Because we all love our pets, we want to take good care of them. But since most of us aren’t veterinarians (unless we have a very specific demographic no one told me about), the best we can do when talking to our pets’ doctors is to ask the right questions. To help everyone along, the peeps at the FDA have put together this handy/dandy list of things you should ask your vet when getting meds for your furry friends. [More]
Quality & Safety
Recall Roundup: Step Away From The Pepper Edition
By 3.31.10
Salmonella in the pepper! Salmonella in the hydrolyzed vegetable protein! Salmonella everywhere! Oh yeah, and some other stuff was recalled too. [More]
Investigation Reveals Widespread Fraud In Seafood Packaging
By 3.30.10
It’s a common, legal practice to protect seafood with a layer of ice before packaging it up for retail sale. It’s also apparently a common practice to add that ice into the total weight of the seafood, and in some cases to add more ice than necessary just to bump up the total weight, which isn’t legal and which defrauds the consumer. The National Conference on Weights and Measures recently investigated seafood packaging in 17 states and pulled more than 21,000 packages of seafood from store shelves, noting that in one particularly bad case ice made up 40% of the total listed weight. [More]
Sorry, No Jet Lag Drug For You
By 3.30.10
The FDA has declined to approve an application for use of an alertness drug, Nuvigil, to treat jet lag. [More]
Shiny Suds! Creepy Singing Bubbles Watch You Shower
By 3.30.10
Oh, those helpful, singing, dancing scrubbing bubbles! They frolic through your shower and make all a-sparkle! But what happens after the cameras stop rolling? Let’s see. Looks like some of these bubbles don’t want to leave, but remain as chemical residue, and watch you shower… The video is an amusing piece of animated propaganda from Method to drive interest in the Household Labeling Act, which would require cleaning products to list all their ingredients on their labels. [More]
Couple Arrested For Replacing Jell-O Mix With Sand, Returning It
By 3.29.10
In what may be the lamest reenactment of an Indiana Jones scene ever, a Long Island couple has been arrested and charged with multiple counts of petit larceny and tampering with a consumer product. Police say they are suspected of buying boxes of Jell-O pudding mix and replacing the mix with “aquarium sand” before returning the boxes. [More]
This Isn't A Frozen Green Bean, It's A Chunk Of Garter Snake
By 3.27.10
Remember the animal head that a Houston family found inside a bag of frozen Pictsweet green beans? The family was convinced that the animal was a snake, though experts thought that it was a frog. Maybe they were right after all, and the animal was a snake…because a different part of a snake was found inside another bag of Pictsweet green beans in Wisconsin. What part? Well, it’s not the head, and it’s not the end, but it was conveniently cut to the same length as the green beans. [More]
Lawyers Begin Scrambling For Position In Toyota Lawsuits
By 3.26.10
More than 100 lawyers from all around the country packed into a San Diego courtroom yesterday in an attempt to stake their claim to the lion’s share of any settlements that come from the multitude of federal lawsuits filed against Toyota in recent weeks. [More]
POLL: Should Tanning Beds Require Parental Consent?
By 3.26.10
Yesterday, a Food & Drug Administration advisory panel suggested that the FDA begin making it a requirement for children and teenagers who want to get a golden glow from a tanning bed that they must first obtain parental consent on a form documenting that the parents are aware of the potential hazards of tanning. Since I get my sun the natural way — from the backlit screen of my laptop — I’d like to know from y’all whether you think this is a sensible idea that will help prevent skin disease and cancer in the long run or if it’s just more mandated mollycoddling… [More]
Burger King Employee Tells Facebook Friends He Spits On Food
By 3.26.10
While it may not be as egregious as the Domino’s Pizza employees who videotaped themselves desecrating their work kitchen, a Burger King employee in Michigan is in hot water after blabbing on Facebook about spitting in the food. [More]
Recalled Baby Gates Failed To Prevent Plummeting Babies
By 3.25.10
Evenflo Top-of-Stairâ„¢ Plus Wood Gates are supposed to stop your baby from plummeting down the stairs. Unfortunately, they do not do this, so they have been recalled. [More]
1 Million Infantino Slings Recalled After 3 Babies Suffocate
By 3.24.10
The CPSC announced today that the The Infantino “SlingRider,”– a soft fabric baby carrier with a padded shoulder strap — has been recalled after three reports of deaths that occurred in these slings in 2009; a 7-week-old infant in Philadelphia, Pa.; a 6-day-old infant in Salem, Ore.; and a 3-month-old infant in Cincinnati, Ohio. [More]
Fake Toyota CEO: "From Now On No Brakes!"
By 3.24.10
Uh-oh, (fake) Mr. Toyoda is mad. He went on Letterman to call the latest runaway Toyota report a hoax, and he’s going to get revenge for this blatant attempt to shame him. “From now on, Toyota no brakes!” Also, he’s apparently upset about Jay Leno for some reason. All are punish-ed!
Fake Toyota CEO Yells at David Letterman, Mocks Jay Leno [Gawker.TV] (Thanks to GitEmSteveDave!)
Document Shows Toyota Knew Of Camry Acceleration Issues In 2002
By 3.23.10
A newly uncovered document shows that Toyota alerted dealers to complaints from some drivers of 2002 Camrys about “surging during light throttle input at speeds between 38-42 mph” and that the resolution to the issue is an electronic, not mechanical issue. [More]
Zocor Can Increase Chance Of Muscle Injury & Kidney Damage: FDA
By 3.19.10
While myopathy (muscle injury) is a known side effect for all cholesterol-lowering statin medications, the FDA has just issued a warning that, when prescribed and used at higher doses, Zocor (generic name: simvastatin) carries with it a greater risk of developing muscle injury, including the most serious form of myopathy, rhabdomyolysis, which can lead to kidney damage, kidney failure, and possibly death. [More]
FAA Proposes Over $1 Million In Fines Against American Airlines
By 3.19.10
It’s been a bad week for American Airlines. Not only are their flight attendants and ground crew edging closer to a strike, the FAA has proposed over $1 million in fines for alleged safety violations. [More]
New FDA Rules Take The Fun Out Of Cigarette Advertising
By 3.19.10
It’s been fifteen years and three presidents since it was first proposed, but the FDA has now signed off on a new set of rules for tobacco companies that seek to limit the marketing of cigarettes and chewing tobacco to teens and children. These new rules cover both advertising and distribution and will essentially put an end to tobacco-branded clothing, tobacco-sponsored sporting and music events, and the use of music in tobacco ads on the radio. [More]
NHTSA: No Evidence Of Braking In NY Prius Crash
By 3.18.10
Looks like those who called “driver error” on the Prius that slammed into a stone wall in upstate New York a couple weeks back might have reason to boast. An e-mail from NHTSA seems to negate the driver’s claims that she attempted to brake during the incident. [More]
