Consumerism: Danger in Toyland

A Party Pack Five-Fringed Balloon Squawker is simply a balloon with a small metal noisemaker attached. The problem, as one irate parent noted, is this: "My daughter, aged four, did not take the mouthpiece out of her mouth when she let the air out, and the metal piece that makes the noise shot down her throat. She started to gag and turn blue. Fortunately, she had just had dinner and the gagging made her vomit, forcing out the piece of metal."

Other children may not be so lucky, and the Food and Drug Administration last week said that it would...

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