Date rape drug found on Australian toys

BRISBANE, Australia, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Five children in Australia and New Zealand have been hospitalized after eating Chinese-made toy beads found to contain the date rape drug GHB.

Australia Tuesday recalled the Bindeez beads after two children in Sydney who ate the beads became drowsy or unconscious and had to be hospitalized.

Two toddlers in Auckland and a 19-month-old in Brisbane have also required hospitalization, the newspaper said.

A spokesman for Moose Enterprise, the Australian importer of the toys -- which were the top-selling toy this year -- said the company was not aware of and did not approve of the use of the chemical.

The beads become sticky when moistened so children can make shapes with them.

The importer would not divulge the name of its Chinese supplier, and said it plans to add an exceptionally bitter chemical to the next shipment of beads to discourage children from swallowing them, the newspaper said.