Entries Tagged 'Commentary' ↓

19 items recalled this week, and I don’t think any of them made it to the mainstream media.

Undeclared food allergy recalls:2

Tainted food: 1

Lead paint: 2

Made in China: 5

Collapse/injury/laceration hazard:3

Strangulation hazard: 1

Fire hazard: 1

Automotive: 1

Defective medical devices: 1

Unsafe drugs: 2

An interesting trend I’m seeing is that manufacturers will have names like “WMH Tool Group Inc (WMH), of Elgin Ill” (see below, regarding miter saw / laceration hazard, for example) , and yet, the tools being recalled are actually made in, guess where?  Seems to me, that if what you’re selling is made in China, the name of your company should be, for instance, “WMH Tool Group Inc (WMH) of China”.  Hiding behind an American company name while selling products made elsewhere is misleading, to put it kindly.

How about some truth in advertising, where the country of origin has to be clearly listed?  Add to that REAL penalties for companies importing dangerous products, and we’ll start having more informed, safer buying choices.

Another week full of tainted food, poison cosmetics, and toxic toys. This week we get the bonus of the chairman of Mattel, yet again, telling us how much he cares about our safety and what a wonderful job they’re doing…right after announcing yet another recall of 2,000,000 toys. Hey Mattel, do you really think any of us believe you that you care? Because after the 18th time of apologizing and promising to do better or so, your word is somewhat suspect to say the least.

(insert pic “you’re doing it wrong”)

So here’s the counts for this week:

Tainted food:3

Food with allergens:3

Drugs with unexpected side-effects: 3

Idiotic corporate excuse making (mattel): 1

Vehicular injury: 1

Lead paint:3

Lead jewelry:6

Cut/injury hazard: 1

Fire/electrical hazard:2

Choking hazard: 2

Eye damage (cosmetics): 1

Dangerous drugs: 1

Made in china: 4

Last week was another busy one for recalls. Here’s an overview:

• Lead paint: 1
• Fire hazards: 2
• Food allergies: 1
• Suffocation/entrapment: 1
• Fall hazard:1
• Head injury: 1
• Made in China:5
• Medical Devices: 1
• Medications: 1
• Poisoned pet products: 1

Once again, “Made in China” is in the forefront of the recall count. This isn’t a record week - there’s no coma-inducing drugs in children’s toys this time for instance, but it’s a lot more products than we hear about on the news.

What can you do about it? Be informed, and tell others about this site so they can be informed. The media can’t report on all of these, so people are only hearing about a fraction of the problems. If you see a product here that someone you know has, please let them know about it (see the “tell a friend” link at the top of each page).

Talk to your legislators. Talk to the press. Tell them that you want the companies who are importing unsafe products to stop doing it, and to be punished when they get caught. “Whoops, sorry, you caught us” isn’t cutting it, and isn’t protecting us. It’s time to start making it cost real money for these companies bringing in products which they know are be unsafe.

Seems to me, as a consumer, that there’s way too much of the same thing happening over and over, and too often with the same problem (lead paint) from the same country (China), via the same importers, and retail chains.  And then when they get caught they say “Whoops, sorry!” Or, even worse is when the Executive Vice President of Mattel’s Worldwide Operations, Thomas Debrowski, told a senior Chinese trade official “Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologizes personally to you, the Chinese people, and all of our customers who received the toys”.

Let me get this straight.  Chinese manufacturers decided to put lead paint on the toys for export to the US, knowing that we don’t allow it.  Failure 1.  The Chinese government suddenly decides that they’re not interested.  Failure 2.  The importer that has their brand name on the toys (in this case, Mattel) doesn’t bother to test the products being brought in, manufactured for them, and sold by them.  Failure 3.  And then the retail chains get these goods from the importers and sell them to us, and a month later the kid’s favorite toy has to go away.

I don’t think holding the retailer responsible is workable or putting the blame on the right people.  However, if the importer brings something to market, then THEY are responsible for making sure it’s legal and safe.  China is obviously responsible also, for not policing their manufacturing operations - they certainly are good about _other_ kinds of policing, but seem to turn a blind eye when they feel like it.  And obviously the toy manufacturers are also to blame, for using the stuff when they know they shouldn’t in the first place.

Is lead paint _that_ much cheaper?  What’s the motivation?  How many tenths of a cent do they save by putting lead paint on cake decorations, like this one: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08050.html

How do we fix the problem?   I think the importers are ultimately responsible.  Any documentation or testing in China obviously would be done and policed by the same people who are turning a blind eye to it today, so holding the importers responsible is the only logical solution.  Why are they let off with just a recall, to keep doing it over and over?