A new studyshows that choking deaths among children are really a more serious problem than was previously thought and that the death rate is quite high, even among kids who were considered “old enough” for more complicated toys. [More]
Quality & Safety
Store Sells Food Old Enough To Drive, Still Not Breaking Any Laws
By 4.23.10
Sure, eating expired food isn’t going to kill you, but eating food that’s been on the shelves since the George H.W. Bush administration isn’t a delectable culinary experience either. A liquor store near Sacramento, Calif. was caught selling food that wasn’t, strictly speaking, expired, but wasn’t exactly fresh either. [More]
Lay's Says Redesigned Salt Molecule Won't Need FDA Approval
By 4.22.10
Want to eat lots of salty potato chips without overdoing the salt? Frito-Lay thinks it has the answer. Apparently, because of the way salt crystals form, most of the salt you eat doesn’t have time to dissolve on your tongue — but instead is digested. Now Frito-Lay/PepsiCo, the maker of Lay’s potato chips, says it has redesigned salt to melt more efficiently — allowing them to cut back on the amount you eat without sacrificing taste. [More]
Recall Recall!
By 4.21.10
Tropical Bedding Mattress Sets (fire)
Le Hing Baby Walkers (falling)
Mares Dive Computers (drowning)
Hammary Furniture Chests and Tables (lead)
Oriental Furniture Roman Shades and Roll-Up Blinds (strangulation)
War Declared On Salt!
By 4.20.10
Are you tired of the high fructose corn syrup battles? Today the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, released a report that said Americans on average eat enough salt every second to kill a humpback whale kraken. I have not actually read the report, but it probably said something like that. It also said that public education campaigns have failed to reduce sodium intake, and voluntary self-regulation by the food industry hasn’t been effective. [More]
Toyota Recalls 9,400 2010 Lexus GX 460 Vehicles
By 4.19.10
Less than one week after our lab coat-wearing brethren at Consumer Reports issued a “Don’t Buy” rating on the 2010 Lexus GX 460 SUV because of potential rollover issues, Toyota has announced a voluntary recall of approximately 9,400 GX 460s worldwide. [More]
Toyota Recalls 600,000 Sienna Minivans
By 4.17.10
Because 8 million recalled vehicles worldwide was apparently not enough for Toyota, the car giant has gone and recalled 600,000 of their Sienna minivans because of possible rust damage to the cable holding the spare tire. [More]
CPSC To Create New Searchable Database For Consumer Complaints
By 4.16.10
The Consumer Products Safety Commission has voted to create a new database of consumer complaints that will allow consumers to “see complaints of injuries or potential harm that are filed to the commission by consumers, safety groups, health care professionals and others,”
says the Chicago Tribune. Previously this information only became public after it led to a recall. [More]
Let Costco Outfit You For The Coming Apocalypse
By 4.16.10
Everyone loves Costco for its high quality and low prices for items as diverse as wine, toilet paper, cashews, and caskets. What you may not know is that for only $800 (plus shipping) you can store enough freeze-fried food to feed one person for a year, two people for six months, and four people for three months. You can get everything at Costco. [More]
Report: Lack Of Limits, Oversight, Lets Tainted Meat Out Into Market
By 4.13.10
A new report issued by the Dept. of Agriculture’s Office of the Inspector General says that tainted meat is making its way to your dinner plate because of a combination of inter-departmental squabbling and a lack of general oversight by the regulatory agencies involved. [More]
State Farm To Toyota: Pay Us Back For Unintended Acceleration Accidents
By 4.12.10
As if the mass of class-action lawsuits against Toyota weren’t enough for the Japanese car maker, it now faces an immediate challenge from another side — the insurance companies. State Farm announced over the weekend that they want Toyota to reimburse them for claims they’ve had to pay out for incidents related to sudden unintended acceleration. [More]
NHTSA Investigating Possible Brake Problems In 6 Million GM Trucks & SUVs
By 4.9.10
NHTSA, fresh off its $16 million smackdown on Toyota is now investigating the company that booted Toyota from Consumerist’s Worst Company In America tournament — General Motor — for possible brake failure issues in millions of the company’s trucks and SUVs. [More]
FDA: Your Antibacterial Soap May Be No Better Than My Regular Soap
By 4.8.10
Responding to concerns from Congress, the FDA announced today that they are in the process of reviewing how consumers use triclosan, an antibacterial agent used in soap and many other products. And while the FDA says it doesn’t have enough info to tell people not to use soaps containing triclosan, it also doesn’t see any evidence that adding triclosan to soap makes any difference. [More]
NHTSA Hits Toyota With $16.3 Million Penalty For Sticky Pedal
By 4.5.10
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced today that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is seeking the maximum civil penalty of $16.375 million against the world’s largest car maker “for failing to notify the auto safety agency of the dangerous “sticky pedal” defect for at least four months, despite knowing of the potential risk to consumers.” [More]
Is High Fructose Corn Syrup Considered A Natural Ingredient?
By 4.5.10
We get a lot of readers writing in to ask us whether or not a product containing High Fructose Corn Syrup can be labeled as “natural” or “all natural.” The latest was from Kirby, who questioned whether HFCS-containing “All Natural” sodas are indeed “all natural.” And, at least according to the FDA, the answer is “yes.” [More]
Gas Fire Columns Recalled For Being Too Aptly Named
By 4.5.10
Some outdoor gas fire columns sold through Costco in the past 6-7 months have been recalled, because “gas can leak from connections in the column, posing a fire hazard.” I guess that’s why the photo shows it next to a serene koi pond–it’s so you can grab a rake and push it into the water if it gets too fire column-y. [More]
GM Didn't Tell Me About Recall Before My Engine Caught Fire, Won't Help Me Out
By 4.5.10
Naader says his 2002 Buick Regal was totaled when his engine caught fire in February. He discovered afterward that GM had put out an engine fire safety recall for his vehicle back in 2008, but he had never gotten word of the move. Now Naader says GM is stonewalling him on the compensation front. [More]
Gov Says All Stinky Chinese Drywall Should Be Gutted
By 4.2.10
The Consumer Products Safety Commission today released their long-awaited guidelines about the stinky Chinese drywall that has been linked to corrosion and is described in the report as “sulfur-emitting.” The bottom line? Get out the tools. That stuff’s gotta go. Here’s the really bad news: CPSC and HUD also recommend that you replace “electrical components and wiring, gas service piping, fire suppression sprinkler systems, smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms.” [More]
