The Consumer Product Safety Commission today announced that its staff has made a preliminary determination that four squeeze toys distributed by Danara International, Ltd., of South Hackensack, New Jersey, may cause choking and/or suffocation because the handles are small enough to lodge in the throat and obstruct the airway. Although these particular squeeze toys have not been involved in any choking incidents known to CPSC, similar shaped squeeze toys have been involved in choking deaths.
All four squeeze toys have bulbous shaped ends measuring 3/4" to 1 1/2" in diameter. These toys are described as follows:
- Mickey Mouse head on a yellow handle, 5 1/2" long.
- Mickey Mouse head on a yellow handle, 7" long.
- Donald Duck head on a blue handle, 6 1/2" long.
- Yellow mallet with Mickey Mouse face and "MICKEY" embossed on handle, 7 1/4" long with a bulbous end.
These toys are made of soft, easily compressed plastic material and are packaged and sold under the brand name "SAFE-GUARD" and labeled "WALT DISNEY CHARACTER Squeek-a-Toy". The Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck toys are labeled "No. 5523". The mallet is labeled "No. 5503". Stamped below the back of the neck of the Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck toys is "WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS DANARA INTERNATIONAL LTD MADE IN TAIWAN". Stamped around the squeaker of the mallet is "WALT DISNEY PROD MADE IN TAIWAN DANARA INTERNATIONAL".
It is recommended that consumers remove these toys from use immediately and discard them.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of the thousands of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $900 billion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical or mechanical hazard. CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and household chemicals - contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.
Federal law bars any person from selling products subject to a publicly-announced voluntary recall by a manufacturer or a mandatory recall ordered by the Commission.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury go online to www.SaferProducts.gov or call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or teletypewriter at (301) 595-7054 for the hearing impaired. Consumers can obtain news release and recall information at www.cpsc.gov, on Twitter @OnSafety or by subscribing to CPSC's free e-mail newsletters.