The hand-held spinning tops are currently very popular with children, and recently German merchants have struggled to keep up with demand for the toy.
The flat, palm-sized gadgets look like a cross between a propeller and a ninja's throwing star, and are balanced on the fingers and spun around. In some cases, the colourful wheels swirl for up to several minutes at a time.
Manufacturers claim that they help kids to alleviate symptoms of hyperactivity, ADHD, or autism.
According to employees of the Central Customs Office on Friday, some of the LED lights in the spinners could be so easily unhinged that small children could have swallowed them. According to customs, the spinners arrived in several import shipments from China.
The CE mark, required for the protection of consumers, was also missing, according to a statement by Christine Straß from the Central Customs Office in Frankfurt-am-Main in a press release.
Information about the manufacturer could not be found on the product or the packaging. The fidget spinners are now set to be destroyed.
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