Product Safety

Brighter days lie just ahead, as in-person trade shows slowly return, sports teams welcome fans back to the stands and more summer events are announced each day. Optimism fills the air with events coming back in 2021, and you need to be ready to represent your brand. SnugZ USA is here to help with everything…

The International Olympic Committee is drawing criticism this week after it was revealed that its staff uniforms for the Tokyo games are made by an apparel company that uses Xinjiang cotton. On the opposite end, H&M and other major apparel brands are facing intense backlash in China for moving away from Xinjiang cotton...

An independent laboratory tested 260 hand sanitizer products from manufacturers given interim FDA approval and found that 44 contained benzene, which the CDC says can cause blood cancers like leukemia. Of the 44, none were from suppliers associated with the promo industry, but two were Star Wars branded sanitizers sold at retail by Disney...

Serai, a digital B2B platform from HSBC, allows apparel suppliers to put in supply chain details for each step of the manufacturing and distribution process, so companies that buy the products can see how and where they were made, from raw materials to the finished product...

Elon Musk's Boring Company flamethrowers, launched in 2018, were a masterwork of promotional marketing. And yet, to the surprise of absolutely no one, the flamethrowers have been a disaster for everyone but Musk. More than 1,000 people have had their flamethrowers confiscated, with many facing legal repercussions...

Koozie Group, Clearwater, Fla., (previously BIC Graphic North America), has implemented an expanded social impact and sustainability commitment called “Keep It. Give It.” The program is new for the supplier, and aligns with its mission to keep the good going by leaving a positive, lasting impact with the solutions and experiences it delivers...

YETI did not specify if any of the 250,000 mugs included in the recall were sold in promotional products channels. But the company is asking customers to return the Stronghold lid component for a full refund, including any customization or logo fees...

To help consumers identify the masks that work best, ASTM International, an organization that develops and implements technical standards, is working to set guidelines for how effective face masks should be and how they should be labeled. Companies like 3M, Honeywell and DuPont have been involved in the process. If it happens, the implications are huge...

Should U.S. Customs and Border Protection make the call, the sources claim that it could affect tens of billions of dollars worth of imported textile and clothing. This would cover cotton, yarn and fabric made in facilities in the Xinjian Uighur Autonomous Region, which has been the subject of scrutiny for a while now over slave labor allegations...

The CPSC announced a recall of a small branded plush duck used by Aflac Insurance, after it was discovered that the buttons on “Doctor Duck’s” lab coat contained levels of lead that exceeded the government’s lead content standards. More than 630,000 plush ducks were given out between January 2005 and July 2020...