Burger King · Recalled
In Wake of Second Death, CPSC and Burger King Again Urge Consumers to Destroy and Discard Pokemon Balls
The balls pose a suffocation hazard to children under three years of age.
- Units
- More than 25 million
- Reports
- —
- Injuries
- —
- Deaths
- —
- Price
- —
- Remedy
- See notice
Reports, injuries, deaths and price are read out of the notice’s wording by rules, so they can miss unusual phrasing. The official notice is the record.
Affected
Pokémon balls are plastic, ball-shaped containers between 2.75 and 3 inches in diameter. They pull apart to reveal one of 57 different Pokémon toys inside. The balls were distributed in a variety of colors including red and white, and hot pink. Packaging described them as safety tested and recommended for all ages of children.
The file
- Sold at
- Burger King restaurants nationwide distributed the Pokémon balls inside Burger King big kids meals and regular kids meals from early November through December 1999.
- Product type
- Toy Balls
- Made in
- Not stated
- Recalled by
- Burger King Corporation
Incident log
On January 25, 2000, a 4-month-old boy in Indianapolis, Ind., reportedly suffocated when one-half of a Pokémon ball that was in his crib became stuck on his face. In December, a 13-month-old girl reportedly suffocated when one-half of a Pokémon ball covered her nose and mouth. Also in December, an 18-month-old girl nearly suffocated when a ball-half got stuck over her face. On the second attempt, the girl's father was able to pull the ball-half from her face.
What the notice says to do
Consumers should immediately take the balls away from children under the age of three. They should discard the ball or return both halves of the ball and the clip to a Burger King restaurant for a free order of small fries. Children can continue to use the Pokémon toy that came inside the ball.
Burger King's Consumer Relations phone number is 305-378-3535, which operates Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. east coast time.
Recall notice published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. This site is independent: always confirm on the official notice before acting.