LC Creations: We didn’t make recalled goods
Product came from Chinese factory, says U.S. company’s owner
Jeff Linville -- Kids Today, 10/2/2007 7:23:00 AM
By Jeff Linville
Manufacturer LC Creations owner Chris Ferrarese said the youth furniture recalled by a Canadian retailer this week were his company’s designs, but came from a different factory.
About 1,200 youth products sold at HomeSense stores in Canada over the past two months are being recalled for possible lead paint contamination, according to the Canadian federal agency Health Canada.
The agency said the products came from New Jersey-based LC Creations. However, Ferrarese said the goods didn’t come from his company. The three collections — Blooming Garden, A Pirate’s Life and Princess in Training — are in the LC Creations product line, but the Canadian goods came from a different company, he said.
Ferrarese said that a Chinese company, acting through Pacific Brighten of Irvine, Calif., paid royalties to him for the rights to use the product designs. The Chinese-made imports were shipped by direct container into Canada without being seen by LC Creations, he said.
When asked about the recall, Paul Hsieh of Pacific Brighten said he “is handling purchasing and quality control for LC Creations in China of these goods made and shipped to Canada.” He said the goods did display the LC Creations name when they reached HomeSense, and that the affected product came from a single container sent only to HomeSense.
Ferrarese said that when he was contacted by Health Canada, he was compassionate and quick to agree to the recall. However, after checking through his quality control paperwork, he found that the goods hadn’t come through his facility.
Health Canada’s testing showed that some of the colors used on one of the products contained lead in excess of Canada’s allowable level, per the Canadian Hazardous Products Act. Lead is toxic if ingested or if paint particles are inhaled by young children and can cause adverse health effects. No injuries or illness have been reported.
Although Health Canada testing has identified only one of the furniture lines as containing excess lead, the companies have taken the precaution of removing all the products.
The recalled products are: from Blooming Garden, a storage step stool, table and chair; from A Pirate’s Life are a toy box, two-step stool, bookend, shelf with pegs, table with storage and chairs; and from Princess in Training are a step stool, table and chair. They were sold from Aug. 16 through Oct. 15.
HomeSense is offering a full refund. No sales receipt is necessary.
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