The volks at Volkswagen have issued a recall on a total of 168,275 Golf, Jetta and Audi A3 vehicles over concerns the fuel line could crack and leak, potentially causing an engine fire. [More]
Quality & Safety
Drug Maker Adds Line To Pill's Surface To Delay Generic Versions
By 10.7.11
There are numerous ways for makers of pricey brand-name drugs to delay the release of generic copies and hold on to the market for even a few months longer. They could make slight changes to the doses or even go so far as to buy a company that supplies a needed ingredient. But one pharmaceutical company is taking a new approach to putting off the release of generic versions — etching an additional score into the pill’s surface. [More]
FDA Gives Enlarged Prostates Hard Time By Approving Erectile Dysfunction Drug
By 10.7.11
Thanks to the Food and Drug Administration, those who suffer enlarged prostates have a new weapon at their disposal to combat the condition. Cialis, which messages in your spam filter repeatedly inform you has formidable powers of revitalization, can now be prescribed to pound away at prostates that have gotten too big for their britches. [More]
Listeria-Tainted Cantaloupe Said To Have Caused Miscarriage
By 10.6.11
Contaminated cantaloupe has turned fruit salads deadly. Not only has the tainted fruit caused 18 deaths in 20 states, but now it’s believed to have taken a life before birth. A pregnant Iowa woman miscarried after suffering listeria poisoning from cantaloupe. [More]
Man Sues After Eating Listeria-Tainted Cantaloupe
By 10.5.11
Cantaloupe tainted by listeria have led to 13 deaths, and now, a lawsuit against Jensen Farms and Walmart. [More]
Kraft Recalls 137,000 Velveeta Shells & Cheese Cups Because Thin Pieces Of Wire Are Not Part Of Your Daily Diet
By 9.30.11
Kraft Foods has announced a recall of three varieties of Velveeta Shells & Cheese single serve microwaveable cups as a precaution due to the “possible presence of small, thin wire bristle pieces.” [More]
Zoka Coffee Responds To FDA Warning Letter
By 9.30.11
Yesterday, we reported how Seattle-based coffee seller Zoka Coffee had received a warning letter from the FDA regarding an April inspection that discovered more than a few rodent feces. After the story was posted, Zoka reached out to Consumerist to give its side of the story. [More]
FDA Warns Seattle-Based Coffee Company That Rat Poo Is Not Part Of A Seasonal Blend
By 9.29.11
UPDATE: Both Zoka and the Washington State Dept. of Agriculture have responded to Consumerist regarding the situation.
—————- [More]
This Texas Instruments Calculator Can't Calculate Correctly
By 9.29.11
There’s a basic assumption that consumers have about calculators: that you put numbers in, and the calculator spits answers out. Correct answers. Accurate answers. In the case of the Texas Instruments scientific calculator that John bought recently, he tells Consumerist that this is a false assumption. As false as the answers it gave him for the area of a circle. [More]
131,000 Pounds Of Ground Beef Sold At Kroger Recalled Because E. Coli Doesn't Make For Good Seasoning
By 9.28.11
Tyson Fresh Meats is recalling approximately 131,300 pounds of ground beef products sold at Kroger because of possible E. coli contamination, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. [More]
A Truly Alarming Number Of People Are Dying From Eating Tainted Cantaloupe
By 9.28.11
Hold it — before you munch on that cantaloupe, you might want to make sure it’s not contaminated with bacteria. A new report from food officials has attributed at least a whopping 13 deaths to an outbreak of the melons grown in Colorado. [More]
Why Did My Walmart Change The ‘Use By’ Date On My Beef?
By 9.27.11 — Updated: 11.19.13
What’s a grocery store to do when an expensive piece of beef goes unsold by the time it’s reached its “Use/Freeze By” date? Consumerist reader William believes he caught his Walmart simply slapping a new sticker with a new date on top of the old one. [More]
Over-The-Counter Asthma Inhalers To Vanish From Store Shelves By End Of Year
By 9.22.11
If you or someone you know uses Primatene or any other over-the-counter epinephrine inhaler for asthma, the clock is officially ticking before they disappear off store shelves. The Food and Drug Administration announced today that, in an effort to cut down on products using ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons, these inhalers will no longer be available after Dec. 31. [More]
FDA Scolds Big Corn For "Corn Sugar" Ads & Websites
By 9.16.11
For more than a year, the folks at the Corn Refiners Association have been making a very public push to rebrand the controversial but widely used high fructose corn syrup as “corn sugar,” telling consumers that “sugar is sugar.” But newly uncovered correspondence between the Food and Drug Administration and Big Corn show that regulators aren’t exactly thrilled about the new name. [More]
6 E.Coli Strains Added To Beef Ban List
By 9.13.11
The government is adding six more, relatively rarer, strains of E.coli to the list of banned beef. Meat mongers are balking. [More]
Cargill Recalls 185,000 More Pounds Of Possibly Salmonella-Tainted Ground Turkey
By 9.12.11
If the name of Arkansas-based Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because the company recently recalled 36 million pounds of ground turkey that may have been contaminated with salmonella. The company is back in the news for the same reason, this time announcing that 185,000 pounds of turkey could be tainted. [More]
Honda Recalls CR-V, CR-Z Due To Electrical Problems
By 9.6.11
Honda has announced a recall of 80,111 CR-V vehicles from the 2006 model year, as well as well as 5,626 CR-Z vehicles from the 2011 model year due to electrical issues. The recalled CR-V suffers a design problem in the power window master switch that can lead to a fire due to window cleaner accumulation over time, and the CR-Z is affected by a software bug that could possibly cause the motor to rotate in the opposite direction of the transmission’s gear. [More]
Yet Another Tylenol Recall: 2.5 Million Cold Multi-Symptom Nighttime Rapid Release Gelcaps
By 9.1.11
The fifth recall of a Tylenol product this year is “Tylenol Cold Multi-Symptom Nighttime Rapid Release Gelcaps.” McNeil, a division of Johnson & Johnson, a family company, said the caps had “slightly higher than expected” levels of chlorpheniramine ammonio acetate (CPAA). The recall encompasses roughly 2.5 million packages. [More]
