U.S. toy maker says banned product not a hazard

A California toy company affected by a massive Health Canada recall disputes the agency's finding and said the recalled toy was independently tested to meet Canadian standards.

"We went round and round with Health Canada on this product but we were given no option and in the end we had to comply with the recall," said Ed Gonzalez, senior director of product integrity at Los Angeles-based Imperial Toy.

The toy in question is sold under the names Life-Like Punch Ball Critter, Life-Like Wildin' Out Punch Ball, Googly Punch Ball and Googly Tail. According to Health Canada, the toy is a yo-yo-type ball because it has a rubbery tether that can be stretched.

Health Canada issued the recall last week after finding it on store shelves through regular inspections. Just under 270,000 had been sold at major retailers like Wal-Mart, Toys "R" Us and Zellers between 2006 and 2009.

Imperial Toy said Health Canada was applying its ruling too broadly and argued that the toys were not even yo-yo-type balls.

Yo-yo-type balls have been banned in Canada since 2003, after more than 400 reports of the stretchy rubbery cord getting wrapped around children's necks several times. At the time, there were reports of frantic parents trying to cut away the cord as their child gasped for air.

In an email interview with Health Canada media relations, David Thomas said it has maintained its prohibition "because these types of toys continue to present a strangulation hazard due to the highly stretchable plastic cord which, when swung overhead, stretches to a great length because of the weight of the ball at its end.

"When the ball is swung overhead, as children like to do, the stretched cord can become wrapped around a child's neck, and, as the cord recoils, it tightens. This may lead to injury or strangulation of the child," wrote Thomas.

Gonzalez said Imperial Toy wholeheartedly endorses banning dangerous toys but said Health Canada was being too much of a stickler.

As in Canada, U.S. toy makers are subject to safety rulings, but testing is done on individual toys when there is a question, said Gonzalez.

"So when you have an item that may fit into that category of banned toy there is testing to determine whether it really constitutes a hazard," he said.

In this case, Imperial Toy had independent agencies test the critter balls specifically for the Canadian market and believed it had met Health Canada's tough standards.

"[Health Canada] told us after their assessment, based on the letter of the law, they felt the product still fell into that category," he said. "We felt they were wrongly classifying our product."

Imperial Toy said it has sold more than three million worldwide and has never had a report that a child was harmed.

"The punch balls are not liquid filled, and are intended to be inflated to the size of a beach ball, unlike a yo-yo type ball which is a weighted small ball with a longer tether attached," said Gonzalez.