Federal regulators continue to put pressure on Takata Corporation to cooperate with a defective airbag investigation started last year. A week after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began fining the company $14,000 per day for failing to turn over documents and answer questions, the agency upgraded the investigation and ordered the company to preserve evidence. [More]
Quality & Safety
NHTSA Increases Intensity Of Takata Airbag Investigation, Orders Company To Preserve Safety Devices
By 2.26.15
It’s Very Gross And Very Dangerous When Dogs Eat Diapers
By 2.25.15 — Updated: 5.2.17
The very thing that makes disposable diapers so useful–their super-absorbency–can make them deadly to pets. While nobody goes around giving diapers to their dog as a chew toy, animals do have a gift for rifling through the trash, and one thing they can find there are diapers. KKTV in Colorado interviewed one family whose dog died after eating some of the absorbent material in a diaper. [More]
Foods That Make People Sick With E. Coli: Beef, Plants Grown In Rows
By 2.25.15
There are three different agencies in the federal government that handle different types of foodborne illnesses and separate aspects of those illnesses. While two outbreaks might be caused by the same pathogen, which agency handles them depends on whether the food contains meat or not. This is sort of inefficient. [More]
Nearly A Year After Recall, Alli Weight-Loss Pills Return To Stores
By 2.25.15
In March 2014, drug giant GlaxoSmithKline issued a voluntary recall of the popular alli weight-loss pill over concerns about possible package tampering. Nearly a year later, the over-the-counter drug is finally coming back to stores. [More]
Bag Of Fresh Spinach Includes Free Dead Mouse
By 2.24.15
A fresh salad and some lean protein make a fine dinner, but a couple in Georgia are kind of freaked out at the freebie that came in their bag of pre-washed spinach. After eating most of the package, they found a fresh dead mouse at the bottom. How did it get there? [More]
Takata To Be Fined $14K Per Day Until It Cooperates With Airbag Defect Investigation
By 2.20.15
Officials with Japanese auto parts manufacturer Takata Corp. have continuously said they would assist U.S. regulators in their investigation regarding millions of potentially defective airbags that can spew pieces of shrapnel at passengers upon deployment. But the company doesn’t appear to be keeping its word and now faces a $14,000 per day fine until it hands over documents and other data pertinent to the investigation into airbags that have been linked to at least five deaths. [More]
FDA Warns That Undeclared Peanuts Could Lurk In Food Containing Cumin
By 2.19.15
Life with a severe food allergy can be scary enough, but knowing that sometimes labels are inaccurate and that not all allergens are identified is even scarier. The situation right now where a batch of ground cumin was contaminated with peanuts shows that even spices and spice blends can be dangerous to people with severe enough allergies. [More]
California Slaughterhouse Co-Owner Pleads Guilty To Processing Cattle With Cancer
By 2.19.15
The co-owner of a now defunct California slaughterhouse at the center of a February 2014 recall that involved 8.7 million pounds of beef found “unfit for human food” has pleaded guilty in the federal case, acknowledging that he processed cancerous cattle. [More]
Will The FDA Ever Get Around To New Warning Labels For Cigarettes?
By 2.18.15
In June 2009, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act became law, directing the Food and Drug Administration to not only create larger health warnings, but to include graphic images in the labels. And when the U.S. Supreme Court shot down a tobacco-industry fight against these labels in April 2013, it was supposed to get the ball rolling again on these new warnings. But in the years since, there’s been no apparent movement on the matter and the FDA won’t say when, or even if, these Congressionally mandated labels will become a reality. [More]
My Car Is Recalled In A Snowy, Icy State, But Not My Snowy, Icy State. What Do I Do?
By 2.18.15
While most automobile recalls are national, some recalls are limited to specific regions of the country where particular road and weather conditions increase the risk of a problem. What about those people who live outside the recall region but who are concerned their car needs to be checked out? [More]
Handing Prescription Bottles Full Of M&Ms To Kids Is A Very Bad Idea
By 2.17.15
It was one thing when a company selling products for babies handed out fake prescription bottles full of candy to bloggers who could, theoretically, bring them home to their children. Teaching kids that amber and white bottles contain candy is a terrible idea. Yet one college professor skipped the intermediary and handed out pill bottles filled with M&Ms directly to children, angering their parents and other community members. [More]
Philip Morris Does Horrible Job Of Defending Itself After John Oliver Mocking
By 2.17.15
On Sunday night, John Oliver called out the tobacco industry, and particularly Philip Morris, for the practice of threatening small and poor countries with complicated, expensive international trade lawsuits if they try to strictly regulate cigarette marketing. But while Big Tobacco has the coffers to pay for costly legal battles, it does a really poor job of trying to defend its actions. [More]
Death Toll From GM Ignition Defect Reaches 56
By 2.16.15
A year after General Motors first announced the long-delayed recall of the Chevy Cobalt, Saturn Ion and several other vehicles for an ignition problem that both the carmaker and regulators had ignored, the fund responsible for vetting death and injury claims related to the recall is now acknowledging at least 56 fatalities. [More]
Burger King Settles Suit Filed By Soldier Who Says He Found Needles In Triple Stacker
By 2.12.15
For more than three years, a now-retired Army sergeant has been fighting a legal battle against both Burger King and the military, alleging the kitchen at an on-base BK served him a Triple Stacker that contained needles. Part of the case has been brought to an end now that the fast food giant has settled, though the complaint against the military looks like it may be headed to trial. [More]
New NHTSA Chief Wants To Create Team Focused On Spotting Defects
By 2.12.15
Just a month into his new gig as the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Mark Rosekind unveiled his vision for the future of the agency, including increasing staff and creating two new divisions to help step up efforts to identify defects and alert motorists about issues and recalls. [More]
Kidde Recalls 5M Disposable Fire Extinguishers Because Fire Extinquishers Should Put Out Fires
By 2.12.15
The thing about fire extinguishers is that when there’s a fire, you have a reasonable expectation that the device can put out said fire. But that apparently isn’t the case for nearly 5 million Kidde plastic disposable fire extinguishers being recalled. [More]
FDA Finds Some Dark Chocolate Products Contain Milk, Despite Their Labels
By 2.11.15
‘Tis the season for showing you remembered to buy something for your loved one, but if the object of your affection is lactose-intolerant, you might want to think twice before splashing out on a deluxe dark chocolate Valentine’s Day gift. [More]
Advocates Push NHTSA For Answers Regarding Airbag Recall, Remedy Effectiveness
By 2.11.15
The first major automobile recall of 2015 centered on 2.1 million vehicles containing an electronic glitch that could cause the safety devices to deploy inadvertently. While that defect is obviously a safety hazard, little else about the recall seems out of the ordinary. That is until you learn that this is the fourth time these vehicles have been recalled for this particular issue. Now, a consumer group is pushing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for answers regarding the recall, its past remedy failures, and the agency’s ability to ensure owners of recalled vehicles are safe. [More]
