Toyota Can't Get it Right

According to The Associated Press, via NPR, federal investigators are looking into fires in 2007 Toyota Camry and Rav4 vehicles. Where is the fire? Naturally, the driver's side door. The probe could affect 830,000 vehicles nationally.

For other driving safety information, check out the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website.

More salmonella sprouts

This time from the Northwest. Idaho-based Evergreen Produce sprouts have been linked to 20 cases of salmonella poisoning in five states, including Washington. Evergreen is not planning a recall.

More Toyota Recalls

More bad news for Toyota and Toyota buyers.

Vegetable Recall

See this CNN article about recalls of sprouts, parsley, and cilantro. The parsley and cilantro have both been linked to Washington state. The sprouts were sold to Jimmy John's franchises.

More Toyota/Lexus Recalls

Toyota/Lexus announces recall of 1.53 million cars in Japan and the U.S. for a brake problem that causes fluid leak. Yes, a brake problem.

Toy Recalls: Poorly Placed Pegs Cause Genital Bleeding

Fisher-Price is recalling more than 11 million tricycles, toys and high chairs. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the federal agency in charge of product oversight, the toys have already injured several children. Injuries include laceration and genital bleeding due to poorly placed pegs and protrusions such as a tricycle "key" in the middle of the riding area (see picture to the left). Fisher-Price is also recalling two other toys due to choking hazards. See the Seattle Times article here. Go straight to the source for detailed information from the CPSC here, here, here, and here.

If you want to keep up with recalls without having to look in the news, you can sign up for the CPSC alerts here.

Phantom Tylenol Recall

CNN reports that lawmakers and drug regulators released documents on Thursday that indicate Johnson and Johnson, the maker of Tylenol, may have known about problems with the drug months before the actual recall. To add insult to injury, Johnson and Johnson attempted a "phantom recall" of more than 88,000 Motrin tablets in June of 2009. The company hired a subcontractor to buy the products off of store shelves rather than take the products back and notify the public.

You don't need to look very far to see similar corporate tactics: According to internal timelines, Toyota knew of the accelerator defects in 2006. Now they spend millions on public relations to correct not just the product defect but the deceit behind it.

I would be curious to see a study on the long term cost-benefit analysis of a swift recall and taking responsibility early on vs. waiting. I suspect a swift recall would prevent injuries and save dollars on litigation, temper the media storm, and shorten the length of time the company's shortfalls fill the public domain. This would theoretically allow the company to return revenues to normal more quickly.

One thing I do know is that almost all major corporations regain public trust and revenue eventually--how many of us are still boycotting Exxon, or even BP for that matter? But the people killed by defective products and delay tactics of executives do not get to return to their families.

Egg Victims Demand Action

Tired of hearing about eggs? We're finally getting to the good part. After a recall of 500 million eggs due to a salmonella outbreak, food safety advocates and outbreak survivors are calling for the Senate to pass legislation that has been sitting around since July of 2009. That's right, over a year ago the House passed reform legislation for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). CNN reports that the bill includes "better preventive control measures by manufacturers, more frequent inspections of facilities, and greater FDA authority over recalls."

The End of the Story for the Pet Food Class Action

In case you were wondering what ever happened to the class action in Florida involving false advertising by pet food companies, here you go. In a nutshell, much of the evidence necessary to pursue the lawsuit--samples of the food--was destroyed by defendant Menu Foods. Menu Foods was also a defendant in the pet food recall litigation going on at the same time. The defendant asked the court to allow it to destroy the samples of food it had collected in the discovery phase of the recall litigation. The samples contained both recalled and non-recalled products. Storing the samples, the company argued, was an inconvenience. The court agreed over strenuous objections by consumers who needed that evidence for separate false advertising claims. Menu Foods promptly got rid of the evidence, fully aware of the other claims. This left the Blaszkowski class action, and others, with nothing to stand on. Blaszkowski was dismissed on March 30, 2009.

Egg Recall Update

CNN updates consumers on the status of the egg recall and its toll thus far.

Egg Farm Worker Says Complaints Ignored

U.S. Agriculture Department employees worked full time at the egg farms responsible for the recent salmonella outbreak and subsequent recall. However, the workers ignored complaints about the conditions on site, claiming that their duty was to grade the eggs, not to look for health problems. The Seattle Times reports:

"In response to the outbreak that has led to a recall of about 550 million eggs, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration examined the Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms and noted in a report this week that inspectors found rodents, wild birds, seeping manure and maggots in the operations there."

Hyundai-Kia Announces Recall Due to Fire Hazard

See the article here.

Recent Recalls

Honda recalls
Toyota recalls
Egg recalls