Hasbro CEO Al Verrecchia Speaks Out On Lead Paint Concerns

Recently in the news there has been a lot of talk of lead paint contaminations, recalls and voluntary recalls of certain toys from China. This has mainly effected the Mattel company whose main toy lines are Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher Price and many more. As this threat of lead paint is on many consumers minds, CEO of Hasbro Al Verrecchia has issued a statement on Hasbro.com. Mr. Verrecchia states Hasbro's commitment to quality products, and what Hasbro does to ensure the safety of all it;s products.


Letter from Al Verrecchia
Statement on Toy Safety From Hasbro's Chief Executive Officer

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

As the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hasbro, no issue is more important to me than the safety of our toys and of the children who enjoy them.

At Hasbro, we are proud that our own safety standards meet or exceed all federal regulations and that we set the highest standards for our own factories as well as our vendors wherever they may be located, including China. We are also proud that none of our toys or games was affected by the recent recalls related to lead paint.

To ensure compliance with our high standards, Hasbro requires tests and quality control checks at multiple stages of the manufacturing process. These procedures, which have been in place for many years, have always included - and continue to include - independent, third-party testing of our products.

Specific to the issue of lead paint: paints used on Hasbro products are tested and inspected before application on our products. We test the same paints during various stages of production, including on finished product as it leaves the production line and before it gets shipped.

In an abundance of caution, we are taking additional steps as part of our thorough proprietary safety procedures to confirm that our procedures are being adhered to and that we are doing everything possible to make the safest toys for your children. For example, we have increased the frequency of our product testing. We have also stepped up inspections of all of our products both in our company-owned plants in the United States and Ireland, as well as our vendors in China, and we will continue to make more frequent, unannounced visits.

Overseeing this effort is a team of full-time Hasbro quality control engineers and inspectors based in Hong Kong and China. These employees, who are part of Hasbro's U.S.-based global quality assurance team, are often present on the factory floors of our vendors to confirm the quality and safety of our products.

We hope this gives you a better understanding of Hasbro's quality control programs and the many steps we take to ensure the safety of our toys so that you can continue to purchase them with confidence. While I can't guarantee that a recall won't ever happen, I can promise that we are taking every possible precaution. What I can say, however, is that if an issue of product safety should arise, we will address it quickly, openly and decisively.

I would also like you to know that we maintain a strong working relationship with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Our in-house product safety experts interact regularly with CPSC officials to share information regarding our products and practices.

We continue to take the safety of our children - mine and yours - very seriously. That's my commitment to you - as a CEO, as a parent, and as a grandparent.

Sincerely,

Al Verrecchia
Chief Executive Officer



You can see the original statement here.