Generally speaking, laptops get hot, or at least very warm. You pack all that computing power into a slim case with minimal exhaust and it’s bound to happen. But Sony says that some of its popular Vaio Laptops were getting so hot they presented a potential burn hazard to users. [More]
Quality & Safety
California Is A Hotbed Of Rogue Nurses
By 6.29.10
Where can nurses go after they’ve been sanctioned elsewhere for misconduct? To California, it seems. The state’s Board of Registered Nursing launched a review, spurred on by a Los Angeles Times/Pro-Publica investigation last year, and discovered 3,500 nurses who have licenses in California even though they’ve lost their licenses in other states; 1,700 of these nurses currently have active licenses. In more than half of all cases, the sanctions were for serious violations such as “sexual abuse, neglect, rampant drug use and criminality.” [More]
FDA To Farmers: Enough Already With All The Antibiotics
By 6.29.10
After coming to the conclusion that farmers have gone a little hog-wild with their use of antimicrobials — not to cure animals of disease, but to spur animal growth — the FDA has kindly asked them to cut it out because it’s just going to make the rest of us sicker. [More]
Stone Brewing Co. Discovers Its Beer Mustard Is Missing The Beer
By 6.28.10
In addition to pale ales, Stone Brewing Co. sells mustards and sauces made with beer. Last week, in a blog post titled “MustardGate 2010,” the company announced that it recently discovered its mustards were beerless. (Or as they describe it, those mustards are “instant beer mustards–just add beer!”) The real mystery is what happened to the beer; the brewer says the kegs sent out to the mustard company were sent back empty. [More]
Airline Food Might Not Only Taste Bad, It Might Make You Sick
By 6.28.10
Maybe it’s a good thing that more and more airlines are charging to chow down on their mediocre meals. FDA reports uncovered by USA Today reveals the unappetizing conditions at some of the kitchens that prepare the overpriced grub. [More]
Why Does The UK Get Healthier McNuggets Than We Do?
By 6.28.10
When one thinks of British cuisine — bangers and mash, fish and chips, shepherd’s pie — one doesn’t necessarily think of health food. But, at least when it comes to McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets, our funny-speaking friends across the Atlantic are getting the less-caloric end of the deal. [More]
Glass Shower Door Explodes All Over Consumer Journalist
By 6.28.10
Skreekaboosploosh! A large cut and 20 small cuts blossomed on consumer journalist Bob Sullivan’s body as his tempered glass shower door exploded all around him. [More]
35,000 Bottles Of Scope Recalled For Defective Caps
By 6.28.10
If you have a 1-liter bottle of Scope Original Mint Mouthwash that you bought sometime since January 1st, you might want to test the cap. If it twists off without needing the sides pressed in and it’s a got the number 4 stamped onto the bottom, Procter & Gamble would like to replace it, please. [More]
Toyota Recalls 17,000 Lexus HS 250h Hybrids Over Potential Fire Risks
By 6.25.10
No, you’re not having a flashback. This is a new Toyota recall, and it’s not based on sticky pedals, stuck floormats or problems with emergency handling. This time, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the problem is that the Lexus HS 250h hybrid could leak fuel in rear-end collisions, potentially causing fires. Sales of the vehicle have been halted as Toyota works on a solution. [More]
Kellogg's Recalls 28 Million Boxes Of Cereal Over Stinky Box Liners
By 6.25.10
A few weeks after getting slapped on the wrist by the FTC for the second time in a year, the Kellogg Company’s cereal division has another embarrassment on its hands — a recall of 28 million boxes of Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, Froot Loops and Honey Smacks due to “an uncharacteristic off-flavor and smell coming from the liner in the package.” [More]
KFC Doesn't Realize That Lack Of Bun Is Whole Point To Double Down
By 6.24.10
When KFC announced the Double Down a few months back, the only real reason anyone took notice of the sandwich was because they’d made the audacious — not to mention greasy — decision to replace the bun with two slabs of fried chicken. Now, in a move to make the Double Down significantly less interesting, KFC has turned the sandwich into… well, just another sandwich. [More]
Shuttered Tylenol Plant Had Troubling Pattern of Problems
By 6.24.10
Should Tylenol have been recalled sooner? FDA inspection reports going back to 2003 paint a queasy picture. [More]
Would You Like Fries With Your Lion Burger?
By 6.24.10 — Updated: 3.11.13
By now, you’ve probably heard about the small Mesa, Arizona, restaurant that caused an up-roar this week by making a limited-time addition to its menu — Lion Burgers. If you hadn’t heard about it, well now you have. But putting any judgment aside for the moment, one has to ask — Where in the world do you get lion meat from? [More]
VIDEO: What's So Dangerous About Drop-Side Cribs?
By 6.24.10
So 2 million drop-side cribs were recalled this morning, but what is it about drop-side cribs that leads to can lead to baby entrapment, even death? What should you do if you own a drop-side crib? What’s the deal with the immobilizer devices? How do you test it to make sure its safe? Can I fix the crib myself? The CPSC answers these questions and more in a new video released this morning: [More]
14 People Foods That Will Poison Your Puppy
By 6.24.10
Any good dog owner knows it’s a bad idea to feed your dog chocolate. And you know at Christmas to keep the pooch out of the poinsettias. But the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center handled more than 17,000 cases of poisoned pets in 2009 — and not all of them were because Snarf got into your Cadbury’s stash. [More]
2,000,000+ Drop-Side Cribs Recalled
By 6.24.10
The CPSC recalled over 2 million drop-side cribs from seven firms today, due to reports of falling and entrapment. The makers are: [More]
Toyota's Toyoda Apologizes To Shareholders
By 6.24.10
Today in Tokyo, Toyota president Akio Toyoda met with shareholders for the first time since the world’s largest automaker began issuing recalls on millions of its vehicles last October. And fittingly enough, the grandson of the company’s founder kicked things off humbly. [More]
Half-A-Dozen Companies Knew About Tainted Drywall, But Stayed Mum And Kept Selling It
By 6.23.10
Newly released court documents indicate that over a half-dozen companies knew about the rotten egg smells exuding from Chinese drywall since 2006, but they stayed quiet and kept selling the junk. [More]
