Consumer Reports takes issue with some of the statements CPSC chairperson Nancy Nord said in a recent speech:

…much of Nord’s speech before the National Press Club in Washington was spent discussing 2007, often dubbed “the year of the recall.” Nord faulted the press for its “near-hysteria levels” of coverage. And politicians–who have been working on legislation to give the agency more funds and powers–did not escape her criticism either.

We don’t agree with that characterization of hysteria or several other of Nord’s statements. Here are a few of the key points she made in her speech and in the question and answer period that followed–and our concerns about them:

“The fact is, consumer products are safer today than they have ever been,” Nord said in her prepared remarks. And toys, she later added “are safer than they have ever been.”

More than 25 million toys were recalled in 2007 because of safety problems. Need we say more? That large number of recalls in a single year certainly suggests there are a lot of unsafe toys on the market and in our homes.

Everything the mainstream media covers they cover the same way—with hysteria. Last we checked, however, our tally of lead recalls for 2007 had reached 17,181,210. All things considered, we’d rather the media pay attention to poisonous toys than than the custody battles of pop stars—a topic that they are infinitely more hysterical about.

Nancy Nord, the CPSC’s acting chairman, looks forward–??and back [Consumer Reports]
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