How to check that my baby’s teethers are safe

Before we launched Gummee glove, we (myself and husband Steve) worked in food production. Our roles as Quality Assurance Officer (me) and shift Manager taught us all we needed to know about food safety, hygiene  and control. Food safety laws are strict and so are food hygiene procedures in food production.

We decided to apply the same principles used in the safe manufacture of food, to the production of Gummee products, with regards to how products are made, tested and stored.

You can’t be too careful where babies are concerned! And I am a sucker for detail…when designing and developing gummee glove, I also developed ‘Product Safety Anxiety’…probably not a true condition but I can’t explain it any other way.

So we thought it would be good to share some information on what to look for when it comes to safe teething toys.

Every product should arrive with essential information either on the product or on the packaging.

Information that is required by UK law includes:

Name and address of manufacturers, Trademark/business name.

This information is required if ever the manufacturer needs to be contacted with regards to their product. It is an essential part of traceability.

The UKCA mark (or relevant standards for the territory).

This demonstrates that the product has been tested to the relevant UK safety standards.

Warnings and instructions.

Warnings alert you to anything that you need to be aware of with regards to the product, it is to help keep you/your baby/child safe. The correct method of use should be clear on the product or packaging.

Toy type, batch code and serial/model number.

If a product needed to be recalled, this information is vital. It means that a particular batch of product can be traced and recalled, as long as the manufacturer has kept a clear record of where that batch has gone and when.

The above information should be on the toy itself, on the packaging or in a document accompanying the product.

If you’ve ordered a a baby or children’s product online and you’re not sure whether it meets safety standards, you can also contact the manufacturer and ask to see a Declaration of conformity. This is a document that communicates that the product complies with relevant safety regulations.

 This blog post has been written just to help give customers a basic understanding of what to look for when it comes to baby product safety. Different products are subject to different methods of testing and labelling and standards are updated frequently, so it’s best to check the government website if you’re looking for anything specific.

Please let me know if you found this blog helpful!