The recall affects more than 800,000 cabinet and toilet locks that children can disengage, giving them access to toilet water and other household Total Calm Herbal Supplements Recalled for E. Coli Contamination
E. coli contamination prompted the recall of Tranquilene Total Calm All Natural Herbal Formula herbal supplements by Tranquility Labs.
The recall, announced in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Enforcement Report, affects 177 bottles distributed nationwide with lot number 12003. The supplement was manufactured by Palmer Natural Products.
See complete recall details for this product as given in the report on our page, Recalls Without Press Releases. You can slo reach Tranquility Labs at 1-888-407-9659.
Are you affected by this recall? Let us know in the comments.
(Photo by e-MagineArt.com)
Two Baby Product Recalls Affect Rattles and Sippy Cups
If you have sippy cups and rattles strewn across your home, you should take a look to make sure your kiddies are not running around with Target’s Home Bunny Sippy Cup or the Whoozit Starry Time Rattle. Both items were recalled last week.
Target Home Bunny Sippy Cup The ear on the sippy cup can poke a child in the eye while drinking out of the cup, posing an injury hazard. These sippy cups were in Target stores nationwide from February through April 5. Consumers should return them to Target for a full refund. Target’s recall affects 264,000 units; more details can be seen here.
Whoozit Starry Time Rattle The Whoozit Rattle has clear spheres on each end that can break, releasing small parts and posing a choking hazard to small children. These rattles were sold in speciality toy and baby store across the country, in Canada, and online at manhattantoy.com. This recall affects a total of 3,150 units; find more details here.
Other baby rattle recalls include these sold at Meijer stores.
Are you affected by either of these two recall? Let us know in the comments.
Birth Control Recall Puts Women at Risk of Unplanned Pregnancy
A packaging error prompted Glenmark Generics to recall birth control that could leave women at risk for unplanned pregnancies.
The recall affects seven lots of Glenmark’s Norgestimate and Ethinyl Estradiol tablets. The pills can be reversed 180 degrees in their packaging, putting the daily dose of medication out of order. In addition, the lot numbers and date codes on the pills are not visible, which automatically subjects it to a recall, said a U.S. Food and Drug Administration statement.
The affected lot numbers are:
This is the second birth control recall in the last month. Pfizer recalled 28 lots of its birth control for having incorrect dosages if active ingredients.
What do you think about this birth control recall? Let us know in the comments.
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Pfizer Recalls 28 Lots of Birth Control Pills
Ladies, listen up. Pfizer announced a nationwide recall for 28 lots of the pill, and no, we’re not talking about the “little blue pill.”
Akrimax Pharmaceuticals birth control pills could contain too much or too little of the active ingredients used to prevent conception and could leave women at risk of unintended pregnancies.
LEASA recalls alfalfa sprouts for salmonella contamination.
Photo by fred_v.
Mold Related Food Issues Highlight Extreme Weather Patterns
Mold toxins jumped into consumer consciousness last month when five dog food recalls for aflatoxin lit up discussions regarding food and pet safety.
Two fruit juice issues further that discussion this week as the country looks to deal with mold and fungus, possibly as a result of extreme weather patterns last year.
Yesterday, Pepin Heights recalled honeycrisp apple cider that could contain patulin, a naturally produced toxin that comes from molds like aspergillus, the same mold that produces aflatoxin.
Extreme weather patterns across the plains states caused a flare in aspergillus mold in corn last year, a contributing factor to last month’s dog food recalls.
Chris Sandwick of Pepin Heights said 3,000 gallons were affected by the recall. Pepin Heights bottles in 6,000 gallon batches, using roughly 250,000 apples per batch.
The 58 parts per billion of patulin that the batch tested at is equal, said Sandwick, to one-one-hundredth of one apple used testing positive for patulin. The cutoff for patulin levels is 50 parts per billion.
“We think the safety of our customers is of the utmost importance,” said Sandwick.
But it’s not just apple juice facing the squeeze this week. Orange juice across the nation faces mold issues of its own.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) halted the import of OJ when it discovered carbendazim in Brazilian juice. Carbendazim is a fungicide used to treat many crops in many countries, but it isn’t approved in the U.S. for use on oranges
.
A spokesperson from the Environmental Protection Agency said there are no known side effects of carbendazim and that the concern over its presence is related to the fact that the fungicide isn’t authorized for use in oranges in the U.S.
But the FDA’s tests highlight a disconnect and a concern that carbendazim might be dangerous for consumers.
Siobhan DeLancey, team lead for food veterinary and cosmetic products at the FDA, said that for orange juice products already on the shelf, tests are safety-focused, not regulation-focused.
The FDA’s benchmark for carbendazim is set at 80 parts per billion within the country; imports will be rejected or destroyed for anything over 10 parts per billion. Coca-Cola reported the problem to the FDA originally when tests of their and competitors’ orange juice products came back around 35 parts per billion.
Presently, all of the three preliminary tests by the FDA on imports came back negative for carbendazim. There are about a dozen still in progress. DeLancey said the FDA is holding and testing with an indefinite time frame until all the tests come back.
Brazil produces about 41 percent of the orange juice consumed in the U.S., which is well over 1 million gallons a year.
There is talk that high instances of black spot mold in Brazil oranges were to blame this season for the prevalent fungicide levels. Dan Schafer, spokesperson for Coca-Cola, said he couldn’t confirm that, but said carbendazim is used to treat black spot mold.
Mold isn’t a focus or concern, necessarily, but agencies throughout the country and even internationally are now seeing how weather patterns affect their crops and later down the supply chain, how they impact consumers.
Photos via Laurel Elizabeth and Compass Designs.
ConsumerBell Weighs in on Breast Implant Recall
By now, you’ve probably heard that over 300,000 silicone breast implants are being recalled by French authorities, mainly across Europe.
News of the French recall spread quickly over the past couple weeks when major media outlets spread the story. The recall affects implants that contain Poly Implant Prosthese (PIP), a brand of silicone.
Much of the concern around this recall, though, stems from the implant manufacturer going out of business in 2010.
Much of the concern around this recall, though, stems from the implant manufacturer going out of business in 2010.
MSNBC reports that an official investigation revealed the company was using a cheaper, unapproved, industrial-grade silicone. Reuters got its hands on a French police document that quotes a PIP executive admitting he knew he was using sub-standard silicone. His excuse was that it was cheap.
Surgeons have used the implants for 12 years in more than 65 different countries, and while affected governments are now bringing this to the public’s attention as something happening now, the fact that the implants could have ruptured, leaked and posed risks of cancer for over a decade is understated.
The French government will pay for the removal for implants used in surgeries originally performed in the country. But for surgeries performed in the UK or Germany, though, things get complicated, especially their differing opinions on the dangers that PIP implants can pose.
While Germany advised that women have the implants removed, Britain’s Health Department didn’t find enough evidence to link to cancer to warrant a full-on mass removal. The country will pay for removals of implants originally inserted by the National Health Service. The Washington Post reports that those implants account for only 2,000 of the 40,000 implants.
For the other 38,000 women, the government urges private clinics to step up and remove the implants for free.
The U.S., though, is unaffected as a whole.
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee recommended against introducing PIP to the market in back in 2000. At that time, PIP decided stop pursuing marketing its implants in the U.S., said Erica Jefferson, team leader for medical products and tobacco in the FDA office of public affairs.
While Jefferson couldn’t speak to whether or not it’s possible that women left the U.S. to get implants in other countries, she did say silicone gel-filled implants are not meant to be lifetime products and that implants should be something that women consult their physician and health care provider about.
After all is said and done, ConsumerBell has one question for PIP’s manufacturers and the French government: Why did this notice take almost two years to reach consumers?
The BBC hints that France spent the time between the 2010 investigation and December, 2011, investigating the silicone used to see how dangerous it was, but what do you think?
Should France have made an announcement immediately in 2010? Or was it a good idea to run tests to confirm the danger before going public?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Photos via The Jobbing Doctor and Lauren Greenberg.
Novartis Recalls Excedrin, Gas-X, Bufferin and NoDoz
Novartis Consumer Health issued a sweeping recall of four over-the-counter (OTC) drugs that could have chipped or broken pills, or contain incorrect medications.
Excedrin, Bufferin, Gas-X and Nodoze are all affected by the recall.
Endo Pharmaceuticals, along with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), simultaneously issued a pharmaceutical level advisory about opioid products, specifically Opana ER, that could also contain mismatched pills.
Government Issues Reminder Letter to Pajama Manufacturers
The federal government issued a reminder to pajama manufacturers across the country following two children’s loungewear and sleepwear recalls last week.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s letter was a reminder of the agency’s policies and enforcements regarding children’s sleepwear and the regulations surrounding flammability standards.
Andrew Kameros, director of the Office of Compliance and Field Operations for the CPSC, issued the letter, which reminds manufacturers and importers of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act’s requirements for children’s products, including tracking labels, a certificate of compliance and testing requirements for phthalates, lead content and lead in surface coatings on the product like snaps and zipper pulls.
The recalls included about 1,000 fleece robes by Hanna Andersson that didn’t meet federal flammability standards. They were sold nationwide since September.
The second recall was from Group Lemur and included children’s pajamas sold in 2009.Both items are in our Marketplace with complete details and information on redeeming your product.
Have you had experience with any of these products? Let us know in the comments.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s letter was a reminder of the agency’s policies and enforcements regarding children’s sleepwear and the regulations surrounding flammability standards.
Andrew Kameros, director of the Office of Compliance and Field Operations for the CPSC, issued the letter, which reminds manufacturers and importers of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act’s requirements for children’s products, including tracking labels, a certificate of compliance and testing requirements for phthalates, lead content and lead in surface coatings on the product like snaps and zipper pulls.The recalls included about 1,000 fleece robes by Hanna Andersson that didn’t meet federal flammability standards. They were sold nationwide since September.
The second recall was from Group Lemur and included children’s pajamas sold in 2009.Both items are in our Marketplace with complete details and information on redeeming your product.
Have you had experience with any of these products? Let us know in the comments.
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