The recall of millions of toys involving Mattel and its Chinese partner has already cost the life of a disgraced company manager, but probably more lives could be lost if the sale continued.

The recalled toys include characters from Barbie, Sesame Street’s Big Bird and Elmo, and Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer.

The manager who committed suicide Saturday was Zhang Shuhong, whose company owned a mainland toy factory implicated in Mattel’s recent recall of toys. His local (Hong Kong) name is Cheung Shu-hung and as his company, Lee Der, is actually based in Hong Kong. At the company’s address on Des Voeux Road West, as it is listed by the Companies Registry, there was no sign identifying the unit as Lee Der’s headquarters. A factory manager said the middle-aged Zhang was single and treated his workers well.

Even Senator Hillary Clinton said of the recall: “I don’t want to eat bad food from China or have my children having toys that are going to get them sick.”

Some claim Zhang was merely the scapegoat for a wider problem of quality control that can be traced to unscrupulous raw material suppliers and corrupt government officials.

Workers said the source of the paint supplied for the toys should also be investigated.

“He was a well-respected manufacturer, and someone was just victimizing him,” said Lawrence Chan Wing-lun, vice president of the International Council of Toy Industries, which promotes toy safety standards. “I don’t believe that any manufacturer would make unsafe toys on purpose just to make money. Something just went wrong.”

Of the company’s 5,000 employees, 200 had worked for Zhang since the company was founded more than a decade ago. Workers said on the day of his suicide, Zhang visited all three of Lee Der’s subsidiary companies, chatting to employees.

China isn’t new to this kind of product safety lapse. There were similar issues with dog food and toothpaste coming in from China.

What could the impact be for other shops that use toys to attract younger patrons such as Wellcome’s Cat and Dog sticker promotion or McDonald’s Happy Meal collection? I think parents will have reservations in getting their kids’ hands touch these stuff that may contain larger than prescribed amounts of lead and other harmful ingredients.

Before that plastic Happy Meal toy gets into the sticky fingers of a 3-year-old, it must pass a gantlet of tests and inspections worthy of more dangerous items such as chain saws and motorcycle helmets. Nobody knows better than fast-food giant McDonald’s Corp. how important customer trust is and how quickly it can be eroded.

Which reminds me of “Supersize Me” movie.

Since parents are never really exposed to the testing process they are unaware if the toys their children are craving every time they visit shops are safe enough.

I wonder what will the effect be in shops in Wan Chai and Mong Kok that specialize in toys or big-brand names like Toys "Я" Us in Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui. Do they think of massive discounts to attract less health conscious parents to buy these toys before the school season begins?