In our June Recall Roundup for food, supplements, and even a few over-the-counter drugs, the mint chocolate chip ice cream is packed with pistachios, more smoothie powders have contaminated chia seeds, and red yeast pills sold as an all-natural supplement to lower cholesterol contains cholesterol-lowering drugs. [More]
Quality & Safety
New Law Would Give USDA Authority To Recall Contaminated Meat & Eggs
By 6.25.14
The current, vague laws regarding what constitutes “adulterated” meat, poultry or eggs have hamstrung the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, leaving the agency unsure whether it has the authority to recall food that contains drug-resistant pathogens. A new law introduced in the House today aims to clarify what constitutes “adulterated” meat, thus giving the USDA the legal standing it needs to issue much-needed recalls. [More]
FDA Warns Of Rare, Potentially Dangerous Hypersensitivity To Popular Acne Products
By 6.25.14
Citing more than 100 reports — most of them since 2012 — of hypersensitivity to common acne medications like Proactiv, Neutrogena, Oxy, Aveeno, Clean & Clear and others, the FDA has issued a warning to consumers that these products can cause “rare but serious and potentially life-threatening allergic reactions or severe irritation.” [More]
CarMax Should Be More Transparent About Selling Recalled Vehicles
By 6.24.14
When CarMax, the nation’s largest seller of used vehicles, claims each of its “Quality Certified” cars has undergone a “125+ point inspection,” and that only 1-in-3 of the cars it considers is accepted for sale, you might assume this means it isn’t selling recalled vehicles. This is not always true, and a coalition of consumer advocacy groups allege that it’s a case of deceptive marketing. [More]
Mazda, Honda And Nissan Issue Recalls Of Nearly 3 Million Vehicles Related To Faulty Airbag Deployment
By 6.23.14
Nearly 3 million more Nissan, Mazda and Honda vehicles have been recalled related to potentially faulty, and painful, airbag deployment issues that are currently under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. [More]
June Recall Roundup – Space Heater May Overheat Your Space
By 6.20.14
In June’s recall roundup, we have the usual suspects: flammable kids’ pajamas, poorly wired lamps, self-firing crossbows, and collapsing ottomans. [More]
Suit Seeks $10 Billion Compensation For GM Vehicle Owners Over Brand Damage
By 6.18.14
If you’re keeping a running tally of the General Motors ignition switch defect lawsuits, you can add one more. The company faces a new lawsuit seeking compensation – in the tune of more than $10 billion – for owners of who have lost resale value on their GM vehicles. [More]
NHTSA Opens Investigation Into Fiat Chrysler Ignition Switch Issues
By 6.18.14
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is having a busy summer: The regulators on Wednesday opened two investigations into alleged ignition switch defects, this time related to several Fiat Chrysler minivans and sport utility vehicles. [More]
Lawmakers Not Exactly Thrilled By GM CEO Mary Barra
By 6.18.14
A lot has happened since General Motors CEO Mary Barra first appeared before lawmakers looking into the massive GM ignition switch recall tied to at least 13 deaths. The company has admitted a culture of incompetence while denying a cover-up, recalled another 3 million vehicles, and faces concerns that the total death count may be significantly higher than 13. So this morning’s hearing before a Congressional subcommittee was less friendly than Barra’s previous visit. [More]
CDC Concerned That We’re All Ignoring Chia Seed Recall
By 6.17.14
While Consumerist readers are generally up-to-date on the latest recalls, most Americans aren’t. Yet we hadn’t even shared the current recall of potentially salmonella-contaminated chia seeds that have sickened at least 65 people across the United States and Canada. [More]
If Texas Farmers Want Chipotle To Buy Their Beef, They Should Stop Feeding Antibiotics To Cattle
By 6.17.14
Yesterday, the Commissioner of the Texas Dept. of Agriculture wrote to the founder and CEO of burrito chain Chipotle, saying he was “shocked” by Chipotle’s “foolish” decision to buy beef from cattle raised in Australia when there are so many cattle farmers in the Lone Star State, accusing the company of abandoning American farmers — but glossing over the fact that the domestic supply is limited if Chipotle wants to stick to its guns about using antibiotic-free beef. [More]
Regulators, Manufacturers, Dealers, And Mechanics Get To Read About Car Defects — But Not Consumers
By 6.17.14
The thirteen-year-long mess of the GM ignition switch recall was, in part, a failure to see and identify patterns in the data. Over the course of a decade, individual consumers lodged complaints that, put together, could have revealed the whole problem sooner. But nobody got to look at the whole, because all of the service bulletins that carmakers like GM send to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration go into its database… and never come back out. Too bad so sad, says NHTSA, but lawmakers and auto-safety advocates are hoping to change that. [More]
There Are So Many Auto Recalls, People Tune Them Out
By 6.16.14
So far, 2014 has been a year of automotive recalls, beginning with the General Motors ignition recall. After just one company recalled 11 million vehicles, any other recalls just feel like piling on. Experts worry that consumers are starting to tune out and not pay attention to any recall announcements in the media at all. [More]
Supermarket Sued For Selling Inedible Bull Penis For Human Consumption
By 6.13.14
While bull penis, or pizzle, is often sold as something for dogs to gnaw on, and it can be — and sometimes is — eaten by humans, it’s not cool to take something out of a package that’s labeled as unfit for human consumption and then sell it to people. [More]
GM Recalls Another Half-Million Cars For Ignition Switch Problems, But Different Ones This Time
By 6.13.14
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: General Motors has issued a recall of a half-million of its cars because if the driver’s knee hits the keys while they’re in the ignition, the key can pop out, causing the car to lose power and potentially crash. [More]
NHTSA Opens Investigation Into Defective Airbags Following Numerous Recalls
By 6.12.14
Just a day after Toyota re-issued a 2013 recall because shrapnel could fly toward passengers when the airbag deploys, federal regulators opened an investigation into whether the airbags used by five automakers could hurt people in the event of a crash. [More]
Wegmans Recalls Bagged Ice Because Metal Machine Fragments Aren’t Great For Cooling Beverages
By 6.12.14
In what may be a first for us, we bring you the news of a supermarket chain — specifically Alec Baldwin fave Wegmans — recalling thousands of pounds of bagged ice that may contain little bits of metal from the machine that produces the frozen water. [More]
Victims Of Saturn Ion Crash Accuse GM Of Letting Driver Plead Guilty To Accident She Didn’t Cause
By 6.10.14
The driver of a Saturn Ion who pled guilty to criminally negligent homicide, and the family of her boyfriend who was killed in the 2004 crash, have sued General Motors in federal court, alleging the car maker knew of the ignition problem that caused the crash but sat and watched while the driver was prosecuted. [More]
