This machete recall had us in stitches

When we heard about the recall of a machete because it posed a laceration hazard, we thought it was a parody. Cutting -- isn't that what a machete is for? What's next: Candles that catch fire, folding chairs that fold up, steam mops that spurt steam? Nevermind -- all those things have been recalled as well.

Still, it makes us laugh when something is recalled because it does the very thing it was made to do (but poorly). But let's cut to the chase: Gerber Legendary Blades has recalled 149,000 Gator Machetes and 6,000 Gator Machetes Jr. because the user's hand can slip off the handle and slide forward across the blade. The company has received five reports of individuals cutting themselves while using the Gator Machete, all of whom required stitches. Ouch.

Since getting the reports, the company has redesigned the handle so it now has a guard (see image). If you own one without the guard, the company will replace it. See the recall notice for contact information.

This isn't Gerber's first cutting edge recall. In 2007, it recalled 154,000 pocket knives because, you guessed it, they can cut you.

-- Mary H.J. Farrell

Hot pockets? Make that burning

After the Snuggie and its doggie doppelganger, we hoped that the days of goofy garments would end. But sure enough, something even sillier hit the shelves—a scarf with warming pockets. Apparently, the pockets were too hot to handle as the scarves were recalled today after several microwaves were destroyed heating the "cuddly" wrappers.

Called Therma Scarf, the polyester scarves have pockets on each end with microwaveable heat packs composed of flax seeds. Just pop them in the microwave ... and call 911. The maker, Telebrands, has received seven reports of the scarves or packs overheating, including five fires, three of which resulted in property damage to the microwave. Two of the incidents were in Canada. (It's colder up there.)

If you were one of the 100,000 folks who bought a Therma Scarf online or at the mall, now is a really good time to return it for a full refund. The recall notice tells you how.

—Mary H.J. Farrell

Pringles and ready-to-eat meats part of huge processed food recall

The company at the center of a burgeoning processed food recall continued to make and sell a flavoring agent after learning salmonella had been detected in its Las Vegas plant, according to the Washington Post.

Reporting on inspection records from the Food and Drug Administration, the Post wrote that, "Basic Food Flavors tested surfaces near food-processing equipment throughout its plant twice in January and once in February, and each time the samples showed salmonella contamination." Yet the company continued to ship hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) and make more of it without taking measures to stem the contamination, the FDA records showed.

This news comes as the FDA is adding multiple HVP-enhanced foods to its recall list—a list that is expected to grow exponentially in the coming days. According to the Post, Basic Food Flavors makes 20 million pounds of HVP each year and distributes it to foodmakers across the country.

HVP is a flavor enhancer used in a wide variety of processed food products, such as soups, sauces, chilis, stews, hot dogs, gravies, seasoned snack foods, dips, and dressings. It is often blended with other spices to make seasonings that are used in or on foods. Two examples are the Pringles varieties recalled this week: Restaurant Cravers Cheeseburger and Family Faves Taco Night. Even Stephen Colbert felt obligated last night to warn his nation of viewers about the recall. Apparently there are lots of kinds of Pringles! (Watch the video.)

We'd like to make light of it too but so far the news has been pretty disturbing. Basic Food Flavors is recalling all HVP made at the plant since Sept. 17, 2009. That's a lot.

Use of HVP is not limited to dried packaged foods, it is also used in some meat products and recalls are showing up there too. Windsor Foods, a firm with operations in Lampasas, Texas, and Oakland, Miss., is recalling 1.7 million pounds of ready-to-eat beef taquito and chicken quesadilla products. And Ruiz Foods, a Denison, Texas firm, is recalling 115,700 pounds of a ready-to-eat beef products. (See the recall notices for full details.)

According to the FDA's FAQ on HVP, reading labels is not a reliable way to detect HVP because it may be characterized in different ways. So it's best to keep an eye on the recall list. And to follow these tips:

• Check www.FoodSafety.gov or www.recalls.gov for a list of recalled products;
• Remember to follow cooking instructions for all foods;
• Report symptoms of salmonella or other food-related illness to your local health care professional.

—Mary H.J. Farrell

CPSC echoes CU’s concerns about infant sling carriers

Yesterday, Inez Tenenbaum, chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, made some remarks about the risks of infant slings that captured the attention of the media and the trade audience she was addressing. “We know of too many deaths in these slings and we now know the hazard scenarios for very small babies," said Tenenbaum at  a summit hosted by the Juvenile Products Manufacturer’s Association. "So the time has come to alert parents and caregivers.” She said that a general warning about slings would likely be made by her agency very soon.

At Consumer Reports, we’ve raised concerns about slings before. Last fall, we wrote about seven babies who died in baby slings over the prior 11 years, and 37 infants who were seriously hurt. Those injuries included skull fractures, broken bones, and serious bruises. Most occurred when the child fell out of the sling. Because of those incidents, and the lack of safety standards, infant slings are on our list of products not to buy for your baby.

We also reported that our research uncovered two deaths associated with one sling model, the Infantino SlingRider. According to reports from government investigators, two newborns died from anoxia, or lack of oxygen, while their mothers carried them in SlingRiders. On November 4, 2009 we wrote to the CPSC and said that “we believe that the Infantino SlingRider poses a substantial product hazard” and encouraged the agency to consider a recall on the product before more babies die. But on December 23rd, another death occurred. According to new information we received, this tragedy is similar to the others—a 3-month-old infant suffocated while being carried by his mother in a SlingRider during a shopping excursion. 
 
We are repeating our call for the CPSC to consider seeking a recall for the Infantino SlingRider because it poses a suffocation risk (it was recalled in 2007 for breaking shoulder strap adjusters). And we encourage the agency to investigate any similarly designed slings. We’re continuing our own research and will publish additional information in the coming weeks.

—Don Mays

Safe by definition: Smart throttle technology

What it is: Smart throttle technology is a safety feature that's built into some vehicles. It's designed to stop a car when both the gas pedal and the brake pedal are activated. It’s main purpose is to allow drivers to stop vehicles in which the accelerator has become stuck open for some reason. Smart throttle technology is already built into many European cars and trucks, as well as some Japanese and U.S. vehicle brands.
 
Why it's news: In the wake of growing concerns about sudden acceleration problems in Toyotas, both Congress and the Obama Administration are mulling new requirements that all new cars be equipped with smart throttle technology. Toyota has argued that sudden acceleration problems in its vehicles were caused by floor mats or sticking accelerator pedals, but they have pledged to include the brake override technology (their term for "smart throttle") in all of its future cars.

Consumer Reports believes that all cars should be engineered such that a sustained press of the brake pedal would allow the car to stop in a reasonable distance, even if the throttle is wide open – whatever the cause. While the brakes on most vehicles can stop a speeding vehicle eventually, it can take up to 1,000 feet to do so. That's too long. One method to reduce stopping distances is smart throttle technology. Other methods to limit power might be acceptable too as long as the vehicle can stop within a short, predetermined distance.

Dad finds harness release issues with Safety 1st Vantage child seats

You may have seen a report on YouTube or your local news showing one consumer’s concern over the ability of some Safety 1st Vantage child seats to keep the harness tight. In the video, Bryan Dussault of Chicago documents the ability to loosen the straps on some samples of the Vantage seat without touching the release mechanism for the harness. The corresponding story indicates that he has been in contact with Dorel (the parent company of Safety 1st) as well as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) which governs child seat issues.
 
Certainly, the ability of a harness to loosen without intentional release of its locking mechanism is cause for serious concern as the forces in a crash would be far greater than simply pulling on the harness and would likely lead to injury or even ejection of a child in a real crash event.

We recently evaluated the Vantage Toddler/booster seat where it earned high ratings for its performance not only in simulated crash tests on the test sled but in our ease-of-use and fit-to-vehicle evaluations. In none of the simulated crash tests with dummies representing 3-year-old children did the harnesses loosen. Today, we also took the opportunity to re-check the three samples of the Vantage that we still had on the shelf for this issue and found that each held the harness locked even when we pulled on them.

When looking closely at the seats we also checked samples (26 total) of other Dorel-manufactured toddler/booster, convertible and infant models from Safety 1st, Eddie Bauer and Maxi-Cosi that included a similar mechanism for retaining harness tension. We found that they also stayed tight.  Though our test samples proved secure, should Dorel or NHTSA investigations find that there is an issue with the harness locking mechanism on seats they test, it may not be isolated to the Vantage model alone.

If you own a Safety 1st Vantage seat or other harnessed model manufactured by Dorel (marketed as Cosco, Safety 1st, Eddie Bauer and Maxi-Cosi) you may gain some peace of mind from conducting your own pull test similar to the one Dussault performs in his video. After you’ve pulled the harness adjuster tight, pull on the harness straps at the shoulder area. These straps should remain tight and not loosen or pull out until you’ve intentionally pushed the release button near the adjuster strap. If they do, we recommend that you discontinue use of the seat as soon as you can. Dorel Customer Service can be reached at (800) 544-1108 and owners can report any loosening to NHTSA online  or via phone on weekdays at (888) 327-4236.

Update: Our review of the NHTSA database for similar complaints to Dussault’s yielded a handful of complaints (post-2005) on a variety of Dorel models that described similar issues related to harnesses not remaining tight.  Our search also showed that Dorel had previous recalls related to the locking mechanism on the harness in both 2005 and 2007.
 
On March 5, NHTSA opened a preliminary investigation into the harness issues on the Vantage seat.

Contaminated flavoring agent leads to recall of 56 foods

Here we go again. A seemingly random list of recently recalled dips, soups and snacks apparently have a common ingredient—a flavoring agent recalled Thursday by the Food and Drug Association. All the foods contain hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) paste or powder distributed by Basic Food Flavors of Las Vegas. Salmonella has been detected in the plant's processing equipment.

Already 56 foods have been recalled and the FDA anticipates that the list will grow. To keep consumers informed, the agency has created a searchable database of foods containing the tainted HVP.  On the list are dips, dressings and dressing mixes, snacks and snack mixes, soup mixes and some pre-packaged meals. At this writing, no illnesses have been associated with the recall.

The FDA reported finding salmonella in one production lot of HVP after inspections at Basic Food Flavors following a customer complaint. The agency collected and analyzed samples at the facility and confirmed the presence of Salmonella Tennessee in the company’s processing equipment. The recall includes all hydrolyzed vegetable protein in powder and paste form produced there since Sept. 17, 2009. 

“This situation clearly underscores the need for new food safety legislation to equip FDA with the tools we need to prevent contamination," said Dr. Jeff Farrar, associate commissioner for food protection, FDA’s Office of Foods.

Hydrolyzed vegetable protein is a common ingredient used most frequently as a flavor enhancer in many processed foods, including soups, sauces, chili, stews, hot dogs, gravies, seasoned snack foods, dips and dressings.

FDA commissioner Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg credited the FDA's new Reportable Food Registry with the discovery. The registry is an electronic portal for the food industry to report incidents when there is reasonable probability that an article of food will cause serious adverse health consequences. Hamburg did not say which of Basic Food Flavors' customers reported the incident.

Like earlier recalls of peanuts, pistachios and powdered milk, HVP is an ingredient used in a wide variety of foods so more recalls will surely follow. As the Food Safety News characterized Basic Food Flavors, "this is a company that uses giant rail cars to move its product."

"This can potentially be in over 10,000 products," Michael Hansen, senior scientist at Consumers Union told the Washington Post. So check your cupboard and the recall list often.

When your right of way goes wrong

We've all heard stories about road rage and drivers who make obscene gestures. So we were amused when we saw the story "When courtesy turns dangerous" in the most recent issue of the New York edition of AAA's Car & Travel magazine. The story warns ominously that being too polite can lead to an accident, especially at an intersection. And that "courtesy standoffs" can be risky.

"Nowhere does courtesy affect safety more than in right-of-way situations. Simply put, right-of-way situations involve the question 'Who goes first?' In theory, the rules of the road always provide the proper etiquette to answer the question, but in the real world, people—not rules—grant right of way," the article states.

The wrong thing to do in a right-of-way situation is to blindly accept a courteous "go ahead" wave from another driver. Because that driver may not be looking behind or around her own car. "You can never assume that a driver is looking out for you in a truly safe manner, even if he or she means well,” the article continues.

So who does go first? To refresh our memory, we cruised over to the Rules of the road section of the SafeNY Web site. Here's the right thing to do in a right-of-way situation.

• A driver approaching an intersection must yield the right of way to traffic already in the intersection.
• If drivers approaching from opposite directions reach an intersection at about the same time, a driver turning left must yield to approaching traffic going straight or turning right.
• At intersections not controlled by signs or signals, or where two or more drivers stop at STOP signs at the same time and they are at right angles to one another, the driver on the left must yield the right of way to the driver on the right. 
• A vehicle entering a roadway from a driveway, alley, private road or any other place that is not a roadway must stop and yield the right of way to traffic on the roadway, and to pedestrians. 
• Drivers must yield to pedestrians using marked or unmarked crosswalks.  
• You may not enter an intersection if traffic is backed up on the other side and you cannot get all the way through the intersection. Wait until traffic ahead clears, so you don't block the intersection.
• A driver entering a traffic circle, or rotary, must yield the right of way to drivers already in the circle. 
• And, of course, yield the right of way when an emergency vehicle approaches.

—Mary H.J. Farrell