Parents and grandparents buying toys for children from online marketplace Temu this Christmas are being warned by health and safety experts to watch out after investigations found some items pose serious health risks.
They are also being advised to carry out a few key checks on toys bought online to check that they are safe before giving them to children on Christmas Day.
Growing numbers of shoppers are turning to the Chinese retail giant this year in search of bargain-basement prices on everything from children’s toys to clothes.
Although the online retailer arrived in the UK only in April last year, it has already amassed an estimated 15 million users.
Temu stocks items from third-party sellers, mainly based in China, at extraordinarily cheap prices. While its headquarters are in Boston in the US, it is owned by a Chinese e-commerce company PDD Holdings.
But while Christmas shoppers may be enticed by attractive deals, they could end up with choking hazards, suffocation risks and toxic chemicals in children’s items.
Bargains: Growing numbers of shoppers are turning to Chinese retail giant Temu THIS Christmas in search of ultra cheap deals on children’s toys
The British Toy & Hobby Association (BTHA) bought five toys from Temu as part of an investigation in October. Of these, it found three to be unsafe and one illegal.
A ‘simulation phone car’ sold on the Temu website could cause damage to hearing or choking, BTHA found, while a stuffed dinosaur plushie had a potential hazard of suffocation.
A set of magnetic building blocks bought from the website was unsafe because it could cause choking.
One item – a caterpillar bath toy – it considered illegal. An item is deemed illegal if it has incorrect labelling due to an additional but inappropriate warning or has missing traceability labels.
Just one of the toys, an electric fire truck with lights and music, was compliant and considered safe.
Temu was not the only online retailer found by the BTHA to be selling items that are a risk to children. Of the 75 toys it bought from 11 different online marketplaces, it found a huge 85 per cent were unsafe and therefore posed a risk to health and safety.
The toys either failed testing to safety standards or had missing safety warnings. Out of the Temu products tested, it found 60 per cent were unsafe.
It is obvious why the appeal of Temu in particular has been growing this year: some toys are available for less than £1, and others are a fraction of the cost of similar toys from popular retailers.
A mini basketball shooting toy is available for £2.07 while a similar one on Amazon is £14.99. A wooden noughts and crosses set is available for 62p; on Amazon there’s a similar one for £15.99.
A children’s smartwatch is selling for just £11.90; one from Smyths Toys Superstores costs £29.99. And it’s not just toys selling at attractive prices – a children’s hoodie retails for £6.56 while a two-piece girls’ outfit sells for just £4.62.
By comparison, a child’s hoodie from Marks & Spencer costs £14.
Investigations by consumer group Which? have also found items it believes to be ‘dangerous’ being sold on Temu.
Last week it warned of buying toys from online marketplaces after it found products sold on websites could choke, cut or strangle a child.
Danger: This dinosaur soft toy was found to be a suffocation hazard. A Temu necklace, bought for £2.17, was found to contain ten times the quantity of lead permitted by UK regulations
Temu wasn’t the worst offender as neither of the two toys Which? bought and then tested posed a serious safety risk – however, the consumer website did expose one of its toys as illegal.
The electrical labelling on the unnamed product did not comply with regulations so it cannot be legally sold in the UK.
The risk of gifting Temu presents this Christmas extends beyond just toys.
Some items sold via the marketplace contained dangerous levels of toxic chemicals, the Channel 4 Dispatches programme found.
One of the items tested was a child’s jacket, bought for £11.09. It contained antimony – a silvery chemical element used to increase the hardness of alloys and in brake parts.
But at high levels it can be detrimental to the nervous system. A necklace, bought for just £2.17, was found to contain ten times the quantity of lead permitted by UK regulations.
To ensure you keep your loved ones safe when gifting toys bought online, the BTHA advises that you should not assume any safety checks have been carried out when buying from third-party sellers via online marketplaces and to research the company or brand before you buy a toy.
It also suggests that if you’re buying a branded toy from an online marketplace, you should compare the pictures and description to the brand’s own website; any discrepancies could suggest it’s a fake.
You should also check who the seller is. Do they have a clear return address and a track record of selling the type of item you want?
Unsafe: This cute toy phone car was deemed a danger to hearing. Toys found on Temu were a fraction of the cost of similar toys from popular retailers
Adrian Simpson, head of policy at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and a former Trading Standards officer, adds that there are two main labels you should look for when buying children’s toys: the CE or the UKCA label.
‘Toys can only be sold to the public if they have one of these marks so look for one of those,’ he says.
Both the UKCA and CE marking can be used by businesses to sell products in Britain.
‘If a parent finds a toy without it, it is a big red flag. Inform the retailer and Trading Standards,’ says Mr Simpson.
‘But beware, these markings can be forged. Does the logo look out of proportion or a little bit wrong?’
‘Some very popular children’s products are at a high price point, so everyone is naturally looking to save money – but just be wary if the product is too cheap. That could be a warning it may be counterfeit.’
Check for poorly written instructions or no instructions as this is another warning sign, Mr Simpson adds.
Kerri Atherton, head of public affairs at the BTHA, explains there’s a gap in the legislation that allows unsafe toys to appear on the market.
All toy manufacturers, importers and distributors – known as ‘economic operators’ – must follow the Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011 to ensure that products placed on the market are safe.
But online marketplaces that sell products from third parties have been able to avoid complying with UK legislation.
They are not defined as economic operators so have no legal responsibility to check the safety of items sold on their platforms, says the BTHA. Plus, third-party sellers are often based overseas, which means they can dodge the jurisdiction of UK authorities.
Ms Atherton says: ‘We want to see this loophole closed and level the playing field for all businesses when it comes to placing toys on the marketplace. It’s really frightening when you think about this happening to toys for children.’
A Temu spokesman says: ‘Like Amazon, AliExpress and eBay, Temu is a marketplace, allowing third-party merchants to sell their products all over the world.
‘We take very seriously the safety of products sold by these third parties and have a comprehensive vetting, monitoring, and enforcement process to ensure that products meet platform rules and regulatory requirements.
‘If and when concerns are raised, we immediately remove any product listings in question pending a thorough review.’
L.evans@dailymail.co.uk