37,000 squishy toys were recalled because the beads inside swell too big

ABC Trading Inc., an importer based in Vernon, California, is pulling about 37,000 squishy toys from circulation because the water beads sealed inside them swell beyond the size federal rules allow. Two models are affected: the Squishy Dumpling toy, model 3655, and the Crazy Squib Ball toy, model 3984. The Consumer Product Safety Commission posted the recall on October 1, 2026, as recall number 27-003.

Models 3655 and 3984

The CPSC recall notice describes each product. The Squishy Dumpling toys come in translucent colors with glitter and water beads, packed in tan packaging shaped like a bamboo steamer. The Crazy Squib Ball toys are also translucent with glitter and water beads, and each one sits in an individual white netting sleeve.

ABC Trading stores in Los Angeles sold them, along with other retailers nationwide, from April through June 2026. The toys were manufactured in China and retailed for between 41 cents and $1.25 each. The 37,000 figure counts units sold in that three-month window, not units that failed a test, so it describes the reach of the recall and says nothing about how many individual beads misbehave.

According to the CPSC, the beads inside the toys “expand larger than permitted, posing a deadly ingestion hazard.” The notice also states the toys violate the mandatory federal safety standard for toys, and the commission lists no incidents tied to them.

The 5.0 mm gauge and the standard

That mandatory standard is recent. In a final rule published in the Federal Register on December 12, 2025, the CPSC required that expanded water beads in toys pass through a gauge opening of 5.0 millimeters using gravity alone, with no applied force. The rule took effect on March 12, 2026, and it replaced the looser limit of 20.0 millimeters that ASTM F963-23 had carried.

It also caps extractable acrylamide at 325 micrograms per 100 small beads, or per large bead, and requires a conspicuous warning that the toy contains water beads that can grow larger when swallowed or inserted in the ear or nose. The rule reaches squeeze balls, sensory toys and kits as well as standalone bead sets, if they are marketed to children under 14.

The timing matters for this recall. The ABC Trading toys went on sale in April, weeks after the standard took effect, which is why the recall notice frames the toys as violating a rule that was already in force. The notice does not report a measured expansion size for these beads, so how far past the 5.0 mm gauge they grew is not public.

Intestinal obstruction from swollen beads

The CPSC’s hub page says the beads can “grow 100X their original size when exposed to water,” and that swallowing one can bring discomfort, vomiting, dehydration and intestinal blockages that require surgery. Health Canada, in its own advisory, gives a far larger multiple, saying such beads can grow up to 1,500 times their size in water. The multiples differ between the two agencies, but both describe a bead that keeps swelling after it is swallowed, which is exactly what the recalled toys were not supposed to allow.

The hub page adds a second concern that the recall notice does not raise for these two models: water beads contain acrylamide, a known carcinogen, and the CPSC says some products on the market violate federal limits for it. It urges parents to remove water beads from any environment with children, and to call the National Poison Help Line at 800-222-1222 if a child may have swallowed one.

The danger is mechanical. The CPSC says the recalled beads can cause choking, intestinal obstruction, vomiting and dehydration, and can lead to death.

The commission’s water beads information center puts numbers on the wider problem: nearly 7,000 water bead ingestion injuries were treated in U.S. emergency departments from 2018 through 2022, and the agency knows of at least one death, a 10-month-old child in 2023. The final rule text uses a slightly different count for a different window, estimating about 6,300 emergency room injuries across 2017 to 2022.

Canada’s regulator has warned of a further complication. Health Canada says swallowed beads are unlikely to show up on an X-ray, which makes a blockage harder to confirm, and it advises households with children under five to keep water beads out entirely.

For anyone holding one of the two ABC Trading models, the CPSC’s instruction is to mark the toy “RECALLED” with a permanent marker and dispose of it, then document it with photographs for the refund. What remains unreported is how many of the roughly 37,000 toys are still in homes, since the commission’s notice counts what was sold and not what has been returned.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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