Canadian parents' group lists safest infant toys
Last Updated: Friday, November 6, 2009 | 4:26 PM ET
CBC News
U.S. companies nailed down seven of the 10 slots in the Green Parents' List of safest infant toys and baby care products for Christmas, which the Ottawa-based, non-profit parents' group released Friday.
The Green Parents' List examines toddler toys to ensure they comply with U.S. government restrictions on the use of lead and heavy-metal paints and then produces an annual list of fun kids' products that meet U.S. consumer product safety requirements.
"Every holiday season, parents are bombarded with product recall information that results in stress and frustration for both parents and children," says Patricia Calder, president of Green Parents' List.
"The Top 10 Green Christmas Gifts List and the Green Parents' List provides consumers with a resource for finding products from manufacturers that have taken the time to ensure a greener, safer holiday," she said.
Green Parents, which said it is made up of parents with scientific and engineering backgrounds, listed strollers, diaper pads and teethng toys among its choices for 2009.
The group picked one Canadian company — Toronto's Ringley, which makes specialized teething toys — as well as a firm from Austria and another from the Netherlands for its list. The rest of the products in Green Parents' top 10 were U.S.-made.
The group's top items included:
- A diaper pad produced by San Francisco's Patemm Inc.
- A toy truck made by Green Toys Inc. of San Francisco.
- A stroller produced by Amsterdam's Bugaboo International.
- A bedding set made by Chicago's Hushamok Ltd.
- Another crib set from Moonlight Slumber of Elgin, Ill.
- A plush panda made by Zoobies in Provo, Utah.
- A rattle produced by Sassy Inc. based in Kentwood, Mich.
- A teether made by MAM Babyartikel of Vienna.
- And a series of colorful feeding jars made by Oakland's Kinderville.
