Health Canada has ordered the country’s first ever mandatory recall of a consumer product after Montreal-based NeoMagnetic Gadgets Inc. refused to voluntarily pull a series of dangerous toy magnets off the market.

Small, powerful magnets have been linked to a number of cases in Canada and elsewhere of children needing emergency surgery after swallowing them, including a death in Australia.

A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in March said that new rare-earth magnets — which can be up to 20 times stronger than older kinds of magnets — can bind together in the intestines of children and cause twisting and perforations, requiring surgery.

The mandatory recall was prompted after NeoMagnetic continued to sell the products named in an earlier voluntary recall issued in May.

“If it’s a voluntary recall and this is our bread and butter … we don’t have much incentive to take the product off the market,” said NeoMagnetic president Alexis Miville-Deschenes. He also said he didn’t immediately comply because he needed time to consider the company’s options, such as possibly launching a public debate about Health Canada’s decision.

Most companies comply with voluntary recalls promptly, said James Van Loon, of Health Canada’s consumer product safety directorate. “The vast majority of people who sell things don’t want to sell things that endanger people, either because they’re reasonable people, or for naked self-interest,” such as preserving their brand or avoiding government fines, he said.

Health Canada says NeoMagnetic has now stopped selling the products. Miville-Deschenes says the company has called every store that carries their products and told them to stop selling the magnets mentioned in the recall.

He also noted that customers on the NeoMagnetic website can no longer complete orders for recalled products if their shipping address is in Canada.

Small magnetic balls were never meant for use by children, Miville-Deschenes said. The company’s website has long included a warning that reads, in part, “this product contains small magnets that can be harmful or fatal if swallowed.”

Companies that refuse to comply with a recall order can face fines of $25,000 a day until the product is off shelves. Health Canada says NeoMagnetic has not been fined.

According to Health Canada, about 4,000 of the NeoMagnetic products named in the recall have been sold in Canada.

Public Health Agency of Canada data suggests emergency room visits related to magnet ingestion have spiked in the last decade. It is not clear whether any NeoMagnetic products have caused injuries.

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“Once a doctor is pulling a magnet out of someone’s stomach, it’s pretty hard to tell what brand it is,” said Van Loon.

Health Canada says it does not know of any deaths in Canada associated with the products covered by the recall.