Smyths and Very withdraw Cry Babies Nala doll over fears it contains toxic chemical
Consumer group Which? says a Cry Babies Nala toy doll which it tested contained a chemical called phthalates at 25 per cent above the legal limit
TOY retailers Smyths and Very have withdrawn a doll from sale amid concerns it's made using a toxic chemical.
Consumer group Which? says a Cry Babies Nala toy doll which it tested contained a chemical called phthalates at 25 per cent above the legal limit.
Phthalates are used to make plastic soft and flexible but there have been concerns that if products, such as toys, are sucked or chewed by children that toxins can be passed on.
As a "precaution" Smyths has withdrawn the toy from sale both online and in stores and says it will offer full refunds to customers who return the doll.
But The Sun has seen other retailers still selling the toy.
When The Sun contacted Very today, it withdrew the toy from sale but is yet to confirm if customers who have purchased the doll can get a refund.
Your product recall rights
PRODUCT recalls are an important means of protecting consumers from dangerous goods.
As a general rule, if a recall involves a branded product, the manufacturer would usually have lead responsibility for the recall action.
But it's often left up to supermarkets and retailers to notify customers when products could put them at risk.
If you are concerned about the safety of a product you own, always check the manufacturer’s website to see if a safety notice has been issued.
When it comes to appliances, rather than just food items, the onus is usually on you - the customer - to register the appliance with the manufacturer as if you don't there is no way of it contacting you to tell you about a fault.
If you become aware that an item you own has been recalled or has any safety notice issued against it, make sure you follow the instructions given to you by the manufacturer.
They should usually provide you with more information and a contact number on its safety notice.
In some cases, the manufacturer might ask you to return the item for a full redund or arrange for the faulty product to be collected.
You should not be charged for any recall work - such as a repair, replacement or collection of the recalled item.
We've also contacted George at Asda, which is also still selling the doll, but it didn't respond to our requests by the time of publication.
The toy doll costs up to £30 depending on the retailer, although other dolls in the Cry Babies range are still on sale.
We've tried to contact the toy's manufacturer, IMC Toys, but have yet to receive a response.
The manufacturer told Which? that it will recall toys with the batch number the consumer group tested, which is as follows: 18/10657/39-1.
In a statement IMC Toys said: "Children’s safety is of the utmost importance to IMC and we conduct rigorous and thorough testing of all of our products supplied globally.
"We sold 1.3million Cry Babies in the past year and have never encountered issues with any of our dolls. We have exacting safety standards, testing to the highest levels.
"As a result of the potential non-conformity detected and the phthalates level indicated in the Which? report we will voluntarily and purely as a precautionary measure conduct an immediately preventive product recall of the serial number in question of the Nala dolls held by Smyths to eradicate the possibility of a phthalates problem.
"We would like to stress that the non-conformity detected and the phthalates level indicated in the report does not offer an immediate risk for the children’s health in the normal use of the toy."
In a statement Smyths said: "On receiving this query, we brought this to the attention of the suppliers. As a precaution, we have taken all of the affected Nala dolls off our shelves for sale.
"Customers who return any Nala dolls they have bought from us to a Smyths Toys store will receive a refund."
Which? tested a further 19 dolls that didn't contain chemicals above the restricted limits - here's .
Where products are recalled shoppers can typically return the item to where they bought it for a full refund.
More recalls
Only today we reported how Iceland has recalled Greggs frozen mini sausage rolls because they contain PLASTIC.
Meanwhile, dog food sold in PetsatHome has been recalled over fears it could cause vomiting and weight loss.
And almost 80,000 HP laptops have been recalled due to fears the battery could overheat and cause fires.
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