Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Mattel Inc., the world's largest toymaker, recalled about 848,000 Chinese-made Barbie and Fisher-Price products whose paint may contain excessive levels of lead, its third in the past five weeks.

The 11 affected toys include Barbie kitchen, living room and other furniture items as well as Fisher-Price preschool Geo Trax Locomotive toys and Bongo Band drums. No injuries have been reported, Mattel said today.

``As a result of our ongoing investigation we discovered additional affected products,'' Chief Executive Officer Robert Eckert said in a statement. ``We apologize again to everyone affected and promise that we will continue to focus on ensuring the safety and quality of our toys.''

Mattel has recalled 21 million Chinese-made products since the beginning of August. U.S. officials have raised alarm about tainted products from China including seafood containing harmful drugs, toothpaste with an ingredient found in antifreeze and pet food containing a chemical used to make plastic.

The toys Mattel has called back in the past month contained unsafe levels of lead paint or had magnets that children may be able to swallow. Mattel, based in El Segundo, California, is pulling toys off shelves going into the holiday season, which accounted for 69 percent of 2006 sales.

Today's recall stemmed from an investigation of toys made by vendors, Mattel said. Eckert, 53, said last month during a press conference that additional recalls were possible. The toymaker said it has implemented more stringent testing of toys during manufacturing.

China Factories

About 65 percent of Mattel toys are made in China. Half are made in Mattel-owned factories.

``The only thing more frightening than these tainted toys from China falling into the hands of children is how powerless the very agency in charge of consumer protection is to stop it,'' New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer said today in an e-mailed statement.

The recalled toys totaled 530,700 in the U.S. and 317,400 internationally, Mattel said today. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported almost 774,000 toys in the U.S. are being recalled. Mattel and the agency couldn't immediately say why the two numbers differed.

Vendors who made the toys recalled today subcontracted some painting to companies that used paint not certified by Mattel. Lead may be toxic if ingested by children and can cause brain damage, behavior and learning problems and slowed growth, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Pet Food

Concerns over Chinese products increased earlier this year when melamine, used to make plastic, was found in pet food in the U.S. and blamed for killing cats and dogs, leading to a recall of more than 60 million cans by Menu Foods Ltd.

This year, 60 percent of all recalls by the CPSC were of Chinese-made products such as vitamins, chocolate and food, according to Schumer.

Shares of Mattel, which also makes Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, rose 34 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $21.97 as of 4:25 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading before the recall announcement.

Mattel said consumers should visit its Web site to find out if they own an affected toy.

(Details on the products being recall can be found at http://www.service.mattel.com or http://www.cpsc.gov.)

To contact the reporter on this story: Heather Burke in New York at hburke2@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 4, 2007 23:26 EDT