| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | |
| December 11, 1978 | |
| Release # 78-103 | |
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. II) -- More than 125,000 toy construction sets manufactured by Parker Brothers are being voluntarily held in inventory in two company warehouses in Salem, Massachusetts and Des Moines, Iowa, after the company announced its voluntary recall of 900,000 Riviton sets. A Parker Brothers spokesman told the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) that 27,000 of the Riviton construction sets have now been returned.
Parker Brothers had made the decision to voluntarily withdraw this product from the market because of two accidental deaths associated with the product. The company reached this decision after the recent death of a 9-year-old child was attributed to the choking on a rubber fastening rivet from the Riviton Construction Toy.
Riviton Construction Toys have been distributed nationally during the past two years. Parker Brothers, a subsidiary of General Mills, Inc., is asking all consumers to return the product for a full refund to the store from which it was purchased or to mail it direct to Parker Brothers, 190 Bridge Street, Salem, MA 01970. All retailers have been asked to remove the product from their shelves.
Any consumer seeking further information may contact Parker Brothers, Consumer Response, Riviton Recall, 50 Dunham Road, Beverly, MA 01915. Consumers can call Parker Brothers collect at 617/927-4900.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical or mechanical hazard. CPSC's work to help ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and household chemicals -– contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 40 years.
Federal law bars any person from selling products subject to a publicly-announced voluntary recall by a manufacturer or a mandatory recall ordered by the Commission.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury go online to www.SaferProducts.gov or call CPSC's Hotline at 800-638-2772 or teletypewriter at 301-595-7054 for the hearing impaired. Consumers can obtain news release and recall information at www.cpsc.gov, on Twitter @USCPSC or by subscribing to CPSC's free e-mail newsletters.
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