WASHINGTON — The Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday Macy’s is voluntarily recalling 33,000 children’s hooded sweatshirts and sweaters sold at the department store chain.
The merchandise, manufactured by Epic Threads and Greendog Hooded Sweatshirts in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Taiwan, violated drawstring guidelines established to prevent strangulation, the CPSC said. The items have nonfunctional drawstrings sewn to the hood.
The sweaters and sweatshirts were sold at Macy’s between July and March at prices ranging from $32 and $50. The recall applies to boys’ and girls’ Epic Threads sweatshirts and girls’ Greendog sweaters in a variety of colors and styles. Only sizes small and medium of the merchandise are subject to the recall.
The garments can be returned for a full refund or the drawstrings may be cut off to remove the hazard, the CPSC said.
“Our highest priority is safety for our customers and we have consistently taken steps to ensure that our brands of hooded sweatshirts do not contain drawstrings,” a Macy’s spokeswoman said.
The ties on the sweaters and sweatshirts covered by the recall were decorative and Macy’s did not consider them “drawstrings,” the spokeswoman said, but the CPSC’s interpretation was that the ties violated the strangulation rules.
Also on Wednesday, the CPSC recalled about 29,000 Chelsea’s necklace and bracelet sets for children that posed a choking hazard. The sets were sold at retailers nationwide for $4 between April 1999 and April 2009.