of the problems …”with magnets on toys as long ago as March”.
Lead paint has been banned from any type of use in the US since 1978. There is no presumable way the Chinese didn’t know the paint they were using was lead based.
The whole idea that any of these tainted products from China were honest mistakes would be comical were it not so serious. Deadly serious.
There are obviously no checks or balances when it comes to the poison being allowed to be shipped out of China.
Adding further insult CNN produced their in-house-doctor expert telling people if they think their child may have been exposed to lead they should have them tested. Okay…..and will Mattel be receiving the bill for that testing?
My opinion is, telling people not to depend on the safety of Mattel toys is the same as telling them not to depend on the safety of Gerber Baby Foods, or Heinz Baby.
Mattel is fact more responsible than the Chinese. It is their fiduciary responsibility to make sure the manufacturing of their products results in a safe product. They have shipped their production overseas to bulk up their profits, they need to spend some of those profits on inspection at the source.
Are we really to believe Mattel can’t afford to have one man on the ground at each manufacturing site that is in their pocket? Another ridiculous idea.
Are parents now being asked to preform their own lab tests on children’s products? What in the name of government are people paying the gate keepers of health and safety to do these days?
Confidence is the only currency any company has when it comes to gaining and keeping customers, one would think they would guard that confidence.
Are we to believe Mattel can’t or won’t afford a ’standard’ steward at manufacturing plants no matter where they are located? INCREDULOUS.
In light of China’s documented inability to produce safe products the public needs to start demanding truth in labeling, starting first with ‘China Free’ labels.
A company in Utah, food for Health International thinks so too. They have plans to start putting stickers on their products saying “China-Free”.
It has become nearly impossible to determine what portion of ingredients in any one product originate in China. International trade be damned. I’m fed up with being fed the party line.
“China-Free” stickers are an idea whose time has come….come and gone… in fact it’s way overdue.
Contact Mattel, Inc. and tell them you are going to be “Mattel-Free”, AG Brands-Free, Fisher-Price-Free until and unless they can prove they are putting the safety of our children and grandchildren ahead of their greed.
http://service.mattel.com/us/contactus.aspx for toll free numbers to call
http://www.mattel.com/contact_us/ US email
Labels: China, Chinese, Mattel, Recall, Tainted, imports, lead paint
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
China-Free, Mattel-Free: It’s time to put our ‘collective’ foot down!
