It’s a good thing summer camps are coming up, with their weird seminars on bracelet weaving and whittling rings, because the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has just announced a recall of 19,000 charms sold at Claire’s stores, and says that’s just the beginning. [More]
Transportation & Infrastructure
Toyota Waited Months To Recall Trucks For Defect Linked To 3 Deaths
By 5.10.10
An AP investigation has found that Toyota waited nearly a year after a 2004 recall in Japan to issue the same recall in the U.S.– claiming that it had little evidence of a U.S. problem. The AP says, however, that the automaker had received at least 52 reports from U.S. drivers about a steering defect in trucks and SUVs. [More]
Can You Trust Those Awards You See In Auto Ads?
By 5.10.10
If you pay attention to all the various automobile ads on TV, you’d probably notice that just about every make and model of vehicle has won some sort of award from some magazine, or that its been “rated highest in its class” by any number of organizations. But what many people don’t know is that these awards and thumbs-up ratings almost always cost the car companies a pretty penny. [More]
Toyota Shoots For $50k Price Tag On Hydrogen Car
By 5.9.10
Good news for those hankering after a fuel-cell vehicle: Toyota has announced they’ve cut the cost of making hydrogen-powered cars by around 90 percent and could start selling the first retail model for close to $50,000 by 2015. [More]
Drop-Side Cribs Have Killed At Least 32 Kids
By 5.7.10
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the results of its investigation of drop-side cribs and has concluded that they are not as safe as regular cribs and have caused or contributed to at least 32 deaths since January 2000. [More]
Freshway Foods Lettuce Recalled In 23 States Following E. Coli Outbreak
By 5.7.10
Freshway Foods has recalled shredded romaine lettuce distributed in 23 states and the District of Columbia due to possible E. coli contamination. The affected lettuce was packaged for food service, wholesale, and salad bar consumption–not directly to consumers, except in salad kits sold at Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Markets, and Marsh. [More]
CR: You Can Buy A Lexus GX 460 If You Want
By 5.7.10
Consumer Reports has lifted its “don’t buy” warning on the 2010 Lexus GX 460 SUV, after reviewing the results of Toyota’s recall fix. According to CR, that modification solved the emergency handling problem that had been uncovered in earlier tests. So, if you’re in the market for a big, $60K luxury SUV, you can go ahead and add this one to your list. [More]
GM Hires Former Hyundai Marketing Guru To Bail Out Its Image
By 5.6.10
Following the media drubbing of their not-exactly-true “We paid the government back” ad, GM has snatched the marketing whiz who most recently help Hyundai burnish its public image. [More]
Congress Opens Investigation Into Children's Tylenol Recall
By 5.6.10
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform — the same crew behind the Toyota recall hearings — has announced that it has opened an investigation into the recent recall of Children’s Tylenol and several other brands of kids’ medicine. [More]
FDA: McNeil Plant That Made Recalled Tylenol Is A Dirty Stinkpot With No Quality Control
By 5.5.10
One of the implied promises of a brand name, especially when it comes to drugs, is you can expect higher quality, but maybe that doesn’t apply when it comes to McNeil products.The FDA says the plant that produced the recently recalled children’s Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl, was using raw materials that were contaminated with bacteria. The plant also lacked adequate quality-control procedures and was dirty. So far none of the recalled medicine has tested positive for bacterial contamination, but the FDA report suggests that the contaminated material was used to make the recalled lots. The plant has been shut down indefinitely. [More]
Health Supplement Guru Nearly Dies After Ingesting Own Product
By 5.4.10
Gary Null sells something called Ultimate Power Meal, which he says you’re supposed to eat twice a day every day. He did that for a month and nearly died, so now he’s suing the company that manufactured the product. [More]
Johnson & Johnson Not Taking Refunds On Recalled Tylenol Very Seriously
By 5.3.10
When J&J’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare Unit announced a recall of children’s Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl over the weekend, it also provided a toll free number you could call for more info. Ron Lieber at the New York Times called it on Saturday to find out how the refund process would work. What he got was a three minute recording telling him to throw the products in the trash, but nothing else. [More]
NHTSA Investigating Sticky Pedal In 2007 Dodge Caliber
By 5.3.10
5 complaints is apparently how many it takes to launch an investigation into a sticky gas pedal these days, says the Associated Press. [More]
Calling BS On GM's "We Paid The Government Back" TV Ad
By 4.30.10
Unless you don’t have a TV, you’ve probably seen the new ads for General Motors where GM CEO Ed Whitacre touts the amazing rebound of the car manufacturer, and how they repaid their “government loan in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule.” Yeah, well that might not be exactly true. [More]
Honda Recalls 167,000 Acura TSX Vehicles
By 4.30.10
Yesterday, Honda announced that they are issuing a recall of approximately 167,000 Acura TSX vehicles — model years 2004-2008 — to replace a power steering hose. It is believed that the hose could leak power steering fluid, potentially causing a fire under the vehicle’s hood. [More]
Over 200,000 Graco, Simplicity Cribs Recalled
By 4.29.10
This morning, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced voluntary recalls of cribs from two different companies — Graco and Simplicity — that encompasses well over 200,000 cribs. Both recalls involve possible suffocation hazards and owners are being advised to discontinue use immediately. [More]
Toyota Recalls 50,000 Sequoia SUVs
By 4.28.10
It seems like it’s almost been two weeks since the last Toyota recall, meaning… yep, it’s time to announce another Toyota recall. This time, the car giant has issued a voluntary safety recall on around 50,000 early-2003 Model-Year Toyota Sequoia SUVs to upgrade program logic in its Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) system. [More]
Who Keeps Trying To Kill Our Babies?
By 4.27.10
This “Recalled Baby Products 2009-2010” graphic from the website hugamonkey is massive, and it shows how many types of products were recalled over the past 16 months. You can use it as a reference tool to see if there’s anything in your home on the list, or to remind yourself why you’d rather have a houseplant. [More]
