I've made it clear that I'm no fan of the Zhu Zhu Pets, but I admit that I feel a little bit sorry for cute little Mr. Squiggles today. A recent report by GoodGuide alerted the public to high levels of a chemical called antimony in the must-have hamster toys. The organization tested many of the hot, new toys for Christmas and found that (shocker!) they're not all that "green".
Today GoodGuide has published another article to clarify that its testing methodology is not the same as the government's testing methodology.
The GoodGuide site says, "While GoodGuide considers the presence of any antimony on the surface of a toy to be a concern, we want to clarify that we used a testing methodology to evaluate the toys that is different from the testing methodology incorporated into the federal standards."
Cepia LLC, the toy manufacturer issued a statement that said, "All Zhu Zhu Pets toys are safe and compliant with all U.S. and European standards for consumer health and safety in toys." and "Good Guide used an inferior testing methodology."
It's confusing when people in white lab coats tell us one thing, then the toy companies contradict it, but I had a bad taste in my mouth about this story when the news first came out. Parents aren't dumb. We know that most of the hot new Christmas toys aren't handmade from sustainable hardwoods by craftsmen in Vermont. They're made from plastic in Chinese factories. Then they're shipped to big-box stores where we line up for them because our children are begging for them. Besides, in the original report, GoodGuide misspelled the word "hamster." (It had a 'p' in it.)
Parents have a responsibility to make informed choices and we must read beyond the gasp-inducing headlines and evening-news teasers to determine if the toy is a good purchase. It's no coincidence that this story came out right before Christmas and focused on the one hot toy for this year. Now the organization's name is all over the news. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if a certain hamster had his people file a lawsuit to protect his good name.
Will you still buy Zhu Zhu Pets?
Photo © Cepia LLC