Don't Blame China for Toy Recalls: Study

Don't blame China for soaring toy recalls, a new Canuck study says; the problem is design. "If you are going to get into a finger-pointing game, you should point it mostly on the design side," said a Canadian prof. "It has got nothing to do with China." Recalls of toys made elsewhere actually spiked higher than Chinese-made products, the Globe & Mail reports.

China has the most recalls because they make most US-sold toys, the study says. Analyzing China's growth in the $71 billion US toy biz, researchers blamed 75% of recalls on design and only 10% on manufacturing. "The Chinese don't produce, on a proportionate basis, less-safe toys than anybody else," said one researcher. This summer, Mattel recalled more than 21 million toys and originally blamed China. (More toy recalls stories.)