My 4 month old LOVES these fruit. When he sees them he throws his hands into the air and squeals. His favorite portion right now is the basket. I think the bright red contrasting stripes are visually stimulating and the braided handle provides interesting texture. All the fruit have interesting textures to explore.
It seems every few years, a new chemical used in manufacturing plastics is discovered to be toxic to babies (like BPA, PVC, and now thalates), and I like that with these toys, I won't need to worry about the next toxic chemical that hasn't yet been researched.