As the food supply chain gets longer and harder to control — food companies are basically giving up and placing the responsibility for food safety on you, the consumer. In fact, one food giant, General Mills, has essentially conceded that cooking their food in a microwave isn’t good enough.
Quality & Safety
HP And Compaq Laptop Computer Batteries Recalled Due To Fire Hazard
By 5.14.09
HP announced today that laptop computer batteries have been recalled as a fire hazard due to risk of overheating. Affected models are HP Pavilion, Compaq Presario, HP, and HP Compaq computers sold from about August 2007 to March 2008. Find out if your computer is affected and get a replacement battery at HP’s site.
"Langostino Lobster" More Closely Related To Hermit Crab Than To Lobster
By 5.14.09
If you see the word “langostino” in front of “lobster” at your local seafood fast food chain (*cough* Long John Silvers), make sure you understand what it is you’re about to eat. In the US, langostino can refer to squat lobster, pelagic crab or Colorado langostino—all types of shellfish, and more closely related to crabs and, yes, hermit crabs than to lobsters. “Sweet Buttery Hermit Handfuls” wouldn’t be any more accurate than “Buttered Langostino Lobster Bites,” but it wouldn’t be any less accurate, either. And no, LJS, it doesn’t count if you put the shellfish pieces in a cardboard lobster tail.
Jardine Crib Recall Program Tells Customers To Screw Themselves
By 5.13.09
Aw, get a load of that smile. That’s my 3-month-old daughter, Emma, whom I found out has been sleeping in a wooden minefield rather than a crib.
FDA to General Mills: Your Marketing Has Made Cheerios Into A Drug
By 5.12.09
Do you want to know something about Cheerios that, until recently, General Mills didn’t know? Of course you do. Cheerios is a drug. No, really. The WSJ Health Blog says that General Mills made a slight, um, let’s call it a “miscalculation” when they were drafting their marketing speech and by claiming that Cheerios is “clinically proven to lower cholesterol,” they inadvertently “cause[d] it to be a drug.” Whoopsies!
By 5.11.09
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Using a cell phone as your home phone comes with a risk Although consumers can save money by canceling their land lines, they risk dropped calls and difficulty being located if they ever need to call 911. What do you think: are the savings worth the risk? [Consumer Reports Electronics]
Snake Head On T.G.I. Friday's Plate Wasn't Cooked With Broccoli
By 5.8.09
Lab tests are back on the side dish serpent an upstate New York man found on his plate at T.G.I. Friday’s (a story we broke, with pictures). The snake wasn’t cooked with the broccoli. It wasn’t cooked at all.
Big Brother Is Watching You Grocery Shop
By 5.8.09
Star fruit distributed by Melissa’s Produce between April 21 and May 5 is being recalled due to chemical residues. Mmmm. I’m having a hard time finding coverage of the recall itself, but one grocery store’s handling of the situation got my attention.
Above And Beyond: Canon Replaces Broken 5-Year-Old Camera For Free
By 5.6.09
It shouldn’t surprise me when a company stands behind their products’ quality, but it really does. One reader was so happy with her experience with Canon that she had to share it with us.
Obama Picks CPSC Head So They Can Finally Do Their Job
By 5.5.09
Obama nominated Inez Moore Tenenbaum as Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) head and Robert Adler as commissioner. He is also also Congress for $107 million more in funding and plans on beefing up the total number of commissioners to five. [Reuters] (Photo: ashi)
By 5.4.09
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How To Wash Your Hands You’re probably not scrubbing and rinsing long enough; try singing the guitar riff to “Layla” while you wash. [Consumer Reports Safety]
Former FDA Commissioner David Kessler Dumpster Dived To Keep You Thin
By 5.2.09
Consider this the next time you wonder how far government officials will go to protect you: former FDA Commissioner David Kessler used to dumpster dive for nutritional data that chain restaurants were unwilling to hand over. Kessler, who rummaged through rubbish in slacks and padded gardening gloves, was looking for the ingredient labels that suppliers are required to print on all inter-state food shipments. Kessler’s findings were both dirty and disturbing…
RECALL: FDA Warns Consumers To Stop Using Hydroxycut Immediately
By 5.1.09
The FDA has issued a warning instructing consumers to stop using Hydroxycut immediately due to the risk of severe injury to the liver.
Track The H1N1 Swine Flu Across The Globe
By 4.27.09
Everyone’s still unsure whether the H1N1 Swine Flu is a mild outbreak or something worse, but in the meantime you can amuse yourself with this grim Google Map of suspected and actual cases around the globe. It will give you something to do until the time comes when you have to decide between joining Randall Flagg or Mother Abagail.
Salmonella Found In Alfalfa Sprouts
By 4.27.09
Raw alfalfa sprouts have been linked to salmonella outbreaks across the country, according to the FDA. Recent salmonella cases have been diagnosed in Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia, and the FDA is linking this outbreak to salmonella infections a few months ago in other states, including Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska. (Photo: Erin Collins)
Trader Joe's Salmon Comes With Delectable Organic Free-Range Worm
By 4.24.09
Reader David was eating his dinner of Trader Joe’s Chimichurri salmon when he found an unexpected garnish: a rather dead and fully cooked worm. It was brown and roughly an inch long. He e-mailed the company, then brought the fish (and worm) back to the store for a refund. While the store supervisor’s handling of the situation was stellar, the reaction from Trader Joe’s corporate has been…nonexistent.
Packaged Frozen Meal Preparation Requires…Food Thermometer?
By 4.23.09
When I throw a frozen meal in my messenger bag on my way out the door for work, it’s because I don’t have the time or the facilities for complicated meal preparation at work. Marie Callender’s may not be aiming their new “Pasta al Dente” frozen meals at the key lunch-at-work demographic.
Please Handle Your Balls Carefully While Exercising
By 4.17.09
The CPSC has issued a hazard warning for Bally Total Fitness, Everlast, Valeo, and Body Fit fitness balls, due to instances of overinflation “causing the user to fall to the floor”.
