Like that Archer Farms Four Cheese Risotto you bought from Target? Too bad, throw it out. Random testing by the FDA found salmonella contamination. Don’t you dare eat the following:
Transportation & Infrastructure
USDA Denies Seal Of Inspection To 20 Million Chickens Fed Tainted Pet Food
By 5.6.07
Pet food tainted with melamine may have been consumed by up to 20 million chickens destined for your dinner plate. The federal government is not taking the matter lightly. The USDA, FDA, and EPA are conducting a risk assessment to determine if the chicken is safe for human consumption. Until the assessment is complete, the USDA will not issue the poultry a seal of inspection, which is required for the meat to be sold commercially. The results of the assessment should be announced early next week.
The Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said Thursday that no evidence indicated any harm to humans from chicken or pork that had entered the market after having eaten melamine-contaminated feed.
— CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER
Reported Pet Deaths Top 8,500
By 5.4.07
The FDA said yesterday that consumers have reported 8,500 pet deaths as a result of eating contaminated pet food. Of those, only 20 have been confirmed. However, that number should increase as officials work through a call backlog.
Subprime Mortgage Debacle Makes General Motors Cry
By 5.3.07
Hey, you may be asking yourself, why are GM’s profits down 90% from this quarter last year?
Lead Poisoning/Choking Hazard Recall Round Up
By 5.3.07
There have been quite a few lead poisoning and choking hazard related recalls lately, so we thought we’d just round them up for you. Here they are:
Manager of Chinese Wheat Gluten Manufacturer Arrested
By 5.3.07
The mystery of the poisoned pet food continues to unravel as Mao Lijun, head of the Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Company, has been arrested and is being held “in coastal Jiangsu Province, about 320 miles northwest of Shanghai, though a police spokesman in Pei County declined to say on what charges,” according to the New York Times.
Chinese Frequently Cut Pet Food With Melamine
By 4.30.07
The melamine thought to be the cause of dozens of pet deaths is routinely added as a filler to food in China, New York Times reports.
Walmart Pulls Contaminated Frozen Catfish From China
By 4.28.07
Fluoroquinolone was reportedly banned by the FDA in 1997, but Florida food safety experts officials told CBS-4’s Al Sunshine that it is not an imminent threat to public health and it’s more of an issue of keeping unneeded antibiotics out of the human food supply.
FDA Serves Search Warrants On Two Pet Food Plants
By 4.27.07
The FDA served search warrants on two pet food plants that manufactured ingredients involved in the recall of millions of cans of pet food.
Acer Laptop Batteries Recalled Due To Fire Hazard
By 4.26.07
It seems Acer fell asleep during the whole Sony battery recall thing and is just recalling them now. Well, I do have a couple of affected Acer laptops, and so far the process is painful. The operators on the other end answer the phone in a language unknown to me (though one time I think I heard the operator say South Africa?) though they promptly switched to very understandable English after I spoke.
FDA Knew About Tainted Peanut Butter And Spinach But Was Too Poor To Act
By 4.24.07
Remember that spinach and peanut butter that got recalled? Turns out the FDA knew of the dangers to the food supply for years but, understaffed and underfunded, they only took tiny steps to address the problems.
Tainted Pet Food Hits Human Food Supply
By 4.23.07
California officials quarantined 1,500 animals at the American Hog Farm and are tracking who purchased nearly 100 hogs from the farm this month, when the animals’ feed included pet food that had been tainted with melamine.
Year-Old Frozen Hamburger Recalled Due To E. Coli
By 4.23.07
Yes, even freezing meat for 1 year will not dampen the power of e. coli. From the LA Times:
The meat was produced by Richwood Meat Co. on April 28, 2006, dated either “4-28-06” or “118-6,” for the 118th day of the year, said Mike Wood, the company’s president. Although the product was manufactured a year ago, the patties still may be present in freezers at home or in stores, officials said.
CPSC Recalls Magnetix Magnetic Building Sets, Warns "Small Magnets Are Injuring Children"
By 4.23.07
Mega Brands is recalling 4 million Magnetix Magnetic Building Sets over concerns that children may ingest small magnets that can detach from the sets.
To date, CPSC and Mega Brands are aware of one death, one aspiration and 27 intestinal injuries. Emergency surgical intervention was needed in all but one case. At least 1,500 incidents of magnets separating from the building pieces have been reported.
The recalled sets contain over 250 plastic building pieces. Sets manufactured after March 31, 2006 bearing a warning about the magnets are not included in the recall.
Department Of Transportation To Examine Deceptive Airline Schedules
By 4.21.07
The Department of Transportation is accusing eight airlines of publishing unrealistic schedules. At issue is whether airlines are properly disclosing on-time performance statistics as required.
“We want to understand … how it is possible that a flight could be late 70 or 80 percent of the time and actually not disclose that inadequate rate to the customer,” said Andrew Steinberg, assistant secretary of transportation for aviation and international affairs.
If airlines do not demonstrate improvements within the year, Congress has threatened to unleash a barrel of monkeys new rules. The Department can start by having a friendly chat with U.S. Airways, operator of Flight 154 from Philadelphia to San Francisco, which arrived late 100% of the time in February. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER
Pet Food Recall: Second Tainted Ingredient Found, Recall Expanded Again
By 4.19.07
“This has exposed that the safety standards for pet foods are not in place in any significant way and the kind of drumbeat, day after day, of recalls has shaken consumers’ confidence in the pet food industry’s adherence to food safety standards,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive officer of the Humane Society of the United States.
Sony Recalls Broken DRM-Filled DVDs
By 4.18.07
Sony’s latest bright idea was to issue DVDs with DRM that made them unplayable in their own DVD players. Yes, they’re just that committed to you, their valuable customers. Anyhow, they’ve decided to recall the discs. From IMDb:
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has discovered the source of a problem in their recent DVD releases that prevented them from being played on some players, including some manufactured by the consumer electronics division of Sony itself. The company said the problem was caused by an update of its copy-protection system, which it continually updates in order to derail potential hackers. Among the DVD movies affected were the new James Bond film Casino Royale, The Pursuit of Happyness and Stranger Than Fiction. Sony said that anyone who had purchased one of the discs and has experienced problems playing it may receive a replacement disk free of charge by phoning 800-860-2878.
Reader Mick will be happy about this, as he started a blog about the issue. The recall is probably due in part to his reporting. Good job, Mick! —MEGHANN MARCO
Vending Machine Jewelry Poses Lead Poisoning Risk
By 4.17.07
If your child bought a vending machine necklace for $0.25 this past year, you might want to take it away from him or her and throw it away. According to the CPSC the paint on some of the jewelry (about 900,000 necklaces and bracelets) contains high levels of lead and should not be handled by children.
