CPSC, IKEA Announce Voluntary Recall of Wooden Stacking Ring Toys to Replace Top Red Ball Pieces

May 11, 1999
Release # 99-110

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For Immediate Release;
Contact: Nychelle Fleming
(301) 504-0580 Ext. 1192

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), IKEA U.S. Inc., of Plymouth Meeting, Pa., is voluntarily replacing the red ball pieces on top of the wooden stacking rings on about 28,000 stacking ring toys. The red ball that tops this toy poses a choking hazard to young children.

IKEA has received one report of a 4-year-old boy in Europe choking to death on the top ball portion of the stacking ring toy. No other injuries have been reported.

The stacking ring toy, called "MULA," is 8.5 inches high. The toy consists of eight brightly colored, wooden rings; a red, top ball; and a pedestal base with a stacking rod. When all the pieces are stacked in order, the toy resembles an inverted cone with the red ball capping it. There is a sticker under the pedestal base with the words, "Design and Quality" and "IKEA of Sweden" written on it. The toy is packaged in either a white cardboard box with "MULA" printed in orange, or sold shrink-wrapped with "MULA" and "Stacking rings" printed on the plastic wrapping.

IKEA stores nationwide sold these stacking toys from October 1991 through April 1999 for about $6.

Consumers should take the red ball that tops this toy away from children immediately. Consumers can mail the ball to IKEA or take it to any IKEA store to receive a redesigned top piece. The red ball can be mailed to IKEA U.S. Inc., 496 West Germantown Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462. Postage costs will be reimbursed. Consumers also can return the stacking ring toy to any IKEA store for a refund. For more information, consumers should call IKEA at (800) 793-5408 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. EDT Monday through Saturday.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission protects the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death from 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270, or visit CPSC's web site at http://www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. For information on CPSC's fax-on-demand service, call the above numbers or visit the web site at http://cpsc.gov/about/who.html. To order a press release through fax-on-demand, call (301) 504-0051 from the handset of your fax machine and enter the release number. Consumers can obtain this release and recall information at CPSC's web site at http://www.cpsc.gov.