Safety agency says toy recall lacked details

The federal consumer product watchdog agency said Tuesday that a unilateral recall of lead-tainted toy animals by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. lacked some information that consumers need, including how many toys were sold, when they were sold and at what other retailers.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission spokeswoman Julie Vallese said the agency prefers that companies work with it to produce comprehensive recall announcements that give consumers all the information they need to react.

The nation’s largest toy seller announced Oct. 19 that it was pulling sets of plastic toy animals made in China and offering refunds to shoppers. It said its own safety testing, stepped up after this year’s string of toy recalls, found excessive lead levels in the material the toys are made of.

Wal-Mart said Tuesday it always works with the safety commission and did so in this case by notifying the agency of the test results and decision to pull the product.

Wal-Mart’s Oct. 19 recall announcement did not say how many of the sets were sold or when they had been stocked in Wal-Mart stores, and didn’t name the manufacturer.

The retailer has declined to provide those details when asked by the Associated Press.