Hundreds of squishy dumpling toys that pose harm to children have been removed from the shelves of candy and souvenir shops in the West End.
Council officers seized hundreds of toys filled with flammable liquids which, if leaked, could have harmed kids’ skin and eyes.
Rainbow Mystery multi-coloured dumplings, a TikTok craze, were among goods available near the front of nearly every souvenir store on Oxford Street.
The soft toys, hidden in plastic imitations of Chinese steam baskets, are advertised as coming in several colours to collect, with an elusive super rare ‘golden glitter dumpling’ to be found inside lucky packs.
However the oriental-themed squishy balls were found to be potentially hazardous after a mother and daughter reported a foul smell after purchasing one of the colourful toys for £8.
Some 200 toys have since been seized by enforcement officers, in the latest sweep on sweet shops and stores selling London and themed trinkets.
Other seized ‘squishes’ posed as products from well-known brands such as Coca Cola, Dr Pepper and McDonald’s, but were found to be fake unlicensed toys.
Many were found to contain a harmful flammable liquid inside.
Cllr Caroline Sargent, the cabinet member for enforcement, said that even just touching harmful products could cause skin problems and eye irritation.
She said: ‘Now you may know that this is a popular craze at the moment that’s often featured on TikTok. We’ve got well known brands on all of these that would be very appealing to children.
‘Turns out these are filled with flammable liquids, That’s why, here at Westminster, we are taking action to take these off the streets and to warn families about the dangers with some of these products that really are not what they seem.’
Fake products have been repeatedly found in the West End’s many souvenir shops, including in unlicensed Harry Potter-themed stores, many of which routinely close within months before being replaced by another ‘phoenix’ firm before the predecessor was due to pay business rates and taxes.
In July, WT revealed a store which secured a large unit on Oxford Street by pitching itself as a Japanese toy store to the landlord, only to break its lease and sell other souvenirs and sweets. The store closed this summer before being briefly replaced by a ‘Fuel’ mini market selling much of the same merchandise, which has since also shut down.
While some major candy stores were replaced by known high-street brands post-pandemic, such as HMV, others have taken advantage of empty units to spring back up.
The pop-up Formula One store near Marble Arch which closed at the end of July, was promptly replaced by another souvenir shop.
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