Salads are among the most common sources of foodborne illness, and we’ve repeatedly seen how pre-cut, bagged salad products can harbor ugly pathogens like listeria or salmonella. A new scientific study finds that pre-cutting these leafy vegetables may actually be contributing to the growth of salmonella. [More]
Quality & Safety
Apple Unveils $149 Fix For So-Called “Touch Disease,” Blames Users For Issue
By 11.18.16
Months after owners of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus devices began complaining that their devices were affected by the so-called “touch disease” flaw that effectively renders the devices useless when the touchscreen becomes unresponsive, Apple has unveiled a fix for the issue on the larger Plus phones — but it’ll cost you $149. [More]
Walmart Plans To Track Fresh Produce Like Bitcoin
By 11.18.16
Blockchain is a type of secure database that serves as an unchangeable ledger of information about an object. It was invented to track the movements of the cryptocurrency bitcoin, creating records that are anonymous but can’t be tampered with. Blockchain has applications outside of electronic currency, though, like tracking where your pork and vegetables have been. Wait, what? [More]
4C Grated Cheese Recalled Because Salmonella Doesn’t Taste Great On Pasta
By 11.17.16
Thinking of having a nice spaghetti dinner tonight? How about a few slices of cheesy pizza? If your plans also include topping those dishes with grated parmesan or romano cheese you might want to check the label, so as to make sure you’re not sprinkling salmonella on your dinner. [More]
Mazda Recalls RX-8 Sports Cars Over Risk Of Fuel Leaks
By 11.15.16
If you have a Mazda RX-8 parked outside that’s around a decade old, you’ll need to go to your nearest dealership soon: cars from model years 2004 through 2008, about 70,000 of which are still on the road, have been recalled because their fuel pump sealing rings may weaken over time and cause leaks, which in turn is a fire hazard. [More]
Dodge Ram Owners Accuse Chrysler Of Cheating On Emissions
By 11.14.16
Owners of Dodge Ram trucks are now claiming that Fiat Chrysler installed so-called “defeat device” technology — though different from what was found in Volkswagen’s ongoing “Dieselgate” scandal — that was allegedly designed to do a bad job of restricting emissions. [More]
NHTSA: New Hybrid, Electric Cars Must Make Noise So Pedestrians Hear Them Coming
By 11.14.16
Even if car doesn’t have an engine to rev, it still has to make enough noise to warn pedestrians that it’s coming. So says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which just released a new rule that says all hybrid and electric vehicles have to produce an audible sound when traveling at low speeds. [More]
Cedar Crest Ice Cream Joins Cookie Dough Recall
By 11.14.16
Back in September, Blue Bell Creameries scared its fans again by announcing a recall of ice cream for possible Listeria contamination. Fortunately, it wasn’t a repeat of the massive contamination last year: the bacteria was in cookie dough from an outside supplier. That dough also went to other ice cream companies, including Publix, Blue Bunny, and Chocolate Shoppe, which later recalled their cookie dough ice creams. Now another brand, Cedar Crest, is joining the recall. [More]
Sunroofs Can Explode While You’re Driving, With No Warning
By 11.11.16
For a while now, we’ve shared horror stories from people whose tempered glass shower doors exploded with no warning. While the glass is designed to break into small pieces inside the car, it can really freak drivers and passengers out. [More]
Three Gourmet Ice Cream Brands Recalled For Possible Listeria
By 11.11.16
Being fancy and expensive is no guarantee against contamination, which is a lesson that all food processors should learn. This week’s recall is of gourmet ice cream from the brands Agave Dream, L.A. Creamery, and Nancy’s, all of which came from the same co-packing facility, and all of which may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. [More]
Uber Driver Charged With Raping Unconscious Teenage Passenger
By 11.10.16
An Uber driver in Laguna Beach, CA has been arrested and charged with raping an unconscious 17-year-old passenger in the back seat of his car. [More]
GoPro Recalls Recently Launched Drones After Some Stop Working
By 11.9.16
GoPro only released its new $800 (no camera included) Karma drone two weeks ago, but the flying photo-taking device has already been recalled because some of them simply stopped working.
[More]
Soylent Says It Knows What’s Making Customers Sick; Will Stop Using Algae-Based Flour
By 11.7.16
Last month, meal-replacement startup Soylent voluntarily stopped selling its new-to-market nutrition bar and long-running powder after receiving reports from customers who became ill after consuming the meal-replacement products. Now, the company says it has pinpointed the cause of the issues: an algae-based ingredient called algal flour. [More]
Court: Nursing Homes Can Continue Stripping New Residents Of Their Right To Day In Court
By 11.7.16
In September, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a new rule that would prevent most nursing homes and other long-term care facilities from using forced arbitration to strip new residents of their right to file lawsuits against these companies. The industry soon fired back by doing the very thing it doesn’t want its customers to do: filing a lawsuit. This morning, the judge in the case granted the industry’s request for a preliminary injunction preventing the new rule from being enforced. [More]
On-Cor Frozen Chicken Patties Recalled For Possible Blue Plastic Pieces
By 11.7.16
People who eschew breaded chicken patties and nuggets often question what’s in the patties, but usually they’re afraid of animal parts that Americans don’t normally eat, or mysterious fillers. Yet another chicken product recall shows us that we should actually be concerned about pieces of production equipment in our chicken products, not mystery meats. Almost eleven tons of chicken patties have been recalled from the brand On-Cor. [More]
Lawsuit Claims Leaky Glade Air Fresheners Can Burn Through Car Dashboards
By 11.4.16
Another week, another lawsuit over allegedly defective fragrance products doing damage to vehicles: some consumers who bought Glade air fresheners for their cars say the items ended up leaking all over the place, and in some cases, burning holes through car dashboards. [More]
Fourth Child’s Death Linked To Recalled IKEA Dressers
By 11.4.16
Federal safety regulators have confirmed a fourth death linked to nearly 29 million recalled top-heavy Malm dressers and chests sold by IKEA. [More]
