Squishy Toys Surge in Popularity While Triggering US Poison Control Warnings
Popular squishy toys have triggered over 11,500 US poison control center reports since 2024, exposing severe safety gaps, burn risks, and regulatory challenges.
It started like just another innocent children's trend: small, colorful, and soft-to-touch toys shaped like fruits, dumplings, ice cubes, and butter that can be squished over and over again. However, squishies, which became a huge hit in the United States and swept through the Israeli market as well, are starting to make headlines for an entirely different reason.
A Business Insider investigation published over the weekend found that since 2024, more than 11,500 reports of exposure to squishies have been received by poison control centers in the United States. More than half of those reports were logged in the first six months of 2026 alone.
Safety Hazards and Burn Risks
Most cases did not result in severe injury, but alongside the reports, an accumulation of incidents involves toys that tore, leaked, or exploded—some resulting in burns. In one case described by the investigation, a 10-year-old girl placed a squishy in a microwave for 30 seconds, causing it to explode and splatter hot material onto her face and body.
"From zero to hero," as US retailers describe the meteoric rise of the trendy toys in financial reports.
At the same time, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) intercepted 96 shipments containing more than 640,000 squishies this year after finding safety standard violations. The agency also issued a warning in August regarding burn hazards associated with exposing the toys to heat.
Regulatory Blind Spots
Behind the phenomenon lies a major business story. The CEO of the Five Below retail chain told investors that squishies went from "zero to hero" in a very short time, with American retailers attributing part of their traffic and sales growth to the items. NeeDoh brand squishies are currently sold in local stores and delivery platforms, alongside a multitude of cheaper knockoffs and imitations.
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Rapid global trend outpacing consumer safety regulations.
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Proliferation of cheap online imitations lacking proper safety checks.
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Ambiguous product classification between children's toys and sensory gadgets.
This highlights the vulnerability of modern consumer markets: products can become global sensations within months, long before regulators manage to determine whether an item is a children's toy, an adult sensory product, or a collectible accessory. As the trend grows, so does the market for imitations shipped directly from online platforms, raising critical questions about product accountability.
