Millie Moon nappies told to investigate after complaints of rashes

Consumer NZ says the country is not acting strongly enough to protect babies from potentially unsafe products.

The Ministry for Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE) confirmed on Monday it had received five reports about Millie Moon nappies, with the complaints referring to a "rash/blisters forming" after using them.

It comes after the Consumer Product Safety Commission in the US received hundreds of complaints about Millie Moon nappies.

MBIE declined to be interviewed but said it had told the nappy business, which was part of the Zuru Edge group, to investigate and that it expected a product to be recalled if it was not safe.

Consumer NZ's head of research, Gemma Rasmussen, said currently the onus was on businesses to ensure products are safe.

She said that while some products targeted at under-threes, including cots and nightwear, had mandatory product safety standards around them, the vast majority did not.

"In New Zealand, we have a reactive product safety system. What tends to happen is that an issue occurs and then there is a sort of reaction, which to our mind is a really dangerous product safety system.

"We are missing in action when it comes to children and babies."

She said there were more products than ever coming onto our shores and being sold in stores, and that came with a higher level of risk.

"I think that the government should be placing more focus on reviewing what these products are that are coming in, particularly for children, because waiting for harm to occur is not a great model."

Milly Moon did not respond to RNZ's request for an interview.

But in a statement on social media, the company said its independent testing found no issues.

"Our diapers and training pants passed every test conducted as part of our independent investigation. No harmful bacteria were detected in the samples tested, and the products met the requirements assessed under the US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA).

"We worked with six independent laboratories to test our diapers and training pants, including batches linked to complaints.

"We have also investigated whether unintended substances could have been introduced through raw materials, manufacturing processes, processing aids, adhesives or other product components.

"Based on the investigations and testing completed to date, we have not identified a product-related cause for the reported reactions."

Milly Moon said it would "act appropriately" if it found a product-related cause.