7.5 million Baby Shark water toys recalled for impalement risk to children

WASHINGTON — Around 7.5 million baby shark bath toys are being recalled due to a risk of impalement for children. 

The recall includes both the full-size Robo Alive Junior Baby Shark Sing & Swim Bath Toys and the Robo Alive Junior Mini Baby Shark Swimming Bath Toys. 

The recalled bath toys were sold nationwide at Walmart, CVS, Dollar General, Family Dollar , HEB, Meijer, Target, TJX Companies, Ross, and Walgreens stores. They were also sold online through Amazon and other websites. 

Both versions have a hard plastic top fin that could impale, cut or puncture a child's skin if they fall or sit on one of the bath toys. According to the recall, the company is aware of 12 reports of children being injured by the full-size sing and swim toys, including nine incidents where they needed stiches or medical attention. 

Full-size toys

The full-size toys, which sing and swim when placed in the water, were sold individually and in packs of three. Only full-size toys with a hard plastic top fin (with three grooves on one side) are included in this recall. 

Mini toys

The recalled Mini Baby Shark bath toys swim when placed in the water but do not sing and have a hard plastic top fin. The mini versions were sold individually, in packs of two or three, and as part of a Baby Shark Music Water Park playset. 

Consumers with one of the recalled bath toys should immediately stop using the products and contact Zuru through its website for a refund of $14 for each full-size toy or $6 for each mini-size toy.

As part of the refund process, consumers will be asked to disable the tail fin (by cutting it on the full-size bath toy or by bending it on the mini-size bath toy), mark the body of the shark bath toy with the word “recalled” and the unique code provided during registration for the recall, then upload a photo of the product, showing it is disabled and marked, at https://www.recallrtr.com/bathshark. Upon receipt of the photo, Zuru will issue a refund to purchasers in the form of a prepaid virtual Mastercard. 

In a company announcement, Zuru noted that that the recall only impacts the versions of the baby shark toys with a hard plastic fin. The newest toys, which have a silicone fin, are not part of the recall, Zuru said.

“We want to assure our customers that we are committed to the highest levels of safety and quality of all our products, and we have implemented measures to prevent future incidents by working to promptly remove these products from retail and replace them with a newly designed product,” Zuru wrote.