KIDs in Danger Releases Consumer Report for 2022 Product Recalls

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued 293 recalls on children’s products in 2022 – the highest number since 2013 – according to the annual report by Kids in Danger (KID). A Chicago nonprofit dedicated to protecting children by fighting for product safety, KID released its annual report, “Hidden Hazards: 2022 Children’s Product Recalls” on March 14 at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

KID Executive Director Nancy Cowles was joined at the news event by U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), ranking member of the House Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee; by Karen Sheehan, M.D., an emergency room physician and medical director of the Patrick M. Magoon Institute for Healthy Communities; by Abe Scarr, director of Illinois PIRG; and by April Janney, CEO of Illinois Action for Children.

Overall, more than 5.56 million individual children’s items were recalled in 2022. There were also four deaths last year before products could be recalled, down from 14 deaths in 2021.

The 4moms MamaRoo Baby Swing and RockaRoo Baby Rockers alone were responsible for 2,220,000 recalled units in 2022. The Baby Swing was also the cause of one of last year’s four deaths, when a child was strangled by the restraint straps that dangled beneath the swing seat. Two more deaths were associated with the Pillowfort Weighted Blankets; children can be asphyxiated if they unzip and climb into the blanket. The fourth death was associated with Goalsetter Wall-Mounted Basketball Goals, which can detach and fall.

Nine recalled products were responsible for 47 reported injuries prior to recall. This is a decrease in injuries compared to 2021, in which 136 injuries were reported prior to recall.

The Huffy Corporation Blue's Clues Foot to Floor Ride-on Toys caused the most injuries before recall, with 18 reported. Other recalls and the number of injuries they caused beforehand were:

• Pacific Igniter and Pacific Bubble Pop 20" Kids’ Bicycles (10 injuries)

• Mockingbird Single-to-Double Strollers (8)

• HD Premier DigitDots Magnetic Balls (4)

• Goalsetter Wall-Mounted Basketball Goals (2) and Stokke Clikk High Chairs (2)

• UPPAbaby All-Terrain RIDGE Jogging Strollers (1), the 4moms MamaRoo Baby Swing (1), and Konges Sløjd Baby Mirror Activity Toys (1)

Toy recalls were the top category in 2022 with 33, closely followed by clothing product recalls with 32. Outdoor/sports and nursery categories were each responsible for 12 recalls. Hazards ranged from entrapment to failure to meet federal flammability standards. The latter products are commonly sold by third-party sellers on online shopping sites. Other recalls were due to violation of federal lead-content standards choking or laceration hazards. Furniture recalls decreased over the past four years. Alternatively, outdoor and sports recalls have gradually increased over the past four years, with 13 in 2022.

KID has tracked the use of social media to announce recalls since 2014 and it remains low: 37% percent of recalls on Facebook, 32% on Twitter and 28% on Instagram.

KID recommends that recalling companies use all tools at their disposal to retrieve products: social media, direct notification of consumers and marketing to the same extent as original introduction of the product. The companies should also work with retailers, marketers, consumer groups, state and local governments, to reach more consumers.

KID was founded in 1998 by Linda Ginzel and Boaz Keysar after the death of their 16-month-old son, Danny, in a dangerous, recalled portable crib. KID’s mission is to save lives by enhancing transparency and accountability through safer product development, better education and stronger advocacy for children. Its annual report looks at data collected by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which was created by Congress in 1972 as part of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. The full report is at https://kidsindanger.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Hidden-Hazards-2023-1.pdf

-Suzanne Hanney, from email and online material

From top: Pacific Igniter 20" kids' bicycle; Mockingbird Single-to-Double Strollers; Stokke Clikk High Chair; HD Premier DigitDots Magnetic Balls; Goalsetter Wall-Mounted Basketball Goal; UPPAbaby All-Terrain RIDGE Jogging Stroller; 4moms MamaRoo Baby Swing; Konges Sløjd Baby Mirror Activity Toy. Photos provided by Consumer Reports.