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Aug 17, 2010
Toy scare prompts recalls
<!-- by line --> By Tessa Wong and Fiona Low
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Contacted by the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case), they have taken the first steps to heed the call to start doing more checks on the toys and other products in their stocks. -- ST PHOTO: MALCOLM KOH
<!-- story content : start --> RETAILERS, importers and distributors are scrambling to recall more toys and tighten safety checks, a day after a national survey found nearly half of 50 toys sold here contained chemicals harmful to children. Contacted by the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case), they have taken the first steps to heed the call to start doing more checks on the toys and other products in their stocks.
Case revealed on Monday that, in a test of 50 toys suspected of containing too much lead and phthalates, 23 of them were indeed found to have excessive amounts of these chemicals. The toxic toys are all made in China. Singapore's biggest retailer NTUC Fairprice said it will work with its non-food suppliers to see how it can improve the safety of its products, but did not elaborate on what this would entail.
Giant, owned by the country's second biggest retailer the Dairy Farm Group, said it plans to conduct a review. It will also discuss with its suppliers to see how it can improve the safety of the toys sold in its outlets. Both chains have pulled the items identified by Case as toxic. So far, no customers have asked for refunds.
Read the full report in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.
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