Whenever we forget how massively inter-connected our food supply is, a huge national recall of prepared foods comes along and reminds us. This time, the reminder comes from Minnesota-based manufacturer Parkers Farm Acquisition, LLC, which packages salsa, cold pack cheeses, peanut butter, and pepper spreads under its own name and also store brands. Some of their products were contaminated with the very nasty foodborne pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes.
recalls
Parker Farms And Store Brand Cheese Snacks, Salsa, And Peanut Butter Recalled For Possible Listeria
By 3.25.14
GM Knew Chevy Cobalt Ignition Could Turn Itself Off, Released Car Anyway
By 3.25.14
If you’re a carmaker and you find out the vehicle you’re about to release had an ignition-switch issue that could not only stop the car’s engine but render the power steering, air bags, and power brakes useless, you probably wouldn’t release that car. It’s a shame you weren’t a General Motors executive 10 years ago. [More]
Senator Asks Justice Department To Hold GM Responsible For Ignition Fire Lawsuits
By 3.24.14
Earlier this year, GM issued a massive recall of nearly 1.4 million vehicles due to problems with the ignition switch. GM apparently knew about those problems — which have caused several fatalities — for up to thirteen years before issuing the recall, and reportedly also ignored piles of consumer complaints in that timeframe. Consumers’ entirely predictable lawsuits against GM have already begun, but those lawsuits are facing a big potential snag. [More]
March Recall Roundup – Don’t Put A Cork In It
By 3.24.14
In this month’s Recall Roundup, cork toys crumble but aren’t edible, heaters overheat, and Grumpy Cat has a lot to be unhappy about. [More]
Graco Tells Parents With Recalled Car Seats They’re In For A 6-8 Week Wait
By 3.21.14
The good news, if you’re a safety-minded person, is that the recall on Graco car seats announced last month and expanded a few weeks later was very effective. Maybe it was more effective than Graco had anticipated, because there’s now a long wait for replacement buckles. [More]
8,200 Stuffed Grumpy Cats Recalled, Are Unhappy About It
By 3.20.14
If you aren’t familiar with the perpetually-frowning, totally adorable Grumpy Cat, we feel very sorry for you. Obviously, you need to spend more time looking at cute pictures of animals on the Internet. Grumpy Cat started as a cute kitty who always looks like she’s frowning, and somehow spawned an entire industry of apps, merchandise, and beverages, and became a Friskies spokescat. One of those pieces of merchandise has been recalled. [More]
IKEA Recalling 3 Million Baby Bed Canopies Because Sleep Strangulation Is Far From Dreamy
By 3.20.14
If you’ve purchased a baby bed canopy in the last 18 years from IKEA, the company says you should remove it and return it to the store, as it’s now recalling some three million of the products worldwide over a potential danger of strangulation. [More]
Fitbit Sued Over Itch-And-Rash-Inducing Wristbands
By 3.20.14
Nearly a month after Fitbit voluntarily recalled its Fitbit Force bracelets over complaints from thousands of users who developed itchy rashes while wearing the devices, and weeks after the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission made the recall official, comes the first of what will likely be many lawsuits against the company. [More]
Review Claims GM Defect May Be Tied To Up To 303 Deaths
By 3.14.14
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]
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]
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]
