The company that manufactures one of the hottest toys this holiday shopping season has released their own independent safety test results. According to the company that makes Zhu Zhu Pets, they are 100% safe.
Cepia LLC. is the manufacturer of the Zhu Zhu Pets. The company is based out of St Louis, but the lovable hamsters are made in China.
Cepia released the independent test results and a statement on Monday in response to a review released on Friday by a consumer watch dog group Good Guide. In Good Guide's review of the Zhu Zhu Pets' Mr. Squiggles, it reported that their testing found high levels of the toxic metal antimony and tin.
This review has caused concern for parents over the weekend since the Zhu Zhu Pets are the toys kids are asking for. According to Cepia, over 6 million Zhu Zhu Pets have been sold this holiday season.
In the statements on their website, Cepia state that their Zhu Zhu Pets are completely safe and rigorously tested. They also shared the test results from the independent lab Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services.
Bureau Veritas regularly and frequently tests all of the Zhu Zhu Pets for Cepia. According to those tests, the Zhu Zhu Pets, including Mr. Squiggles, exceeds the levels for product distribution in the US. They also pass the EN71 necessary for distribution in Europe.
"We are disputing the findings of Good Guide and we are 100% confident that Mr. Squiggles, and all other Zhu Zhu Toys, are safe and compliant with all U.S. and European standards for consumer health and safety in toys", said Russ Hornsby, CEO of Cepia in the statement.
The statement posted Monday on the Zhu Zhu website, also says that Good Guide has acknowledge that they used a different testing methodology than used by the US and the E.U. In the statement by Mr. Hornsby, the testing method used by Good Guide is XRF technology.
Mr. Hornsby explains that XRF technology "has not been determined to be a reliable test method by the Consumer Product Safety Commission in August of 2009." Good Guide has admitted they "did not test these toys using the new government standard for toy companies to determine the soluble level of contaminants."
The CPSC has announced they are checking into the claims about the Zhu Zhu Pets by Good Guide. Officials from Cepia are meeting with the CPSC on Monday.
Many parents will be waiting to hear what the CPSC says about the safety of the Zhu Zhu Pets. Until then the question of the safety of Mr. Squiggles and his friends will be in doubt.
Written by Denise Clay
For Huliq
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