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Six Reported Deaths Prompt Urgent Re-announcement of Blair Recall of Women’s Chenille Robes

Blair is re-announcing the voluntary recall of 162,000 women’s full length chenille robes, originally announced in April 2009.  Blair has received reports of six deaths due to the robes catching on fire. Five of the six victims were female, and were cooking at the time of the incidents. Three of the victims were in their 80s.

Blair had sent letters informing customers about the recall after the original reports of three robes catching on fire.  The six deaths were reported after the original mailing went out.

The Women’s Chenille Robes have the following item numbers: 3093111, 3093112, 3093113, 3093114, 3093115, and 3093116. The item number is identified on a label in the garment’s neckline. The robe is a one-piece garment made of plush sculpted chenille, a shaped stand collar, and horizontal chenille front and back yolks and cuffs. The robe has a full-button front with seven matching button closures, long sleeves with self cuffs, a straight bottom with self hem, and two sideseam pockets. The robe’s sewn in label states: “100% Cotton, RN 81700, Made in Pakistan”.

The robes were sold in Blair catalogs and on their web site, as well as Blair stores in Warren, PA, Grove City, PA, and Wilmington, DE, from January 2003 through March 2009 and cost between $20 and $40.

If you or soemone you know owns a Blair robe as described, they should stop wearing it immediately and contact Blair for information on returning the robe to receive either a refund or a $50 gift card for Blair merchandise. Contact Blair toll-free at (877) 392-7095 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET Monday through Saturday, visit www.blair.com/recall.

Posted under Products, Recalls, Safety

Winterbee Inc. of Los Angeles, CA has recalled roughly 80,000 of their Speedy Children’s Hooded Zipper Jackets and Kids Hooded Pullover Jackets.

The jackets are designed with a drawstring through the hood, which can pose a strangulation hazard to children. In 1996, CPSC issued drawstring guidelines (pdf) to help prevent children from injury due to drawstrings in garments like jackets or sweatshirts.

The jackets were sold in various colors (black, white, charcoal gray, heather gray, burgundy, green, royal blue, navy blue, baby blue, red, pink, brown and in sizes S-XXL. “Speedy” can be found on a label located on the inside collar label.  The jackets were sold at  sportswear and clothing retail stores in the Los Angeles area from December 2004 through December 2008 for about $10.

If your child owns one of these jackets you should immediately remove the drawstrings from the sweatshirts to eliminate the hazard, or return the garment to either the place of purchase or to Speedy for a full refund.

For additional information, contact Speedy toll-free at (888) 901-8067 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday.

Posted under Products, Recalls, Safety

In cooperation with the FDA, Fun Express, Inc. is expanding its face paint recall from early May to include white and yellow face paint colors.  The face paints can cause rashes, skin irritation, and itchiness.  The paints, made by Shanghai Color Art Stationary Company Limited, have the words, “Water-Based Face Paint Net Weight 1 Oz (28.3gm) Non-Toxic Made in China” on the tube.  The tube is packaged on cardboard backing that is labeled, “Face Paint” on the front, and, “Distributed by Oriental Trading Co., Omaha, NENE 68127″ in the upper right hand corner. 

The item number can be found on the back of the package-

85/2338 (White face paint)
85/2339 (Yellow face paint)

The products were distributed primarily to retail stores nationwide between April 2008 and April 2009.  If you have the face paint in question, you should immediately discard it.

Consumers can contact Fun Express, Inc. by calling (888) 999-0442 between the hours of 9:00 am and 5:00 pm CST, Monday through Friday.

Posted under Customer Service, Health, Products, Recalls, Safety

Bugaboo North America has recalled 22,500 of their “Bugaboo Bee” strollers.  There have been over 120 reports of brakes failing.  While no injuries have been reported, brake failure can lead to  runaway strollers if left on an incline, which can lead to injuries.

To know if your stroller is at risk look at the back of the seat for item number 580210 and  under the plastic support of the seat for item number 50100.  The strollers were sold in blue, dark khaki, pink, red, yellow, and black. “bugaboo® bee” is printed on the left side of the seat.

If your stroller matches the description you should stop using it immediately and contact Bugaboo to receive a free repair kit. To order the bracket kit, go to www.bugaboo.com and fill in the special order form or contact Bugaboo customer service.

You can reach Bugaboo at (800) 460-2922 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, or send an email to bugaboobee-service@bugaboo.com

Posted under Products, Recalls, Safety

Bunn® Single Cup Pod Brewers pose a burn risk to users- while the machine is in use, the pod drawer may spontaneously open and create a burn hazard.  About 35,000 of the units are being recalled, which were sold at web retailers, department and hardware stores nationwide between August 2004 and March 2009 for roughly $300.

This recall involves Bunn® Single Pod Brewers. Models included in the recall are MCP (My Café Pourover) and MCA (My Café Automatic). The pod brewers have a black body with stainless backsplash and measure 12 inches high by 8 inches wide. “Bunn®” is printed on the front and lights up when the pod brewer is on.

Consumers should immediately stop using the brewers and contact Bunn to obtain two replacement pod drawers.  For additional information, contact Bunn-O-Matic at (800) 741-3405 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or visit  www.bunn.com

Posted under Products, Recalls, Safety

Jitterbug Cell Phones made by Samsung may fail to dial 911 in an out of service area.  This poses a tremendous risk to the user base of this model- elderly who need a simple phone in case of an emergency.

As many as 160,000 Jitterbug Phones may have this problem, the model numbers to look out for are  SPH-a110 and SPH-a120 with standard key pads and version BB14 software.  The phones were manufactured between March 2008 and May 2009.  This recall does not apply to any other Samsung phones.

While Samsung and Jitterbug are directly contacting consumers to schedule a free software upgrade, consumers should call Samsung directly if they have not been called.

For additional information, contact Samsung toll-free at (866) 304-4980 between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, and on Saturday between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. CT, or visit  www.samsung.com

Posted under Products, Safety

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers that foods containing peanut butter like candy, cakes, and pies shoud be avoided until the agency can determine the cause of a salmonella outbreak that has afflicted five hundred people.  Six deaths are attributed to the outbreak.

Peanut butter is made from a paste created by roasting cured peanuts.  Experts believe that the paste was tainted which would taint the end product.  Kellogg reacted quickly before the government made any recommendations and pulled Austin and Keebler branded peanut butter crackers from store shelves.

We contacted Lance, Inc (NASDAQ:LNCE) after Kellogg reacted so quickly.  Days before the U.S. government said to avoid products with peanut butter, Lance denied any problem with their product.  Lance told Consumer Help Web,

“We produce our own peanut butter and are not connected with the recent peanut butter recall.  We can assure you our products are safe to eat.”

Maybe so.  But for now we are sticking with federal recommendations about peanut butter products.  Those recommendations say, in part, “Because identification of products subject to recall is continuing, the FDA urges consumers to postpone eating commercially-prepared or manufactured peanut butter-containing products and institutionally-served peanut butter until further information becomes available about which products may be affected.”

Passing on a Reese’s Cup or peanut butter crackers sounds like good food advice for this week.

Posted under Products, Safety

Walkie-Talkies sold at Toys R Us recalled for burn hazard

If you started holiday shopping early this year, you may want to check the packaging if you bought a Cobra 2 way radio (what we used to call walkie-talkies) at Toys R Us.

The manufacturer and U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission are cooperating on a recall of 8,000 units of the cool looking toys (pictured left) because the rechargable batteries can leak and cause a chemical burn.

The great news is that no one has been hurt yet, so cheers to Cobra for moving fast on this recall.

How To Tell If Your Walkie-Talkie Is Recalled

The recall involves two-way radios with the 300 mah “CEL” batteries. The walkie talkie style radios are made of pink plastic and come in purple packaging. Product number PR191-2VP is located on the front of the packaging and on the label inside the battery compartment. The batteries are standard AAA Nickle Metal Hydride battery cells with a black wrapper with the battery name 300 mah (CEL) with the date code (TF or RF) on the battery itself.

Cobra asks that consumers stop using the radios and contact them for a free replacement and a 20% coupon on a new purchase.   Do not touch anything that has leaked from the battery, which is sound advice in almost all cases, come to think of it.

More information is available toll-free at (888) 252-9889 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday

Posted under Products, Recalls, Safety

Two years after we reported on a Leapfrog recall affecting children 6 months to 36 months of age, word now comes that the company has recalled 35,000 units of a video game system.

The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission says rechargable batteries and power sources for the company’s game system marketed under the Didj name can overheat.  Twelve reports of overheating have been reported to the company thus far resulting in at least one reported minor burn.

The recharging base and battery, made in China, should no longer be used.  Consumers can call Leapfrog toll-free at (800) 701-5327 for more information.

Posted under Products, Recalls, Safety

Heavy darts with projectile tips tossed in the air and burying deep into all but the most hardened dirt or grass were a popular game a generation ago.  They were called lawn darts, and they were fun until as Mom said, someone loses an eye.

That happened far too often, as did other injuries, and lawn darts were banned twenty years ago because they’re essentially little arrows with weighted shafts.

Two companies were apparently selling these as a deluxe family entertainment package for about sixty bucks.  If you bought one, you need to send them back for a refund.   Thanks to the CPSC jumping on this issue fast, refunds should be relatively easy to arrange.   Simply call the distributor toll free at (877) 374-8881 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. MT Monday through Friday.

Many recalls are for a potential hazard.  This one is for a very real hazard.  Unless you’ve got an archery range set up at your home, leave the flying darts alone because these particular beauties have a shaft that is more than one foot long.

Posted under Products, Recalls