The food-stamp economy
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U.S. manufacturer recalls 1.59 million cribs
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Delta Enterprises recalled almost 1.6 million cribs, made in China, Indonesia and Taiwan, on Monday after it said two babies died.
The company did not provide any details on the deaths of the two infants and declined to answer any questions.
The family-owned company that sells cribs, strollers and other products for babies, said the recalled cribs were no longer available in stores.
The New York-based company said it contacted the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and was arranging to provide replacement and repair parts to customers that bought the cribs between 1995 and 2005.
One kind of crib, which uses a mechanism known as a 'spring peg' to lower the crib side, was made in China. Delta Enterprises said it would contact the customers who bought 600,000 of these cribs to send them additional parts to make the mechanism safer.
The other 985,000 cribs under recall, made in Indonesia and Taiwan, use safety pegs in the gate mechanism that customers must install.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission was expected to have a statement on Tuesday, the company said.
Jack Gutt, spokesman for Delta Enterprise, declined to comment on the size of the company and the cost of the recall, and U.S. CPSC officials could not be reached for comment.
The recall is one of the largest in U.S. history and follows another recall of 2,000 cribs, also made in China, which was issued by the CPSC on Thursday. A five-month-old infant suffocated after being trapped between the mattress and the crib side and prompted the recall Playkids U.S.A. cribs.
It comes about a year after a massive of toys tainted with lead paint and other dangerous material. Mattel Inc pulled more than 20 million toys made in the country at a cost to the company of about $110 million.
More recently, milk contaminated with melamine killed at least four children and prompted Chinese-made products to be pulled from shelves around the world.
According to parents.com, the Web site of Parents magazine, U.S. retailers recalled about 600,000 cribs sold nationally from January 2005 through August.
(additional reporting by JoAnne Allen; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
