ST. LOUIS — A consumer group contends one of the holiday season’s must-have toys is unsafe.
But the maker of the robotic Zhu Zhu Pets hamsters defended its product Saturday against a study by San Francisco-based GoodGuide that said higher- than-allowed levels of the chemical antimony were found in the toy.
GoodGuide named Zhu Zhu Pets hamsters one of the top-selling toys with low ratings after finding antimony, which can cause health problems, on the hair and nose of one of the toy hamsters, called Mr. Squiggles.
The group assigned the toy, aimed at 3- to 10-year-olds, a rating of 5.2 on a 10-point scale.
But the toy’s maker, St. Louis-based Cepia LLC, insisted that its product is safe and has passed rigorous testing.
The company said it was contacting GoodGuide to share its testing data and determine how the report was done.
“I have been in the toy industry for more than 35 years, and being a father of children myself, I would never allow any substandard or unsafe product to hit the shelves,” Russ Hornsby, Cepia’s chief executive, said in a statement.
Zhu Zhu Pets, which retail for about $10, have become this season’s toy craze. The items fetch $40 or more on resale websites like eBay and Craigslist.
