The Real Reason Aldi's Advent Calendars Are Being Recalled

Over the holiday season, a variety of different advent calendars usually appears on the shelves at Aldi. In December of 2020, for example, the store added a craft calendar to its lineup of seasonal items. Rather than food or wine, the Bee Happy 12 Days of Craft advent calendar featured materials and instructions for a dozen different crafting projects each day. It came with items like stickers, ornaments, beads, and puzzles, according to Aldi Reviewer. The crafting calendar returned to Aldi for the 2021 holiday season, too.

Day 10 of the calendar contained the items needed to create a handmade reindeer bell necklace, which included a brown bell. However, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recently stated that the paint on the surface of the bell "contains levels of lead that exceed the federal lead paint ban," so the Bee Happy 12 Days of Craft Advent Calendar is being recalled. Lead levels that are over the federal lead paint ban may pose a risk of lead poisoning to consumers. Though the news is coming well after the beginning of winter, anyone who has purchased this calendar from Aldi is urged to return it for a full refund and to keep children away from the product.

Excessive lead exposure, even over a short period of time, can be dangerous and may lead to health issues like kidney problems, weakness, fatigue, anemia, brain damage, and even death, according to the CDC. A person who is suffering from toxic amounts of short-term lead exposure might experience symptoms like abdominal pain, headaches, memory loss, low appetite, pain, weakness, and irritability. Lead exposure is particularly dangerous for young children and pregnant women, as toxic lead exposure may harm the fetus' nervous system or cause miscarriages or stillbirths. To date, there have been no injuries reported as a result of Aldi's recalled crafting calendar (via CPSC).

This is not the first time that the grocery chain has been forced to recall one of its advent calendars. In December of 2021, Aldi recalled its pet advent calendars over a potential choking hazard. It voluntarily pulled the items, meant for dogs and cats, off shelves based on "a small number of customer complaints," the company said in a press release.