Consumers should immediately stop using this magnetic game due to ingestion risks, agency warns

Advertisement

Advertise with us

NEW YORK (AP) — The Consumer Product and Safety Commission is warning people to immediately dispose of a magnetic game because it poses serious ingestion risks for children.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/08/2024 (722 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Consumer Product and Safety Commission is warning people to immediately dispose of a magnetic game because it poses serious ingestion risks for children.

The CPSC posted a warning Thursday that “Magnetic Chess Games” sold by China-based seller JOMO contain magnets that do not comply with U.S. federal safety regulations. As a result, the “loose, hazardous magnets pose a risk of serious injury or death,” according to the warning.

The CPSC said it issued a violation notice to JOMO, but that the company has not agreed to recall its Magnetic Chess Games or provide a remedy. The commission urged people to stop using the game and throw it away immediately.

This photo provided by The U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission shows the front box of Magnetic Chess Game Sold by JOMO, that the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission is warning consumers to immediately dispose of the magnetic game due to serious ingestion risks for children.(The U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission via AP)
This photo provided by The U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission shows the front box of Magnetic Chess Game Sold by JOMO, that the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission is warning consumers to immediately dispose of the magnetic game due to serious ingestion risks for children.(The U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission via AP)

The games were sold online at walmart.com in a blue box with the word “Magnetic” on the front and back, according to the CPSC. They include about 20 loose black magnets but not chess-shaped pieces, despite its marketing.

It’s unclear when or how long these games were sold. A CPSC spokesperson said the commission could not provide further information since JOMO is not cooperating.

Experts have long noted the serious health hazards tied to swallowing magnets, with children particularly at risk. When high-powered magnets are ingested, the CPSC noted, they can attract each other or another metal object in the body and become lodged in the digestive system — potentially resulting in blockage, infection, blood poisoning or death.

Overall, the CPSC estimates that a total of 2,400 magnet ingestions were treated in hospitals annually between 2017 and 2021. The commission said it is aware of eight related deaths from 2005 through 2021, two of which were outside the U.S.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Puzzles Palace

1 minute read Monday, Jul. 27, 2026

To solve our puzzles, please subscribe with this special offer: |

‘Frustrated’ Selkirk nurses plead for help

Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read Preview

‘Frustrated’ Selkirk nurses plead for help

Morgan Modjeski 3 minute read Yesterday at 5:21 PM CDT

The province must take immediate action to increase low staffing levels that are putting Selkirk emergency room nurses at risk, a letter sent to the premier and health minister says.

The letter, sent by the Manitoba Nurses Union and signed by 35 ER nurses, detailed multiple recent incidents at the Selkirk Regional Health Centre. In one case, a nurse was stabbed with a pen by a patient who had been waiting 24 hours for care. In another case, a nurse was bitten by a patient.

“Nurses in that emergency department are extremely frustrated,” said Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson. “This is not something that happened in the last month — or overnight — these are problems that have been growing.”

The five-page letter was sent Tuesday to Premier Wab Kinew, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara and leaders of the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority. It contained 10 requests to improve safety inside the emergency department, including establishing safer nurse-to-patient staffing levels, eliminating the practice of “single physician coverage” in the emergency department and implementing an institutional safety officer around the clock.

Read
Yesterday at 5:21 PM CDT

Fatal stabbing of Ukrainian newcomer left family shattered

Erik Pindera 6 minute read Preview

Fatal stabbing of Ukrainian newcomer left family shattered

Erik Pindera 6 minute read 5:47 PM CDT

A man who fatally stabbed a Ukrainian newcomer in “a random, unprovoked, and senseless act of violence” on the street has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars.

Ethan Gladu, 22, was found guilty of manslaughter in February in the December 20, 2023 killing of Ivan Rubanik, a 46-year-old father of two who had fled to Canada for a better life with his family several months before.

Gladu, then 19, randomly stabbed Rubanik shortly before 8 a.m., near Talbot Avenue and Watt Street, as the victim was walking to work that morning. He died of blood loss soon after.

“The people of Winnipeg, or any community, should feel confident that they can go about their business, walk to work, support their family, and carry on with their lives without being attacked,” said Court of King’s Bench Justice Kenneth Champagne on Thursday afternoon as he sentenced the killer.

Read
5:47 PM CDT

Provincial teacher watchdog releases names, details in three disciplinary matters

Maggie Macintosh 6 minute read Preview

Provincial teacher watchdog releases names, details in three disciplinary matters

Maggie Macintosh 6 minute read 6:07 PM CDT

An Interlake teacher with a history of “intimidating” outbursts has been ordered to participate in counselling and study anger-management strategies after he made a child cry.

Read
6:07 PM CDT

Adding emergency doctors, nurses and support staff is great, but it won’t break the wait-time logjam

Dan Lett 5 minute read Preview

Adding emergency doctors, nurses and support staff is great, but it won’t break the wait-time logjam

Dan Lett 5 minute read Updated: 9:27 AM CDT

When Premier Wab Kinew recently announced his government had recruited more than 4,700 net new health-care professionals and support workers, the proclamation was met with quite a few rolling eyes.

Read
Updated: 9:27 AM CDT

WSD official expects older students to get free youth Transit passes first in staggered rollout of pilot program

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Preview

WSD official expects older students to get free youth Transit passes first in staggered rollout of pilot program

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read 6:37 PM CDT

A program allowing youths to ride Winnipeg Transit buses fare-free is on track to start next month, though some will wait longer than others to get their passes.

The provincially funded Free Youth Transit Pass Pilot program will provide no-cost rides to youths between the ages of 11 and 17 and high school students between the ages of 18 and 21.

On Thursday, Premier Wab Kinew revealed not all students will be eligible when school resumes next month, as passes will be available based on grade levels.

“It’s going to happen week by week, more and more students will be getting the bus passes. So, this is just at the request of the people who run Transit, so that they can accommodate this new program. As you go back to school, you’ll find out how the bus passes are going to be distributed,” said Kinew.

Read
6:37 PM CDT