Product safety

January 23, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Battat Magnabild Magnetic Building Systems

Units: About 125,000

Distributor: Battat Inc., of Plattsburgh, N.Y.    » read more »

January 23, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Toy Racing Cars

Units: About 2,000

Manufacturer: OKK Trading Inc., of Commerce, Calif.

Hazard: Surface paint on the toy cars contains excessive levels of lead, violating the federal lead paint standard.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.    » read more »

January 23, 2008 -- BURLINGTON – The Vermont Department of Health is warning consumers about a product recall of all canned green beans and garbanzo beans distributed by New Era Canning Company during the past five years, due to possible Clostridium botulinum (C. botulinum) contamination.

The products were distributed nationwide.

No one, to date, has been reported ill. The recall is the result of a routine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection.    » read more »

January 17, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Cranium Cadoo Board Games

Units: About 38,000

Importer: Cranium Inc., of Seattle, Wash.

Hazard: The surface paint on the die contains excessive levels of lead, violating the federal lead paint standard.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.    » read more »

Activists at 100 Congressional Offices Nationwide to Demand Congress Protect Consumers

January 15, 2008 -- Thousands of activists from the United Steelworkers (USW) and other AFL-CIO unions will join community, environmental and health groups as part of a National Day of Action Wednesday to demand Congress takes immediate steps to stop the importation of dangerous lead-laced toys and other unsafe products into the U.S.    » read more »

Statement from CFA’s Carol Tucker Foreman

January 15, 2008 -- The Bush Administration, after days of internal debate, has rejected public opposition and the pleas of the food industry and consumer groups and approved putting milk and meat from cloned animals in our food.

Milk and meat from cloned animals and their offspring will enter the food supply. They can do so immediately. The products will not be labeled as such and American consumers will have no way to avoid consuming them.    » read more »

Statement by Margaret Mellon, Union of Concerned Scientists

WASHINGTON (January 15, 2008) – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today released a report concluding that meat and milk from cloned animals and their offspring pose no public health threat. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it would ask producers of clones to continue to abide by a “voluntary moratorium” and keep their products off the market.

Below is a statement by Margaret Mellon, Director of the Food and Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists:    » read more »

January 15, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Toy Wrestler Figures

Units: 5,400

Manufacturer: A.A. of America Inc., of East Brunswick, N.J.

Hazard: The surface paint contains high levels of lead, violating the federal lead paint standard.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.    » read more »

15 January 2008 -- A final report from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concludes that meat and milk from cloned cows, pigs, goats and their offspring are safe for American consumers to eat and drink. Opponents, including a number of consumer and animal rights groups, say the FDA was heavily influenced by the biotechnology industry, and failed to consider possible side effects of cloning.    » read more »

Statement by Sidney Wolfe, M.D., Director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group

Jan. 14, 2008 -- Users of the prescription cholesterol medicine Zetia and Vytorin received some troubling news from the makers of the drug today: Although the pills they’re taking lower their cholesterol, there is no evidence that they reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and may, in fact, be putting them at risk.    » read more »

More Studies Needed to Ensure Public Safety, Science Group Says

January 9, 2008 -- The Food and Drug Administration is expected to declare as early as this week that meat and milk from cloned animals and their offspring pose no public health threat. The agency is likely to lift its "voluntary moratorium" on their sale.    » read more »

January 10, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that a Wisconsin-based tree stand manufacturer has agreed to pay (pdf) the government a $420,000 civil penalty. The penalty settles a government lawsuit alleging that Ardisam Inc, of Cumberland, Wis., failed to immediately report to the CPSC serious injuries to hunters with its Big Foot and Lite Foot series hunting tree stands. In July 2004, 78,000 of these tree stands were recalled by the company.    » read more »

January 10, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Tinker Bell Lamps

Units: 60,000

Manufacturer: Kash N’ Gold Ltd., of Deer Park, N.Y.

Hazard: The surface paint on the lamps contains excessive levels of lead, violating the federal lead paint standard.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.    » read more »

January 9, 2008 -- The following product safety recall was voluntarily conducted by the firm in cooperation with the CPSC. Consumers should stop using the product immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Model Year 2007 Honda TRX 500 ATVs

Units: About 40,000

Manufacturer: American Honda Motor Co., Inc. of Torrance, Calif.

Hazard: Water can enter the throttle position sensor and freeze, causing permanent damage if the rider forces the throttle lever. This could cause the throttle to stick open, posing a risk of injury or death to riders.    » read more »

January 3, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Metal Toy Wagons

Units: About 15,000

Importer: Tricam Industries Inc., of Eden Prairie, Minn.

Hazard: Surface paint on the wagon bucket contains excessive levels of lead, violating the federal lead paint standard.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.    » read more »