As shocking as it may be to some people, there are shady companies out there hawking supposed “dietary supplements” that actually contain harmful, illegal drugs. Since many consumers trust anything labeled “natural” or marketed as a non-drug, this practice has a potential for negative consequences. [More]
Quality & Safety
Tips For Keeping Your Food Safe When The Power Goes Out
By 8.26.11
By now, everyone from South Carolina to New England is tracking the cone of possibilities of Hurricane Irene. Will she tack west or go east? Whatever path she takes, it seems pretty certain that a lot of folks are going to get drenched and some may lose power, suffer flooding or worse. A power outage can affect the safety of your food supply but there are some things you can do now to prepare for that possibility. [More]
Car Thieves Still Love Jacking Escalades & Full-Sized Pickups
By 8.25.11
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (AKA the people who have all the fun smashing cars into walls without getting ticketed) has released its annual report on which vehicles are the most- and least-frequently boosted by car thieves. And once again the top 10 list is dominated by big pickups and that rolling cliche of new money, the Cadillac Escalade. [More]
Target Expands Step Stool Recall To Include 314,00 More Units
By 8.25.11
Earlier this month, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Target announced a voluntary recall of 206,000 of their wooden step stools. They’re now adding an additional 341,000 units to that recall, citing a potential fall hazard as stools may fall apart when weight is applied on them. [More]
FDA Says Some Cancer Drugs Are In Short Supply
By 8.25.11
According to the Food and Drug Administration, several generic cancer drugs are suffering dwindling supplies, creating stumbling blocks for treatment programs. The past two years have yielded sizable spikes in shortages, many of which are generic injections used to treat testicular and breast cancer. [More]
Botox Now Approved To Keep Your Overactive Bladder Wrinkle-Free
By 8.24.11
Before it became a party favor passed around by the vanity-obsessed set, Botox was considered to have several non-cosmetic therapeutic purposes, many involving the treatment of muscle spasms. And today it was announced that the popular wrinkle-fighting drug has been approved for use by some people suffering from overactive bladder. [More]
Over 5,000 Children A Year Fall From Windows, Need Emergency Care
By 8.23.11
Protective parents take note — it’s not just staircases, electrical outlets and sharp edges in your home you need to keep your kids away from. Over 5,000 children each year fall out of windows and end up in the emergency room. [More]
Philips Recalls 1.86 Million Potentially Plummeting Compact Fluorescent Flood Lamps
By 8.22.11
Philips and the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a few weeks ago the recall of about 1.86 million compact fluorescent floodlamps sold under the EnergySaver and Marathon brands between 2007 and 2010. The reflector around the lamp can come unglued, shattering on the ground or floor. This actually happened to a Consumerist reader, who sent in photos of the glass-shard carnage. [More]
54,000 Clip-On Chairs Recalled For Failing To Clip On To Table Tops
By 8.17.11
The Consumer Product Safety Commission and phil&teds USA Inc, of Fort Collins, Co. announced the recall of the company’s metoo Clip-on Chair. The baby seats, designed to attach to table tops, have clamp parts that may fail. Children seated in the chair may fall or possibly have their fingers crushed or amputated by the failing mechanism. [More]
Tobacco Companies Sue FDA Over New Warning Labels
By 8.17.11
In an effort to get the Food and Drug Administration to shut down its plans to slap graphic new warning labels on tobacco products, four large tobacco firms have sued the government. Big tobacco contends the labels will cost too much to print and will infringe on their rights to free speech. [More]
Radio Flyer Recalls 165,000 Scoot 'N Zoom Riding Toys
By 8.16.11
The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Radio Flyer in Chicago announced the recall of 165,000 Scoot ‘n Zoom riding toys today because the red plastic toy can tip over while being ridden and that is apparently not the original point of the toy. [More]
60,000 Pounds Of Ground Beef Recalled Because E.Coli Doesn't Make For A Good Burger
By 8.15.11
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a recall of more than 60,000 pounds of ground beef because of possible E. coli contamination. The recalled meat was produced by the Kansas-based National Beef Packing Company and shipped to stores nationwide. [More]
Government Wants Organic Small-Batch Ice Cream Maker To Stop Making Organic Small-Batch Ice Cream
By 8.15.11
Nice Cream is a small ice cream company in Chicago that does something strange and daring in the modern food landscape: they make and sell ice cream using only ingredients with names that ordinary people can pronounce. Ingredients such as “cream,” “eggs,” and “pie.” The tiny company was a classic recession success story: a laid-off teacher experiments at home with her Cuisinart ice cream maker, and with hard work and creativity creates a delicious product that’s eventually sold at Whole Foods. But the state of Illinois doesn’t really see it that way, and Nice Cream will have to shut down or make drastic changes to its products and process in order to stay legal. They’re first, and other small-batch ice cream makers could be next. [More]
GM Recalls 16,000 2012 Chevy Impala & Buick LaCrosse Vehicles
By 8.12.11
It isn’t even 2012 yet but General Motors is already recalling nearly 12,000 model year 2012 Chevrolet Impalas and more than 4,000 new Buick Lacrosse cars, each for different reasons. [More]
Honda Recalls 1.5 Million Accords, CR-Vs & Elements Over Transmission Concerns
By 8.5.11
Honda has announced a recall of certain model year 2005-2010 4-cylinder Accords, 2007-2010 CR-Vs and 2005-2008 Elements to update the software that controls those vehicles’ automatic transmissions. [More]
300,000 Dodge & Chrysler Minivans Recalled For Possible Airbag Problems
By 8.4.11
Chrysler has recalled 300,000 model year 2008 Dodge Caravan, Chrsyler Grand Voyager and Town & Country minivans in the U.S. over concerns that the airbags on these vehicles could inadvertently deploy, which is hilarious in slapstick comedies but potentially deadly in real life. [More]
Company Recalls 36 Million Pounds Of Possibly Salmonella-Tainted Ground Turkey
By 8.4.11
Salmonella-tainted turkey has killed one person and sickened dozens of others, leading Arkansas-based Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation to recall 36 million pounds of possibly dangerous ground turkey. [More]
CPSC Chair Tenenbaum: We're Not Trying To Play "Gotcha" With Manufacturers
By 8.3.11
Regular readers of Consumerist know that we cover a lot of recalls — from faulty booster seats to wine openers with potentially bloody consequences — many of them announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. We recently met with CPSC chair Inez Tenenbaum to discuss how the commission works with manufacturers on everything from the recall process to new standards on lead and drop-side cribs, and why some within the commission are attempting to scuttle its new products database. [More]
