Shoes recalled based on choking hazard - July 21, 2009

     A voluntary consumer recall was issued by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission July 21, 2009 for Clog Children's Shoes distributed by Brown Shoe Company, Inc. of St. Louis, Missouri and its affiliate Pogoda International Footwear Ltd. of Hong Kong. The Commission noted that the shoes, manufactured in China, have a decorative wheel that can become detached from the shoes, posing a choking hazard for young children.
     The shoes are described as a plastic molded water clog, created in eight styles and shaped to resemble a car. Most of the shoes are marked with the words "CARS," "Transformers Animated," or "Barbie," and were sold in children sizes 5-13 and youth 1-3. The words "Buster Brown & Co.(TM)" are printed on the inside of the shoe near the heel, on the original hang tag and on a sewn-in tag inside those shoes that are fleece-lined.
     Approximately 1.4 million shoes are involved with 73,000 pairs of shoes previously recalled in April 2009. The shoes were sold between August 2007 and June 2009 at a number of nationwide retailers including Bealls, Famous Footwear, J.C. Penney, Meijer, Rack Room, Sears, Shoe Show, Target and Walmart. Brown Shoe had received two reports of the decorative wheels detaching from the shoe and believed a voluntary recall was the right thing to do for consumer safety, although no injuries have yet been recorded.
     The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends removing the product from the vicinity of children and returning the shoes to the original place of purchase for a full refund. Further information on the recall can be found at the CPSC website:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09281.html


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