Costco is offering refunds for some restaurant gift cards. Here’s why

From the food in your fridge to the appliances in your home to the car in your driveway, recalls touch everyday life, but the warnings don’t always reach us in time. It takes time for the investigators to kind of put the pieces of the puzzle together. Teresa Murray is the consumer watchdog for the US Public Interest Research Group. She walked us through the timeline of *** typical food recall. It can take several weeks between the time that somebody gets sick and goes. To *** medical provider and then the time that the CDC identifies the source and there’s enough information to say, Aha, OK, it’s that particular brand of that particular product. For things like vehicles and consumer products, Murray says it can take months, even years, as regulators and companies negotiate over fixes. The consequences of those delays can be deadly. Last week, the US government released *** warning about *** popular Fisher Price baby. In 2019, Fisher Price recalled its rock and place sleeper after more than 30 infant deaths since its 2009 release. *** House Oversight report found the company and the Consumer Product Safety Commission knew of fatalities and injuries as early as 2012. Since the recall, the CPSC says 70 more deaths have been reported, including eight after the announcement prompting *** re-announcement in 2023. Our recall notifications. I mean this country absolutely stinks, and unfortunately there’s not one single policy solution that would just fix everything. I mean, we all need to do better. So what can you do before you buy anything? Check safeerproducts.gov. That’s the CPSC site where you can file and read complaints. You can search by brand and search by kind of by product. You can say, gosh, there have been like dozens of complaints, and that might give you *** clue. Maybe you should try and look for *** different brand. Register big ticket items, especially baby gear like car seats and strollers, so companies can contact you if *** recall happens. For vehicles, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has *** tool on its website that lets you search for recalls associated with your vehicle identification number, otherwise known as VIN. Finally, sign up for recall alerts by visiting this site, recalls.gov. And Murray recommends making recall checks part of your weekly routine. Reporting in Washington, I’m Annie Lou.