Cornwall warning: check your child’s squishy dumpling toy

If there’s a squishy, bao bun shaped toy doing the rounds in your house right now, it might be worth picking it up and giving it a proper sniff before it goes back into anyone’s hands.

Cornwall Council’s Trading Standards team has issued a warning over so called squishy dumpling toys, the sensory fidget toys shaped like Chinese steamed buns that have become one of the biggest crazes among children and young people this year. As demand has taken off, more and more manufacturers have started making them, and not all of what has landed on shop shelves in the UK meets the required safety standards.

What’s turned a cute toy into a safety concern

Concerns about squishy dumplings first surfaced after Trading Standards officers in Swansea found products being sold with a strong chemical or solvent smell. When the outer layer was sent for testing, it came back showing excessive levels of benzene, a toxic chemical that can cause drowsiness, dizziness, headaches and irritation to the eyes, nose and throat.

The Office for Product Safety and Standards went on to issue a recall for products sold by Samsons Cash & Carry Ltd. That single find in Wales has since rippled out into checks on the toys being carried out by trading standards teams across the country, Cornwall included.

Hundreds removed from sale in Cornwall

In Cornwall, hundreds of squishy dumplings have already been taken off shelves after local Trading Standards officers raised concerns of their own. Samples sent away for testing did not comply with UK standards, this time because they were missing vital safety information from the label rather than a chemical failure, but the outcome was the same. Off they came.

Fraser Glennie, Team Manager at Cornwall Trading Standards, said the toys have become extremely popular, particularly among children and young people, but that some squishy dumplings on the market may pose serious safety risks. Officers are working proactively with retailers across Cornwall to identify potentially unsafe products and remove them from sale where necessary, he said, and are urging shoppers to be cautious and to avoid anything with a strong chemical smell.

How to check the one in your house

You don’t need to be a chemist to run a basic check on a squishy dumpling already sitting in a toy box at home, or one you’re about to buy. Trading Standards has boiled its advice down to three things.

• Buy from a reputable retailer rather than an unfamiliar online seller.
• Check the packaging for a UKCA or CE safety mark.
• Give it a proper sniff. If it has a strong chemical smell, throw it away.

A cute face and a squishy texture are not, on their own, any guarantee that a toy is safe. That is really the whole point of the warning.

What to do if you’re not sure

Councillor Thalia Marringon, cabinet member with responsibility for Community Safety and Public Protection at Cornwall Council, said children’s safety has to be the top priority, and urged parents and carers to be cautious when buying these toys. If a toy does have a strong smell, she said, don’t let children play with it. The council says it will continue working with retailers to make sure products sold in Cornwall are safe.

Anyone concerned about the safety of a squishy dumpling, or any other product, should stop using it immediately and report it to Trading Standards via the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133.

📷Credit: Cornwall Council