KATHERINE Ryan has hit back at mum-shamers who criticised her for giving her baby a “mouldy toy”.
The comedian – who welcomed her third child Fenna Grace in December – has been using the Sophie the Giraffe teether, to help her daughter with early stages of teething.
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But various medical experts have warned against it – saying that black mould inside can produce toxins that can cause allergic reactions.
Katherine, 39, shared a photo of her little girl holding the toy close to her.
Alongside the image, she wrote: “I’m sick of people saying ‘Sophie the Giraffe is full of mould.’
“Yes. If you leave something wet it’ll get mouldy. Replace it.”
Created by French company Vulli, it was first brought to the market in 1961 and is made of 100 per cent latex.
Many parents have shared photos of the mould growing inside their child’s Sophie the Giraffe toy.
Posting a review on Amazon, one mum wrote: “Beware! If you have a drooly baby, moisture will get in the hole and you’ll end up with mould! We’ve had ours for two years and the entire inside is coated with black mould!”
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Other users have also slammed the product on the online marketplace, with another parent showing what she found after she chopped off the legs of the toy to stop her daughter pushing them too far into her mouth.
The mum said: “I thought we’d be smart and cut the legs, so they weren’t so long. Well, when we chopped the legs, it revealed a lot of mould growing inside! Needless to say, Sophie is now residing at her new home at the dump.
“Just a little heads up to other mums who have this toy.”
A spokesman for Vulli told MailOnline that the cleaning instructions for the toy must be “carefully respected”.
They added: “It’s important to know that Sophie la girafe [the toy’s French name] is composed of 100 per cent 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 the water nor rinsed off, to prevent water from getting inside, as she may become damaged.
“We thus would like to emphasise the fact that is it important, while cleaning the product, that no water gets inside the hole.”
The company claimed it had not been made aware of the complaints but would be taking them “very seriously”.
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