While data provided by General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration links at least 12 deaths to an ignition switch defect in Chevy Cobalts, Pontiac G5s, Saturn Ions and other vehicles, an independent review claims that the actual number of fatalities tied to this defect could be as much as 25 times that number. [More]
Quality & Safety
Costco Sliced Fruit Packs Recalled For Possible Not-Yummy Salmonella Flavoring
By 3.14.14
The FDA and the Oregon-based company that produces Kirkland Signature Real Sliced Fruit packages for Costco have issued a recall of nearly 60,000 cases of the product because the last thing you want with your freeze-dried fruit is Salmonella poisoning. [More]
Sen. Elizabeth Warren Takes FDA Chief To Task On Weak Antibiotics Guidance
By 3.13.14
In December, the Food and Drug Administration showed just how little it actually cares about drugs in our food by — after more than 35 years of dragging its feet on the topic — politely asking drug companies to pretty please stop selling medically unnecessary antibiotics to farmers who put the drugs in animal feed solely to encourage muscle tissue growth. Today, Senator Elizabeth Warren had the chance to grill FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg on the topic, and she didn’t pull her punches. [More]
GM Knew Of Faulty Ignition Switches In 2001; NHTSA Says “Data Was Inconclusive”
By 3.13.14
The number of questions about General Motors’ recent recall of more than 1 million vehicles with potentially defective ignition switches continues to grow with the recent revelation that the automaker first learned of problems with the part more than a dozen years before issuing the recall that is now tied to at least a dozen deaths. [More]
Another 403,000 Graco Car Seats Added To Recall
By 3.13.14
Last month, Graco and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recalled 3.7 million of the company’s car seats for faulty buckles. Today comes news that an additional 403,000 seats have been added to the recall. [More]
CPSC Wants Fitbit To Share Recall News With Customers
By 3.12.14
While Fitbit issued a voluntary recall of its itch-inducing fitness bands in February and the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission today announced a formal recall of 1 million of the devices, the company has been pretty quiet about sharing this information with its most dedicated customers. [More]
Craigslist Scammer Buys Recalled Dehumidifiers From Afar, Flips Them For Manufacturer Refunds
By 3.12.14
Have you ever read about a scam that’s so clever that you just have to admire the scam itself? Not that you, personally, would ever scam anyone. That’s how we at Consumerist feel about the person out of state who contacted reader Mark and offered to buy his Frigidaire dehumidifier. Mark didn’t know that it was part of the Great Flaming Dehumidifier Recall of 2013, but the scammer did. [More]
GM Offers Owners Of Recalled Vehicles $500 Off Of New GM Purchase
By 3.12.14
Some owners of cars involved in the recent mass recall of GM vehicles with faulty ignition switches will no doubt remain loyal to the car company when it comes time to purchase their next vehicles. But others are no doubt considering looking elsewhere, especially as it becomes more apparent that GM took great lengths to avoid this recall for seven or eight years. In an effort to placate the former group and hold on to the latter, GM is offering $500 credit toward the purchase of a new GM vehicle. [More]
Government Officially Recalls Fitbit’s Rash-Inducing Wristbands
By 3.12.14
Nearly two months after Consumerist first brought you the news of Fitbit owners complaining about itchy rashes resulting from the fitness band, and several weeks after the company undertook its own recall of the product, the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled 1 million of the devices in the U.S. after receiving nearly 10,000 complaints from consumers. [More]
GM Received Dozens Of Customer Warnings About Faulty Ignition Switches
By 3.11.14
Things are going from bad to worse for General Motors. First, it recalled nearly 800,000 vehicles because the ignition switches could turn off for no reason. Then it was revealed that the company was alerted to this problem by a NHTSA investigator back in 2007, and then the recall was expanded to 1.37 million cars, with GM saying that the defect may be tied to 13 deaths. New revelations show that GM had received dozens of complaints from vehicle owners about the faulty ignition switches, but still chose to not issue a recall until 2014. [More]
Rejoice! You Probably Won’t Get Salmonella From Eating Raw Cookie Dough
By 3.7.14
Growing up, I was lucky enough to not face many food battles because I happened to like the food my parents made (most of the time). But when confronted with the remnants of a bowl of raw cake batter or a fresh batch of raw cookie dough, I’d wage a full-scale rebellion against the advice of my elders and lick/eat the heck out of those sweet treats, despite the threat of salmonella poisoning. Turns out it might not have been that risky of a business. [More]
If You’re Into Rashes, Recalled Fitbit Force Goes For About $200 On eBay
By 3.7.14
Since we broke the story of the Fitbit Force personal motion tracker causing contact dermatitis in some users, the company has begun its own recall of the devices and told authorized retailers to stop selling them. The problem is that hot gadgets are always available through unofficial channels as well. Like eBay, where you can still buy the Force, and it’s selling for a premium. [More]
Pfizer Recalls Antidepressant Effexor Because It Is Not A Heart Medicine
By 3.7.14
Two lots of Pfizer’s Effexor antidepressant and one lot of its generic form, Venlafaxine, have been recalled by Pfizer after a pharmacist discovered a different medicine inside one large bottle of the drug. [More]
Got An Old Cedar Chest? Make Sure No One Can Get Locked Inside
By 3.6.14
Cedar chests are a common heirloom furniture item – maybe you inherited one from a relative, received one as a gift, or picked up one at a thrift store or estate sale. They might be the perfect place to store your winter clothes during the off-season, but chests from Lane or Virginia Maid before 1987 have a flaw: they latch automatically when the lid is closed. [More]
CPSC Working With Fitbit On Mysterious Force Rash Issues
By 3.4.14
Some users of the new Fitbit Force activity tracker really liked the product. They thought it was just great… right up until ugly patches of contact dermatitis broke out on their wrists. The company announced its own recall, but is simply accepting wristbands back from users who don’t want them enough? [More]
Formaldehyde In Baby Shampoo Isn’t As Scary As It Sounds
By 3.4.14
Recently, Johnson & Johnson reformulated their classic yellow baby shampoo after a consumer outcry over a scary-sounding formaldehyde-based preservative in the product. If it’s not absolutely necessary, there’s no good reason to go slathering a product that contains unnecessary substances on infants. The important question is: should we be worried about formaldehyde in personal-care products at all? [More]
What Kind Of Ice Melt Should You Buy?
By 3.3.14
I stopped by Walmart over the weekend, and there was a large sign at the entrance to the seasonal department: “NO ICE MELT.” That’s the case all over the country this winter, which means that if you do find some ice melt, you might be limited to what some gal down the street is hoarding in her garage. [More]
Consumer Reports Deems Hamilton Beach Dual Coffeemaker “Unsafe,” Could Burn Users
By 2.27.14
The Hamilton Beach 2-Way FlexBrew 49983 seems like a really great idea. Indeed, there are other similar coffeemakers on the market. There’s a regular drip brewing setup on the left, and a K-Cup-compatible cartridge brewing system on the right. Yet our instantly-brewed colleagues down the hall at Consumer Reports say that this model is potentially dangerous because the warming plate for the drip side heats up when the instant side is in use. [More]
