The CPSC has issued a consumer alert, urging you to stop using Simplicity Inc.’s “close-sleeper/bedside sleeper” bassinets after two infants died after being strangled by the product’s metal bars. The company is refusing to cooperate with the CPSC and will not recall the product.
Quality & Safety
Mattel's Toy Blood Pressure Cuff's Paint Was About 5% Lead
By 8.29.08
Just how much lead was in that toy blood pressure cuff Mattel were so reluctant to recall back in February? The one they said “me federal regulations and international consumer product safety standards?” Well, a reader’s scientist friend working in lab tested it on the equipment there. According to his results, the amount of lead in the paint was 4-5% lead by weight. “For reference,” he writes, “U.S. EPA HUD guidelines set the action limit for paint at 0.5% lead by weight. Any level over 0.5% is considered to be contaminated…Lead paint used on houses 50 years ago had lead content of 2-15%.”
Applebee's Food Comes With Delicious "Use By" Sticker
By 8.27.08
Reader Jamie’s Applebee’s dinner came with an interesting ingredient: an expiration date sticker. Understandably grossed out, Jamie asked Applebee’s for some new food. They agreed, fished out the sticker and brought the old food back. Ick.
Air Canada Cuts Inflatable Life Vests In Order To Save Fuel
By 8.25.08
Airlines are cutting things like entertainment units, snacks and beverages in order to raise revenue and cut fuel costs, but what about those inflatable life vests? Do we need those? Air Canada’s regional airline “Jazz” doesn’t think so.
Pepperoni Hot Pockets Recalled For Containing Plastic
By 8.22.08
The recall is for 54-ounce, 12-pack cartons of Hot Pockets Pepperoni Pizza with the following printed on the sides of each carton: “8157544614D,” “EST 7721A” and “BEST BEFORE JAN2010.”
E. Coli: FDA Will Allow Spinach, Lettuce To Be Irradiated
By 8.22.08
For the first time ever, the FDA is going to allow manufacturers to irradiate produce at levels that can kill bacteria that causes food-borne illness, says the New York Times. The produce in question, spinach and iceberg lettuce, have, in recent years, been linked to widespread outbreaks of serious illnesses.
FDA: Pardon Me, But Your Bakery Warehouse Is Full Of "Rodent Excreta Pellets"
By 8.21.08
We’d never stopped to think about it before, but we were not surprised to learn that our government had a polite term for rodent feces. It’s “rodent excreta pellet,” and apparently a warehouse belonging to Capitol Cake, a Baltimore bakery specializing in fruitcake and pound cake, is full of them.
By 8.18.08
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The FAA says the Southwest Airlines isn’t going to be able to weasel its way out of paying that $10.2 million fine for missing aircraft inspections. [Bizjournals]
FDA Declares Bisphenol A Safe
By 8.15.08
Bisphenol A, or BPA, is the chemical used in various plastic bottles and can linings that Canada recently banned, consumers in Arkansas, California, and Ohio have filed lawsuits over, and Playtex and Nalgene have stopped using. The fear is that it’s toxic—studies on animals in Canada have shown that it’s damaging, and some tests in the U.S. suggest it’s harmful to humans as well. Critics of the anti-BPA movement point out that the human studies rely on super high dosages that never occur in real life, and that making safety decisions based on the general public’s fears isn’t exactly scientific.
FAA To Fine American Airlines $7.1 Million For Safety Violations
By 8.15.08
The FAA is not pleased with American Airlines. They say the airline should pay $7.1 million in fines for deferring maintainence and not complying with employee drug testing requirements. AA says the fines are too severe and will appeal.
Forget Your ID? TSA Places Forgetful Fliers On A List That Helps Track "Potential Terrorists"
By 8.14.08
USAToday says that the TSA was placing fliers who forgot their ID in a database along with people who have been questioned for “suspicious behavior” or who “violated security laws.” In an interview, TSA chief Kip Hawley told the paper that the “the information helps track potential terrorists who may be “probing the system” by trying to get though checkpoints at various airports.”
Sorry About The Rocks In Your Raisin Bread. Here's $5.
By 8.13.08
We’ve never really stopped to wonder what sort of compensation we would require if we found small rocks in our raisin bread, but we’re pretty sure that it’s more than $5. Maybe we’re being unrealistic, because when Michael Snyder found rocks in the raisin bread he bought from a bakery in Somerville, Massachusetts, he asked for 5 loaves of bread in compensation and settled for $5 instead.
Whole Foods Recalls Previously Recalled Meat. What?
By 8.9.08
Whole Foods apparently never got that June memo to chuck Nebraska Beef contaminated with E. coli. The posh-man’s bodega announced yesterday that they are recalling the previously-recalled beef, which Whole Foods sold between June 2 and August 6. The contaminated beef has popped up in 24 states and sickened 49 people. Noted food safety litigator Bill Marler shows us that being a lawyer can be fun by posing six amusingly litigious questions for Whole Foods…
Walmart Takes Salmonella Peppers Very Seriously
By 8.6.08
THE QUOTE: “Obviously, food safety is very important to us. It’s a matter we take very seriously,” said Walmart spokesperson Daphne Davis Moore . “We’ll take a very close look at it.”
House, Senate Pass Bill That Increases CPSC Budget, Bans Lead In Toys
By 8.1.08
New legislation banning lead and (pending further study) six types of phthalates (chemicals suspected of causing heath problems) from children’s products has passed the Senate and now moves on to President Bush. In addition to banning lead and other chemicals, the bill will require independent testing of children’s products before they can enter the marketplace — a practice many consumers assumed was standard until they found out that Thomas the Tank Engine was covered in lead.
By 7.29.08
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Another day, another child wearing Crocs is injured while riding an escalator at the Atlanta airport. Hey, parents. Stop letting your kids wear these on moving walkways and escalators, will ya? [WSBTV] (Thanks, Ryan!)
