Revelations of the fungus growing inside of the beloved French-made teether began showing up online after one New Jersey mother smelled a foul odor coming from her son’s Sophie the Giraffe toy.
Dana Chianese, a pediatric dentist and mother of two, typically recommends teething toys like Sophie to her clients on a routine basis, and was appalled to find the black gunk growing inside of the toy.
“I decided to cut into Sophie out of curiosity and discovered a science experiment living inside,” Chianese told Goodhousekeeping.com. “Smelly, ugly mold living in my infant’s favorite chew toy.”
This isn’t the first time mold has been found thriving inside of a favorite child care item. GoGo Squeeze Applesauce pouch, Tommee Tippie Sippy cups and CapriSun products have all come under fire recently for mold growth concerns.
Mold inhalation or ingestion can be associated with upper respiratory tract symptoms like coughing, wheezing and asthma. That being said, Dr. Lyuba Konopasek, an assistant professor of Pediatrics at New York Presbyterian/Weil Cornell Medical Center, once told Care.com that — unless your child has preexisting immune problems — the chances of your child getting sick from a sip or two of moldy bath water are “close to zero.”
The makers of Sophie the Giraffe issued the following statement on their Facebook page about mold growing in the toy:
“We came across an article showing Sophie with mold inside of her. We wanted to remind you of the simple steps to clean Sophie. It’s important to know that Sophie la girafe is composed of 100% natural rubber, so the cleaning instructions have to be carefully respected. As indicated on the packaging and in an explanatory leaflet inside the packaging, we recommend to clean the surface of Sophie la girafe with a damp cloth. It should not be immersed in water nor rinsed off, to prevent water from getting inside, as she may become damaged. We thus would like to emphasize on the fact that is it important, while cleaning the product, that no water gets inside the whole. In addition Sophie is intended for use by only 1 child, we have also seen pictures of people altering the toy by cutting legs this a big NO NO!!! This is then considered damaged and unsafe, Sophie IS designed especially for the safety of your child and complies with all worldwide safety standards. Also DON’T FORGET – THIS TOY MUST BE USED ONLY UNDER ADULT SUPERVISION.”
It’s not always easy to clean mold from items like Sophie the Giraffe. So, while these toys aren’t cheap (to the tune of $23.50 a pop), replacing the product is probably the best option if your little one can’t live without it.
