The following letter was provided by Melissa and Doug regarding the quality and safety of their toys. It is reprinted here for your convenience.
November 12, 2007
Melissa & Doug products are carefully crafted and use non-toxic coatings. As indicated on all of our item packages, our products meet or exceed all U.S. toy testing standards.
Regarding the recent concerns over lead safety in toys, we definitely appreciate and understand your concern.
Please be assured, we test for lead VERY frequently.
It's quite possible to make great quality children's items in China, which meet all safety regulations, but the key point is that you have to test and inspect very frequently to be sure that your factories are always following your instructions explicitly. We assure you that's exactly what we do.
From our experience, the key to doing this correctly is not simply to insist that your factories follow your instructions, but then to go one step further and to AUDIT, INSPECT, AND TEST very frequently. That is the most important part of the process, and it's something our company has always taken VERY seriously.
Thanks again for asking, and thanks for your support also.