Date rape drug found on Australian toys [from China]

upi via email no link | 11/7/7

[NativeNewYorker]

BRISBANE, Australia, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Five children in Australia and New Zealand have been hospitalized after eating Chinese-made toy beads found to contain the date rape drug GHB.

Australia Tuesday recalled the Bindeez beads after two children in Sydney who ate the beads became drowsy or unconscious and had to be hospitalized. Two toddlers in Auckland and a 19-month-old in Brisbane have also required hospitalization, the newspaper said. A spokesman for Moose Enterprise, the Australian importer of the toys -- which were the top-selling toy this year -- said the company was not aware of and did not approve of the use of the chemical.

The beads become sticky when moistened so children can make shapes with them.

The importer would not divulge the name of its Chinese supplier, and said it plans to add an exceptionally bitter chemical to the next shipment of beads to discourage children from swallowing them, the newspaper said.

[SengirV]

So will China sue the Australian importer for giving it a bad name in this case as well?

[3AngelaD]

Here is an easily found link to the actual news stories with a source and attribution and everything: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/07/business/toys.php

[Sopater]

The importer would not divulge the name of its Chinese supplier, and said it plans to add an exceptionally bitter chemical to the next shipment of beads to discourage children from swallowing them

I understand that cocaine is exceptionally bitter.

[Procyon]

Nonsense. See: Urine Spontaneoulsy Produces GHB after Six Months a blob article in Wired Science. Also, Google Dr Bronner Date Rape to see the video that shows any product with real soap (vs. detergent) will test positive for "roofy.")

[Spunky]

I don’t trust e-mails with this sort of info going around. This must be such a new e-mail that there is nothing posted on www.snopes.com as to weather it is true or false.

[AuntB]

and said it plans to add an exceptionally bitter chemical to the next shipment of beads to discourage children from swallowing them, the newspaper said.

Are you kidding me????? Please tell me this is a joke.

[tennteacher]

There’s efficiency in dual-use products that appeals to my thrifty nature:
Toy - GHB
Toothpaste - antifreeze
Pajamas - kindling

This no longer shocks.

[laweeks]

Is this article for real?

[Diogenesis]

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

“The importer... said it plans to add an exceptionally bitter chemical to the next shipment of beads to discourage children from swallowing them, the newspaper said.”

How odd. No mention of, say...

TAKING THE GHB OUT OF THE BEADS!!!!!!!

[monday]

“Nonsense. See: Urine Spontaneoulsy Produces GHB after Six Months a blob article in Wired Science. Also, Google Dr Bronner Date Rape to see the video that shows any product with real soap (vs. detergent) will test positive for “roofy.”)”

lol, so you think it’s more likely that the Chinese company uses urine or natural soap to make the beads than GHB? Too funny.

Only problem with your theory is that unlike GHB, old urine and natural soap are unlikely to knock out babies who eat them, but why would a Chinese company use urine or soap in toys intended for babies anyway?

[NativeNewYorker]

Three children have been hospitalized over the past 10 days after swallowing beads from Bindeez, a craft toy sold by Australia-based Moose Enterprises.

The beads in the toy -- named Australia's toy of the year at an industry function earlier this year -- are arranged into designs and then fuse together when sprayed with water.

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/11/07/australia.toys/

[NativeNewYorker]

see above

[Vicki]

Sounds like the perfect bait toy for pedophiles. They need to get every single one of these recalled and destroyed right away.

[Blue Highway]

and said it plans to add an exceptionally bitter chemical to the next shipment of beads to discourage children from swallowing them, the newspaper said.

Ah so they are throwing in some free toxic chemical with the GHB as a bonus! They made no mention of removing the GHB. Hell they can teach a thing or two to drug smuglers in the US.

[mountainbunny]

There is a similar item here in the US called Aqua Dots. It seems to be the same toy with a different name, but is not being recalled yet, so maybe the dots are different? Here is a link to the story I saw: http://www.playthings.com/article/CA6498040.html?desc=topstory

[spunkets]

The problem is that the toddlers are eating their toys. In this case they're water soluble beads. γ-butyrolactone is the water soluble plasticizer they used to give the beads they're soft plastic properties. It's a dumb move. It's doubtful that adding a bad taste will be effective, since the kids just swallow these things whole anyway.

[Yo-Yo]

From the fine article you found:

Four weeks of medical sleuthing led Carpenter to the conclusion that the boy had eaten Bindeez toy beads coated with a glue compound that the boy's digestive system had converted into GHB. At least four other children have been temporarily hospitalized in Australia and New Zealand in the past three weeks after eating the beads.

So GHB was not on the beads, the glue binder was metabolized into GHB in the children's digestive system.

[N3WBI3]

The importer would not divulge the name of its Chinese supplier, and said it plans to add an exceptionally bitter chemical to the next shipment of beads to discourage children from swallowing them, the newspaper said.

Wow, theres a solution..