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Merck is recalling 1.2 million of its PedvaxHIB and Comvax vaccines after “quality-control checks found production equipment may not have been properly sterilized.” There have been no reports of problems—they’re just being extra careful. [Reuters]
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China will allow US food inspectors to be posted inside its factories. No doubt the factory owners will adapt by processing food outside the factory. [NYT]
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Recalls: Oceanic and AERIS SCUBA Regulators (drowning), Trader Joe’s Pinjur (small pieces of glass), Eclipse® 1175e Elliptical Trainers (falling), WEE CHI Ceramic Hairstyling Irons (fire, burn), Gamenamics Air-Powered Hockey Tables (burn), AtHome America Four-wick Decorative Candles (fire), QVC Cook’s Essential Electric Toasters (fire).
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Sales of bagged salads are up, even though the FDA food safety czar says they are not safe to eat because of e. coli contamination. The most recent bagged salad recall was September of this year. People love bagged salad![Bizjournal]
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China and US sign product safety pact. Lucky thing they got that one banged out before Christmas. [AP]
Ah, the game is afoot, China! See how the worm turns! Cliché #3 should go here! China has pulled some unofficially imported (from the U.S.) Pringles chips because they contain potassium bromate, a preservative that we Americans happily ingest in order to breed a race of lumpy super-capitalists—but that China, Hong Kong, and other countries have banned “because tests have found it to be carcinogenic.”
Most recalled meat is eaten before it can be returned to the factory, according to a nauseating analysis by USA Today. Well-publicized and timely recalls catch slightly less than of all affected meat, a stunning accomplishment when compared to the recovery rates for tainted meat that sickens people.
Van Miguel Hartless is suing the owner of a Rutland Burger King after biting into a Southwestern Whopper that contained a used condom. When Hartless complained to the manager, he “laughed off the incident.”
Parents are staying away from small toys this holiday season, says a survey from America’s Research Group, and planning instead to buy more expensive tech items.
Yesterday Hasbro launched a new ad campaign in certain newspapers to promote its comparatively stellar safety record with toys—it hasn’t had any big ticket items show up in the lead-tainted parade this year (or to the date-rape afterparty) and it wants consumers to know.
F-series Super Duty trucks, E-series vans and Excursion SUVs from model years 1997 through 2003 equipped with 7.3-liter diesel engines are being recalled by Ford because of a computer software problem that causes their engines to stall. Several minor accidents have been caused by the defect, but no injuries.
9 people have already been burned. Don’t be that guy! All 167,000 cups were sold at Starbucks for February 2007 through November 2007 for about $11. Return the cups to Starbucks for a full refund and a free beverage. Your un-scalded crotch will thank you.
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Ford is recalling 1.2 million vans, SUVs, and pickup trucks “because of a flaw in an engine sensor that could cause sudden stalling.” [Reuters]
It’s been one hell of a morning for RC2. The manufacturer of the infamous lead-tainted Thomas & Friends toys is recalling a feeding chair that 12 kids have managed to use as a launch platform and a “Winnie-the-Pooh” potty-training chair that’s tainted with lead. Funnily enough, only the orange paint used on the “Winne-the-Pooh” plaque is tainted.
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Recalls: Starbucks Fusion Coffee Mugs (burn), Home Depot Holiday Figurines (lead), Scope Apparel Boys’ Hooded Sweatshirts with Drawstrings (strangulation), RC2 First Years 3-in-1 Flush and Sounds Potty Seats (lead), RC2 First Years Newborn-to-Toddler Reclining Feeding Seats (falling), Sears Personal Identity-brand V-neck sweaters with hood (strangulation), Basic Editions-brand girls’ clothing sets (entrapment, strangulation), TKS-brand children’s pants (entrapment), Collins International Oscillating Ceramic Heaters sold at Menards (fire), Polaris Ranger RZR 800 EFI Utility Vehicles (fire, burn), Bowflex® Ultimate 2 Home Gyms (injury).
Consumer Reports warns us that knockoffs aren’t just found on the streets of NYC, where peddlers push fake Gucci and Prada bags to giggling tourists. There are now “brake pads made of kitty litter, sawdust, and dried grass; power strips, extension cords, and smoke alarms with phony Underwriters Laboratories (UL) marks; medical test kits that give faulty readings; toothpaste made with a chemical found in antifreeze; and cell-phone batteries that could explode. Online drugstores claiming to operate from Canada but actually based in other countries have peddled “Lipitor” and “Celebrex” pills stored under uncontrolled conditions and containing the wrong active ingredients.”
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RECALLS: Metromint flavors Peppermint, Spearmint, Orangemint, and Lemonmint (Bacillus cereus contamination), Ameriwood Entertainment Centers (collapsing killed child), Bell Collectible Mini Helmets (lead), Black & Decker® brand Infrawave™ Toasters (fire), Nordic Track and Reebok Inversion Benches (falling).
If you’ve always just assumed there must be someone in charge of making sure those traveling carnivals have safe rides, you’re right. It’s our friends at the CPSC. Trouble is, they don’t actually have even one person whose full time job it is to ensure the safety of such rides, says the Washington Post.
The agency’s 90 field investigators — who oversee 15,000 products, work from their homes and live mostly on the East Coast — are so overstretched that they frequently arrive at carnival accident scenes after rides have been dismantled.
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