Who said you can't teach an old empire new tricks?

In a matter of days, China has confirmed the contamination of the Aqua Dots product. Sold also as Bindeez, the toy includes beads that are covered with a substance that, when swallowed, metabolizes into the date rape drug GHB.

Children in the United States and Australia have already been showing up in hospital suffering from seizures or slipping into comas. No fatalities though. Thanks goodness for that.

And it looks like the Chinese are in no mood to squander that one bit of good news. In case this gets worse before it gets better, the Chinese are moving fast to fix the problem at their end.

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Even as the news spreads about the danger posed by Aqua Dots, a children's toy that is coated with a chemical that metabolizes into the date rape drug GHB when ingested, news comes of more children becoming ill.

When the story broke of the recall in Australia, three Australian children had fallen ill (but thankfully recovered).

Were Canadian and American children at risk, or was the North American product free of the problem discovered in Austalia?

It turns our we weren't so lucky. Multiple cases in the US are being reported. I have no doubt that there may already be Canadian cases.

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With the latest toy scare involving the date rape drug GHB contaminating Aqua Dots (aka Bindeez), parents are wondering what toys kids ought to be playing with. The advice from the professionals? Be conservative. Keep it simple. Look at the sorts of toys our parents and grandparents played with.

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A toy manufactured in China is being recalled in Australia because it contains a chemical that metabolizes into a potentially fatal date rape drug. Bindeez has been linked to three children being hospitalized suffering from seizures.

When I say the toy, I recognized it immediately. In Canada, it is still being sold as Aqua Dots, being introduced only a month ago or so. At least that's when I remember the commercials starting to air on children's TV specialty channels.

Are Canadian kids at risk? Has anyone checked to make sure that the Canadian product is safe in light of the Australian recall?

Update: No doubt about it -- this is the same product.

Update: No official recall, but Toys 'R Us in Canada is pulling the product off the shelves at this very moment.

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