McDonald’s Recalls Hello Kitty Whistle Toys After Child Almost Chokes

An estimated 2.5 million McDonald’s Hello Kitty happy meal toys have been recalled, after at least two complaints were received involving children who choked on detached pieces of the toy wistle. 

The McDonald’s Hello Kitty Birthday Lollipop Whistles recall was announced by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on November 10, following incidents where pieces of the whistle caused at least two children to choke after the debris was sucked into their mouths while trying to blow the whistle.

At least one of the children required emergency treatment at a nearby hospital, and the CPSC indicates they are not aware of any other incidents.

The McDonald’s Hello Kitty Whistles were distributed at the fast-food restaurant with the purchase of a Happy Meal or a Mighty Kids Meal.

The toy is a plastic Hello Kitty figurine holding a pink heart-shaped lollipop that contains a removable red whistle used to make sounds by inhaling or exhaling through the mouthpiece.

The figurine measures about 3 inches in height and has a picture of Hello Kitty on both sides of the whistle. The text “©1976,2014 SANRIO CO. LTD” appears above the figurines face on the whistle and the text “Made for McDonald’s China CCW Chine” appears below Hello Kitty’s face on the whistle. Recalled Hello Kitty figurines packaging is labeled with the text “Hello Kitty® Birthday Lollipop” and the number “6” in the upper right corner.

The recalled Hello Kitty toys were manufactured in China under McDonald’s Corp., of Oakbrook, Illinois where they were distributed exclusively at McDonald’s restaurants nationwide, from October 2014 through the first week of November 2014, to customers who purchased Happy Meals or Mighty Kids Meals.

McDonald’s and the CPSC have estimated about 2.3 million of the toys to have been distributed throughout the United States and another 200,000 were distributed in Canada.

The CPSC recommends that customers take the whistle away from children immediately and return it to any McDonald’s for a free replacement toy and either a yogurt tube or a bag of apple slices. Customers with questions should contact McDonald’s at (800) 244-6227 or visit them online at www.mcdonalds.com.