38,507 Jerify Magnet Toy Sets Recalled; 2 Children Hospitalized

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on September 17 announced the recall of about 38,507 “Jerify Magnetic Humanoid Toy Sets 30 PCS,” sold on Amazon.com and made in China. In its notice, filed as recall number 26-774, the agency says the sets violate the federal mandatory standard for toys because they “can liberate loose high-powered magnets posing an ingestion hazard to children.” The recalling firm is Colerinsec.

Two children have already been hurt. “CPSC and the firm are aware of two reports involving children who were able to remove and ingest magnets from the limbs,” the notice states. “Both incidents resulted in hospitalization.” No deaths have been reported in connection with the toys.

The reason regulators treat loose high-powered magnets as one of the most serious hazards in a toy box is what happens after they are swallowed. According to the CPSC notice, ingested magnets “can attract each other or other metal objects and become lodged in the digestive system,” which “can result in perforations, twisting, and/or blockage of the intestines, blood poisoning and death.” A single magnet often passes harmlessly; two or more can pinch the wall of the bowel between them, and the resulting injury is not always obvious from the outside.

Identifying the recalled sets takes some care, because the CPSC record notes there is no labeling on the product itself. Each set contains 30 human-shaped figures, three each in brown, white, green, peach, yellow, pink, blue, orange, purple and red. A figure measures roughly 2.7 inches tall by 2.5 inches wide, with magnets in the hand and foot positions — the same limbs the two injured children pulled magnets out of. The toys were shipped in an unlabeled clear bag inside a brown box carrying a sticker with the brand name “Jerify” and the number “X003ADA3TD.”

The remedy is a full refund, but it runs through the company rather than the retailer. The CPSC tells owners to take the toys away from children immediately, stop using them and contact Colerinsec by email at coushdwugintwer@163.com. Consumers are asked to throw the magnetic toys away and submit a photo of the disposed toys to that address to receive their money back.

Two things remain unclear. The CPSC has not said how many of the 38,507 sets have been recovered, and the agency's published notice and its own recall data service list different sale periods and prices for the same product — which is why the sticker on the box, not a purchase date, is the reliable way to identify it. Recall records are updated as further reports reach the agency.