Finding prizes in your food can be fun when you’re expecting them, but one San Antonio grandmother says she certainly wasn’t expecting to shake her Nature Valley granola bar wrapper and have a baggie filled with cocaine and covered in dollar signs fall out. [More]
Quality & Safety
Jeni’s Splendid Pinpoints Source Of Listeria Contamination That Led To The Recall Of All Products
By 5.7.15
The source of a listeria contamination that resulted in an Ohio-based ice cream maker recalling all of its products and temporarily closing its boutique stores has been traced to just one machine in the company’s production facility. [More]
NHTSA Investigating Chrysler Recall Remedy After Reports That Sun Visors Continue To Catch Fire
By 5.6.15
When a consumer takes their recalled vehicle to a dealer for repairs, they probably assume they won’t have the same issue with the car in the future. But that apparently hasn’t been the case when it comes to several Jeep and Dodge SUVs recalled last summer, and now the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is probing the effectiveness of the recall remedy. [More]
IKEA Expands Crib Mattress Recall To Include Five Additional Styles
By 5.1.15
All recalls are important to take note of, but ones related to baby products are often of the greatest concern. And IKEA’s expansion of a six-month old recall to include an additional 150,000 crib mattresses because of the risk of entrapment would fall into that category. [More]
Black & Decker To Pay $1.57M Penalty For Failing To Report Defects Of Lawnmower That Started On Its Own
By 5.1.15
Under federal law, manufacturers, distributors and retailers are required to immediately report information regarding possible safety defects to the Consumer Product Safety Commission within 24 hours of obtaining reasonable supporting evidence. That 24-hour window allegedly turned into 11 years for Black & Decker and now the company must pay a nearly $1.6 million fine for failing report safety issues related to an electric lawnmower that started spontaneously, injuring at least two consumers. [More]
4 Children Who Visited Dairy Festival Now Sick From E. Coli
By 4.29.15
When you visit animals at a fair or a petting zoo, there are usually hand-washing or hand sanitizer stations at every entrance and exit. There’s a very good reason why these exist. That’s been proven in Washington state, where a handful of first-graders are sick from E. coli, a potentially dangerous pathogen that’s transmitted in, um, poop. [More]
Ohio Health Officials: Home-Canned Potatoes To Blame For Botulism Outbreak
By 4.29.15 — Updated: 5.23.17
Canning your own food at home is a fantastic idea for anyone who wants vegetables on-hand all year-round. But health officials are warning people to make sure they stick to proper canning techniques, after a batch of home-canned potatoes used to make potato salad was linked to an outbreak of botulism in Ohio that’s killed one person. [More]
Recalled Jeni’s Ice Cream Will Become Fertilizer, Provide Electricity
By 4.28.15
Food that’s recalled because it can be potentially dangerous to the public doesn’t have to go to waste. Jeni’s has to dispose of 535,000 pounds of ice cream, but they aren’t just tossing it all in a landfill. The Columbus Dispatch reports that the potentially listeria-contaminated desserts will instead go into an anaerobic digester, which provides electricity while it digests and produces fertilizer. [Columbus Dispatch] [More]
FDA Continues Crackdown On Dietary Supplement Ingredients, Notifies Makers Of 16 Products To Stop Sales
By 4.28.15
A week after the Food & Drug Administration heeded calls for action by scientists and health advocates by demanding that dietary supplement makers stop selling products with a speed-like ingredient, the agency sent another warning to 14 manufacturers asking them to cease the sale of several products with another possibly harmful stimulant. [More]
Nylabone Recalls Puppy Starter Kits For Possible Salmonella Contamination
By 4.27.15
Puppies chew everything: fingers, toes, shoes, furniture…well, anything else within their reach. Nylabone offers a kit with a few different types of durable bone for your puppy to try in order to redirect their chewing urge toward something more that’s cheaper than shoes and healthier for their teeth. That seems like a good idea…unless the bones they’re chewing are contaminated with salmonella bacteria. [More]
Groupon Australia Sold Boxes Of Counterfeit Durex Condoms
By 4.23.15 — Updated: 12.9.16
Overall, Groupon’s transition from a company that sells discount vouchers to a company that sells discount merchandise has gone pretty well. Yet some news from Australia caught our attention when we learned that Groupon in that country sold counterfeit condoms on their website. Now the Australian government is alerting consumers who purchased those condoms that they should probably not use them. [More]
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream Recalls All Products, Closes Scoop Shops Over Possible Listeria Contamination
By 4.23.15
For the second time this week, an ice cream maker has issued a voluntary recall of all products for fear they may be contaminated with listeria bacteria. While the first recall centered on major manufacturer Blue Bell Creameries, the most recent belongs to Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, which sells desserts at its own boutique stores and retail stores such as Whole Foods. [More]
FDA Warns Makers Of Diet Supplements Containing Speed-Like Ingredient
By 4.23.15
Following calls for action from scientists and consumer health advocates, the FDA has sent warning letters to a handful of diet supplement makers demanding that they cease selling products that contain a speed-like ingredient. [More]
Thousands Of Shark Vacuum Cleaners Recalled For Shock Hazard
By 4.23.15
Commercials for Shark vacuum cleaners boast the devices’ plethora of uses: detaching the canister to clean at the top of bookshelves, easy swivel movements and powerful suction abilities. One thing the ads don’t discuss is the possibility that users could be shocked while using the device. For that reason, nearly 142,000 vacuums are being recalled. [More]
CDC Investigators Link Current Blue Bell Listeria Outbreak To Illness From 2010
By 4.22.15
For the past two months, Blue Bell Creameries has grappled with an outbreak of listeria that has been linked to three deaths and at least 10 illness in four states. While the source of the contamination has yet to be determined, federal investigators now believe the issue has been ongoing for at least five years. [More]
Consumer Reports Rates Brinkmann Patio Grill ‘Don’t Buy’ For Now
By 4.22.15
Here in the Northeast, there are now mere weeks until grilling season begins. Safety is very important when you’re lighting an actual fire a short distance from your house, and our fire-roasted colleagues down the hall at Consumer Reports test the gas grills that they review for their cooking power and their safety. One grill this season failed one of the safety tests, and for now they’ve given the Brinkmann Patio 810-6230-S a “Don’t Buy” rating. [More]
Blue Bell Creameries Beefs Up Investigation Into Cause Of Listeria Contamination, Two More Illnesses Reported
By 4.22.15
Two days after Blue Bell Creameries voluntarily recalled all of its products, the 100-year-old business says it’s making progress in pinpointing the cause of a massive listeria contamination that has led to three deaths and at least 10 illnesses. [More]
Trek Recalls 998,000 Bikes Over Brake Issue That Left One Rider Paralyzed
By 4.22.15
Trek is recalling almost one million bikes in the United States and Canada after an issue with a quick-release lever on the bike’s front wheel hub left one rider permanently paralyzed. [More]
