Action To Protect Children from Harmful Products

The Canadian Government is taking action to protect our children from potential cadmium poisoning by proposing new guidelines regarding the amount of cadmium allowed to be found in children's jewelry.

Cadmium is a toxic chemical that can be harmful when ingested. While there is no known risk to health from simply wearing jewelry made with high levels of cadmium; for children, accidental ingestion, or prolonged licking and sucking, of these products can cause the metal poisoning and render your child very ill. I’ve seen many children sucking on their necklaces and pendants, so I can see how this can pose a potential threat to our children’s health. This is why Health Canada proposes to amend their current guidelines to have the cadmium concentration in children's jewelry lowered to 130 parts per million (0.013%), which is believed to be a safe amount.

"Parents want the products they buy for their children to be safe", said Pamela Fuselli, Executive Director at Safe Kids Canada. "Young children explore their world through touch and taste, so guidelines like this ensure products children use often will be safer."

AP Photo/Tony Dejak

In February 2010, an entire line of Wal-Mart exclusive Miley Cyrus jewelry was found to contain high levels cadmium and on June 4 the same year, cadmium was detected in the paint used on promotional drinking glasses for the movie Shrek Forever After, sold by McDonald's Restaurants. This triggered a massive recall of 12 million glasses throughout the United States and Canada.

Health Canada encourages anyone involved in the import, manufacture or sale of children's jewelry to take all necessary precautions to ensure that their products are safe for Canadian children.

Good to know that the government is taking some of the necessary steps to protect our children. For more information visit Health Canada.

Health Canada Suspects Tampering with Materna Prenatal Vitamins

Yesterday, Health Canada sent out an advisory, warning pregnant woman in Canada, to verify their Centrum Materna prenatal vitamins, and its packaging carefully before purchasing, as tampering is suspected.

One bottle of the prenatal multivitamin at Shopper’s Drug Mart in Winnipeg, Manitoba has been found to contain unidentified capsules instead of the proper Materna multivitamins, which are pink, oval-shaped tablets. The box was sealed, however the seal on the bottle itself had been removed.

Here are photos of what the Materna multivitamins should look like, as well as its protective packaging. If you find the seal of the product open, or you find capsules in the bottle instead of the pink tablets, do not use the product, and report it to Health Canada immediately. If you are unsure, consult your pharmacist.

 

While at this time, this is the only incident of its type involving Centrum Materna multivitamins (and hopefully the last), Health Canada is working with Pfizer and Shopper’s DrugMart to investigate the incident and will update Canadians with new information as it emerges.

If you currently use this product, especially in Winnipeg, Manitoba, please be extra vigilant while purchasing. We take these multivitamins to ensure health and strength in our babies, not to harm them. The fact that anyone would even consider tampering with them is disgusting, and we hope this remains the only case. 

For more information, visit the Health Canada website.

Crib Recall

A few weeks ago we told you about the Canadian ban on drop side cribs, and today Health Canada has issued a recall on Kidiway's Mini-Tammy cribs. The recalled cribs were sold from August 2010 to June 2011 at the following stores: Bo-Bebe in Quebec and at The Baby's Palace in Ontario. Kidiway has not received reports of incidents or injuries related to their cribs and neither has Health Canada. Apparently there isn't actually any problem with the crib itself, but with the instructions. The faulty instructions may prevent users from building the crib properly, which may result in serious injury.  Better to be safe then sorry parents! If you do have one of these models, please stop using it immediately and contact Kidiway for a free replacement.

Click here for full details as well as the model numbers and a consumer line you can call for assistance.



KidiWay Mini Crib