Fast-food chain McDonald's Corp. (MCD) on Friday announced a voluntary recall of about 12 million drinking glasses featuring characters from the "Shrek" movie series as the designs on the glasses contain the toxic metal cadmium, which can pose health risks.
The recall was announced by the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC. The "Shrek Forever After 3D" collectable drinking glass are 16-ounce glasses that came in four designs depicting the movie's main characters, Shrek, Fiona, Puss n' Boots, and Donkey.
The collectables, made by ARC International of Milville, New Jersey, were sold exclusively at McDonald's restaurants nationwide from May 2010 into June 2010 for about $2 a piece to promote the new movie "Shrek Forever After". The movie was produced by DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (DWA) and released by Viacom Inc.'s (VIA, VIAB) Paramount Pictures.
While no injuries or incidents have been reported so far, McDonald's asked consumers to immediately stop using the glass "out of an abundance of caution", and return them to the company to obtain a full refund.
Long-term exposure to the cadmium can cause adverse health effects. Cadmium, used to create reds and yellows in the paint, is a known cancer-causing agent that can also lead to bone softening and severe kidney problems.
The CPSC said it was made aware of issues with the product through the Office of Congresswoman Jackie Speier from California.
Speier said in a statement on her website, "Our children's health should not depend on the consciences of anonymous sources. Although McDonald's did the right thing by recalling these products, we need stronger testing standards to ensure that all children's products are proven safe before they hit the shelves. Cadmium is a toxic substance that is extremely dangerous to the developmental health of children."
Speier, a California Democrat, said she was informed by an anonymous source last week that high levels of Cadmium had been detected in "Shrek" glasses being distributed by McDonald's.
In May, the CPSC had announced the recall of about 19,000 "Best Friends" charm bracelet sets, saying that the heart lock charms attached to the bracelets contained high levels of cadmium. The bracelet sets, made in China, were sold at Claire's stores nationwide from February 2009 through January 2010.
In Friday's regular trading session, MCD is trading at $67.27, down $0.58 or 0.85% on a volume of 0.45 million shares. The stock has been trading in a range of $53.88-$71.84 in the past 52 weeks.
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