The Rumor of Zhu Zhu Pets Being Toxic

Since my children are now older and I no longer have to worry about the "must haves" in the toy department. Since I don't really have a need to stay updated on the latest most wanted toys, I really haven't paid much mind. I could not help but notice that the Zhu Zhu pet was the one must have this year. You can't help hearing about them online, in articles, and general chatter.

So when the morning news came on and announced the possibility of a recall, I went directly to the FDA website because when it comes to something as important as a recall, I rely on government sites, not Jane Doe's blog type sites. When you are considering a recall, especially on a popular product, you have to beware of where you get your information.

For numerous reasons people and companies will illegally, willfully mislead consumers for obvious reasons. I found no evidence of a recall on Zhu Zhu pets on either the FDA website, or the Recalls Government website.

So I figured I'd go to the purported source, Good Guide. No where on the Good Guide website does it say anything about a possible recall. If you search the site for the Zhu Zhu toy, a page comes up with the toy and it's ratings. Good Guide appears to be more of an environment site than anything else, and lists all possible containments. It also lists whether or not the toy company gives to charitable causes.

Perhaps whoever started this rumor saw the red X's on the bottom of the page. Yes, red X's do look scary, and is meant to "warn". There were three red X's for Zhu Zhu. These three X's were for Tin, Antimony, and for the company's charitable giving. Funny though, because it says next to that red x that the Cepia company is average compared to other companies in their charitable giving. So why the red x for that? I have no idea, but it shows that this is obviously not the best place to go when figuring out true safety of a product. Where it has the red X's for the contaminants, it tells you the health hazards associated with them. However, right above it, where it lists all different types of contaminants that might be found in the toy, the only two were the Tin and Antimony, and they were both listed as low, not the "high" that so many blogs are now jumping in and shouting.

What will come of this? Hard to say, but in looking at the resources, it appears that someone got a little hysterical and started the hype. If it is all unfounded how did it end up on the morning news? That's a very good question that I wish I had the answer for. Just to be on the safe side, if you have children, I would keep an eye on the FDA website for possible recalls. I would also recommend staying away from sites and or blogs that carelessly toss around rumors.

http://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls/default.htm
http://www.recalls.gov/
http://www.goodguide.com/