Health Highlights: Dec. 27, 2007

Children's Blocks Recalled for Choking Hazard

About 170,000 sets of toy blocks made in China are being recalled because the plastic covering on the blocks can detach, posing a choking hazard, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday.The Tot Tower blocks, distributed by eeBoo Corp. of New York City, were produced in sets of 10 blocks with various images and themes. Sold at specialty and gift shops across the United States from January 2003 through September 2007, sets cost about $20 each.The company has received two reports of the plastic laminate detaching from the blocks. No injuries have been reported.

Consumers should immediately take the blocks away from children and return them to the place of purchase for a refund or replacement toy. For more information, contact eeBoo at 800-791-5619.

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Diabetic Test Strips Recalled

Certain diabetic test strips used with Bayer's Contour TS Blood Glucose Meter are being recalled, because they may overstate how much blood sugar a user has by up to 17 percent, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.

An error in the strips' manufacturing process led to the recall, Bayer said. Affected strips have lot numbers beginning with WK, followed by the characters 7D, 7E, 7F, or 7G, then followed by a series of additional letters and numbers.

The strips were sold mostly by mail order in the United States and may also have been distributed in France, Austria, Turkey, Korea, and Mexico.

The recall affects only the strips and not the meters themselves. Other strips and meters produced by Bayer are unaffected.

For more information, go to www.bayerdiabetes.com, or call toll-free 800-348-8100.