A campaign to stop Michael Baroody from getting nominated as head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission sprung up at StopBaroody.com. While Baroody was Executive Vice President of NAM, the manufacturer’s lobby:
Quality & Safety
FDA Names "Food Safety Czar"
By 5.2.07
The FDA has appointed a “Director of the Food Safety and Security Staff,” which the media has shortened to “Food Safety Czar.” The new Director of Food Safety is David W.K. Acheson, M.D, whom we will, naturally, be nicknaming “David W.K.”
Chinese Frequently Cut Pet Food With Melamine
By 4.30.07
The melamine thought to be the cause of dozens of pet deaths is routinely added as a filler to food in China, New York Times reports.
Walmart Pulls Contaminated Frozen Catfish From China
By 4.28.07
Fluoroquinolone was reportedly banned by the FDA in 1997, but Florida food safety experts officials told CBS-4’s Al Sunshine that it is not an imminent threat to public health and it’s more of an issue of keeping unneeded antibiotics out of the human food supply.
FDA Serves Search Warrants On Two Pet Food Plants
By 4.27.07
The FDA served search warrants on two pet food plants that manufactured ingredients involved in the recall of millions of cans of pet food.
Tell Your Senator To Oppose Nominating Guy Who Hates Product Safety As Head Of Product Safety
By 4.27.07
Eight consumers groups have united to oppose the nomination of Michael Baroody for the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Baroody is the executive vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers, which has consistently worked to undermine the very efforts of the organization Bush knighted Baroody to helm.
It's National Playground Safety Week!
By 4.26.07
Oh joy! National Playground Safety Week! The week when 20-somethings can look back and remember the day, nay, the hour when playgrounds went from insanely fun labyrinths of dangerous wood and metal to orange and red plastic monstrosities capable of generating enough static electricity to reanimated a recently decreased pet.
Acer Laptop Batteries Recalled Due To Fire Hazard
By 4.26.07
It seems Acer fell asleep during the whole Sony battery recall thing and is just recalling them now. Well, I do have a couple of affected Acer laptops, and so far the process is painful. The operators on the other end answer the phone in a language unknown to me (though one time I think I heard the operator say South Africa?) though they promptly switched to very understandable English after I spoke.
FDA Knew About Tainted Peanut Butter And Spinach But Was Too Poor To Act
By 4.24.07
Remember that spinach and peanut butter that got recalled? Turns out the FDA knew of the dangers to the food supply for years but, understaffed and underfunded, they only took tiny steps to address the problems.
Tainted Pet Food Hits Human Food Supply
By 4.23.07
California officials quarantined 1,500 animals at the American Hog Farm and are tracking who purchased nearly 100 hogs from the farm this month, when the animals’ feed included pet food that had been tainted with melamine.
Year-Old Frozen Hamburger Recalled Due To E. Coli
By 4.23.07
Yes, even freezing meat for 1 year will not dampen the power of e. coli. From the LA Times:
The meat was produced by Richwood Meat Co. on April 28, 2006, dated either “4-28-06” or “118-6,” for the 118th day of the year, said Mike Wood, the company’s president. Although the product was manufactured a year ago, the patties still may be present in freezers at home or in stores, officials said.
CPSC Recalls Magnetix Magnetic Building Sets, Warns "Small Magnets Are Injuring Children"
By 4.23.07
Mega Brands is recalling 4 million Magnetix Magnetic Building Sets over concerns that children may ingest small magnets that can detach from the sets.
To date, CPSC and Mega Brands are aware of one death, one aspiration and 27 intestinal injuries. Emergency surgical intervention was needed in all but one case. At least 1,500 incidents of magnets separating from the building pieces have been reported.
The recalled sets contain over 250 plastic building pieces. Sets manufactured after March 31, 2006 bearing a warning about the magnets are not included in the recall.
Pet Food Recall: Second Tainted Ingredient Found, Recall Expanded Again
By 4.19.07
“This has exposed that the safety standards for pet foods are not in place in any significant way and the kind of drumbeat, day after day, of recalls has shaken consumers’ confidence in the pet food industry’s adherence to food safety standards,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States.
Sony Recalls Broken DRM-Filled DVDs
By 4.18.07
Sony’s latest bright idea was to issue DVDs with DRM that made them unplayable in their own DVD players. Yes, they’re just that committed to you, their valuable customers. Anyhow, they’ve decided to recall the discs. From IMDb:
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has discovered the source of a problem in their recent DVD releases that prevented them from being played on some players, including some manufactured by the consumer electronics division of Sony itself. The company said the problem was caused by an update of its copy-protection system, which it continually updates in order to derail potential hackers. Among the DVD movies affected were the new James Bond film Casino Royale, The Pursuit of Happyness and Stranger Than Fiction. Sony said that anyone who had purchased one of the discs and has experienced problems playing it may receive a replacement disk free of charge by phoning 800-860-2878.
Reader Mick will be happy about this, as he started a blog about the issue. The recall is probably due in part to his reporting. Good job, Mick! —MEGHANN MARCO
Vending Machine Jewelry Poses Lead Poisoning Risk
By 4.17.07
If your child bought a vending machine necklace for $0.25 this past year, you might want to take it away from him or her and throw it away. According to the CPSC the paint on some of the jewelry (about 900,000 necklaces and bracelets) contains high levels of lead and should not be handled by children.
Recall: There's Botulism In the Olives
By 4.16.07
The olives are sold under the following brands:
Borrelli, Bonta di Puglia, Cento, Corrado’s, Dal Raccolto, Flora, Roland and Vantia, and have codes that start with the letter “G” and are followed by 3 or 4 digits. All sizes of cans, glass jars and pouches of Cerignola, Nocerella and Castelvetrano type olives are affected.
You People Can't Be Trusted With Nailguns
By 4.13.07
“During the 5-year period 2001-2005, an average of approximately 37,000 patients with injuries related to nail-gun use were treated annually in emergency departments, with 40 percent of injuries occurring among consumers,” the report read.
