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Tag: Product safety

  • Idaho Company Recalls Nearly 3,000 Pounds of Ground Beef for E. Coli Risk

    An Idaho-based company is recalling nearly 3,000 pounds of raw ground beef that may have been contaminated with E. coli bacteria.

    The recall involves 16-ounce vacuum-sealed packages labeled “Forward Farms Grass-Fed Ground Beef.” Affected packages were produced Dec. 16 and have a label telling customers to use or freeze the meat by Jan. 13. The affected beef also bears the establishment number “EST 2083” on the side of its packaging.

    The meat was produced by Heyburn, Idaho-based Mountain West Food Group and was shipped to distributors in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Pennsylvania and Washington.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, which announced the recall Saturday, didn’t say which retailers may have sold the meat. The USDA and Mountain West Food Group didn’t respond to messages left Tuesday by The Associated Press.

    The USDA said there have been no confirmed reports of illness due to consumption of the meat. The issue was discovered in a sample of beef during routine testing.

    The USDA said the type of E. coli found can cause illness within 28 days of exposure. Most infected people develop diarrhea, which is often bloody, and vomiting. Infection is usually diagnosed with a stool sample.

    The USDA said customers who have purchased the affected products should either throw them away or return them to the place they were bought. The agency also advises all customers to consume ground beef only if it has been cooked to a temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – December 2025

    Associated Press

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  • 780,000 pressure washers recalled after reports of explosions and impact injuries

    About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers

    NEW YORK — About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.

    According to a Thursday recall notice published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, power tool and equipment company TTI is recalling certain models of its Ryobi-branded electric pressure washers because the products’ capacitor can overheat and burst, “causing parts to be forcefully ejected.”

    That poses serious impact risks to users or bystanders. To date, the CPSC notes, TTI has received 135 reports of capacitors overheating in the U.S. — including 41 reports of explosions that resulted in 32 injuries and/or fractures to consumers’ fingers, hands, face and eyes. A corresponding notice from Health Canada noted that no additional incidents were reported in Canada.

    Consumers in possession of the now-recalled pressure washers are urged to stop using them immediately and visit Ryobi’s recall website to learn about how to receive a free repair kit, which includes a replacement capacitor.

    The Ryobi washers under recall have model numbers RY142300 and RY142711VNM. About 764,000 were sold in the U.S., in addition to 16,000 in Canada.

    In the U.S. these products were sold at Home Depot and Direct Tools Factory Outlet between July 2017 and June 2024, the CPSC notes, for about $300 to $400 in stores and online.

    The Associated Press reached out to TTI for further comments on Thursday.

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  • Listeria recall grows to 12 million pounds of meat and poultry, some of it sent to US schools

    Listeria recall grows to 12 million pounds of meat and poultry, some of it sent to US schools

    A nationwide recall of meat and poultry products potentially contaminated with listeria has expanded to nearly 12 million pounds and now includes ready-to-eat meals sent to U.S. schools, restaurants and major retailers, federal officials said.

    The updated recall includes prepared salads, burritos and other foods sold at stores including Costco, Trader Joe’s, Target, Walmart and Kroger. The meat used in those products was processed at a Durant, Oklahoma, manufacturing plant operated by BrucePac. The Woodburn, Oregon-based company sells precooked meat and poultry to industrial, foodservice and retail companies across the country.

    Routine testing found potentially dangerous listeria bacteria in samples of BrucePac chicken, officials with the U.S. Agriculture Department said. No illnesses have been confirmed in connection with the recall, USDA officials said. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not launched an outbreak investigation, a spokesperson said.

    The recall, issued on Oct. 9, includes foods produced between May 31 and Oct. 8. The USDA has posted a 342-page list of hundreds of potentially affected foods, including chicken wraps sold at Trader Joe’s, chicken burritos sold at Costco and many types of salads sold at stores such as Target and Walmart. The foods were also sent to school districts and restaurants across the country.

    The recalled foods can be identified by establishment numbers “51205 or P-51205” inside or under the USDA mark of inspection. Consumers can search on the USDA recall site to find potentially affected products. Such foods should be thrown away or returned to stores for refunds, officials said.

    Eating foods contaminated with listeria can cause potentially serious illness. About 1,600 people are infected with listeria bacteria each year in the U.S. and about 260 die, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Listeria infections typically cause fever, muscle aches and tiredness and may cause stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions. Symptoms can occur quickly or to up to 10 weeks after eating contaminated food. The infections are especially dangerous for older people, those with weakened immune systems or who are pregnant.

    The same type of bacteria is responsible for an outbreak tied to Boar’s Head deli meat that has killed at least 10 people since May.

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    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Hundreds of frozen waffle products recalled due to possible listeria contamination

    Hundreds of frozen waffle products recalled due to possible listeria contamination

    Hundreds of frozen waffle products sold in leading retailers including Walmart and Target are being recalled because of possible contamination by the listeria bacteria, according to the manufacturer.

    TreeHouse Foods said Friday that it issued a voluntary recall after discovering possible contamination during routing testing at its plant. It said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Canadian food regulators are aware of the recall.

    Listeria infections can cause mild illness including fever and diarrhea or more serious problems. The illness is most dangerous to pregnant women, newborns, adults over 65 and people with weakened immune systems, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

    The CDC estimates that 1,600 people are infected with listeria each year in the United States and 260 die.

    The recalled waffles are sold under a variety of names including Walmart’s Great Value, Target’s Good & Gather and private label brands sold by Food Lion, Kroger and Schnucks. TreeHouse published a complete list.

    TreeHouse said there have been no confirmed reports of illness related to the waffles.

    The company said consumers holding any of the products should dispose of them or return them to the store for credit.

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  • Perdue recalls 167,000 pounds of chicken nuggets after consumers find metal wire in some packages

    Perdue recalls 167,000 pounds of chicken nuggets after consumers find metal wire in some packages

    NEW YORK — Check your freezer. Perdue Foods is recalling more than 167,000 pounds of frozen chicken nuggets and tenders after some customers reported finding metal wire embedded in the products.

    According to Perdue and the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, the recall covers select lots of three products: Perdue Breaded Chicken Tenders, Butcher Box Organic Chicken Breast Nuggets and Perdue Simply Smart Organics Breaded Chicken Breast Nuggets.

    FSIS and Perdue determined that some 167,171 pounds (75,827 kilograms) of these products may be contaminated with a foreign material after receiving an unspecified number of customer complaints. In a Friday announcement, Maryland-based Perdue said that the material was “identified in a limited number of consumer packages.”

    The company later “determined the material to be a very thin strand of metal wire that was inadvertently introduced into the manufacturing process,” Jeff Shaw, Perdue’s senior vice president of food safety and quality, said in a prepared statement. Shaw added that Perdue decided to recall all impacted packages “out of an abundance of caution.”

    There are no confirmed injuries or adverse reactions tied to eating these products to date, according to FSIS and Perdue. Still, FSIS is concerned that the products may be in consumers’ freezers.

    The now-recalled tenders and nuggets can be identified by product codes listed on both Perdue and FSIS’s online notices. All three impacted products have a best if used by date of March 23, 2025, and establishment number “P-33944” on the back of the package. They were sold at retailers nationwide.

    Consumers who have the recalled chicken are urged to throw it away or return the product to its place of purchase. Perdue is offering full refunds to impacted consumers who can call the company at 866-866-3703.

    Foreign object contamination is one of the the top reasons for food recalls in the U.S. today. Just last November, Tyson Foods recalled nearly 30,000 pounds (13,600 kilograms) of chicken nuggets after consumers also found metal pieces in the dinosaur-shaped products. Beyond metal, plastic fragments, rocks, bits of insects and more “extraneous” materials have prompted recalls by making their way into packaged goods.

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  • Over 3 million steam cleaners are under recall because they can spew hot water and cause burns

    Over 3 million steam cleaners are under recall because they can spew hot water and cause burns

    NEW YORK (AP) — Some 3.3 million steam cleaners are being recalled across North America due to a burn hazard that has resulted in consumers reporting more than 150 injuries.

    Select models of Bissell-branded “Steam Shot Handheld Steam Cleaners” can spew hot water or steam while the products are in use or being heated up, according to notices Thursday from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada. That poses a risk of burns to users.

    Bissell has received a 183 reports of hot water or steam expelling from the products. That includes 157 reports of minor burns, the regulators noted, with 145 injuries reported in the U.S. and 12 in Canada as of June 4, according to Health Canada.

    Consumers are urged to immediately stop using the now-recalled steam cleaners and contact Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Bissell for a refund or store credit. Impacted customers will have a choice between $60 (CA$82) in store credit or a $40 (CA$55) refund for each.

    The recalled steam cleaners, which were made in China, can be identified by model numbers — listed on Bissell’s website. There, consumers can also find more information about registering for the recall and follow instructions for cutting the products’ cord and uploading photos.

    On its site, Bissell said that “safety is our top priority,” later adding that the company chose to voluntarily recall these steam cleaners “out of an abundance of caution.”

    The Bissell steam cleaners under recall were sold at major retailers including Target and Walmart, as well as online at sites like www.bissell.com and Amazon, from August 2008 through May 2024.

    An estimated 3.2 million were purchased in the U.S. Nearly 355,000 were sold in Canada.

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  • Over 580,000 beds are under recall because they can break or collapse during use

    Over 580,000 beds are under recall because they can break or collapse during use

    NEW YORK — More than a half a million beds sold at retailers like Walmart and Wayfair are under recall because they can break during use, which has resulted in dozens of injuries.

    The recall impacts several different models and sizes of upholstered low profile standard and platform beds from Home Design, Inc. The Silver Lake, Indiana-based furniture wholesaler says it has received 128 reports of these beds “breaking, sagging or collapsing” when used, including 36 unspecified injuries to date.

    Both Home Design and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission are urging consumers with the now-recalled beds to stop using them immediately — and contact the company for free replacement slats and side rails.

    Consumers can identify if their bed is being recalled checking the list of impacted models and corresponding part number, which can be found on both the CPSC’s Thursday recall notice and on Home Design’s website. To receive the free repair kit, you’ll need to email Home Design photos of the bed or proof of purchase as well as the headboard’s “law label.”

    The recalled beds, which were manufactured in Malaysia, were sold at Wayfair, Walmart.com and Overstock.com between July 2018 and November 2023. Prices ranged from $100 to $300.

    The recall impacts more than 527,000 Home Design beds in the U.S. and nearly 56,000 in Canada.

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  • Don’t eat pre-cut cantaloupe if the source is unknown, CDC says, as deadly salmonella outbreak grows

    Don’t eat pre-cut cantaloupe if the source is unknown, CDC says, as deadly salmonella outbreak grows

    Consumers shouldn’t eat pre-cut cantaloupe if they don’t know the source, U.S. health officials said Thursday, as the number of illnesses and recalls tied to a deadly salmonella outbreak grows.

    At least 117 people in 34 U.S. states have been sickened by contaminated cantaloupe, including 61 who were hospitalized and two who died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Another 63 illnesses, 17 hospitalizations and one death tied to the same outbreak have been reported in Canada.

    The illnesses are severe, with more than half of infected people hospitalized, including residents of long-term care centers and children in day care, the CDC said.

    Previous recalls of whole and pre-cut cantaloupes have been expanded to include Kwik Trip markets, Bix Produce and distributor GHGA, which sent recalled products to Kroger, Sprouts Farmer’s Markets and Trader Joe’s stores in several states, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

    Because of the scope of the recalls and potential uncertainty about the source of the cantaloupe, health officials warned consumers to be cautious.

    “If you cannot tell if your cantaloupe, including pre-cut cantaloupe or products containing pre-cut cantaloupe is part of the recall, do not eat or use it and throw it away,” the FDA said in a statement.

    The number of people sickened is likely much higher than what’s been reported, and the outbreak may not be limited to states with known illnesses. It typically takes three to four weeks to determine whether a sick person is part of an outbreak.

    Most people infected with salmonella develop diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps within six hours to six days after consuming contaminated food. Illnesses typically last four to seven days. Vulnerable people, including children, people older than 65 and those with weakened immune systems may develop severe illnesses from the bacteria that require medical care or hospitalization.

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    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • After fire kills 3, NYC officials say retailers, delivery apps must do more to ensure e-bike safety

    After fire kills 3, NYC officials say retailers, delivery apps must do more to ensure e-bike safety

    NEW YORK — New York City officials say retailers and food delivery companies must do more to halt the proliferation of unsafe e-bike and e-scooter batteries, after a fire blamed on an electric scooter’s lithium ion battery killed three people over the weekend.

    “There is blood on the hands of this private industry,” Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said at a news conference Monday in front of the charred remains of the Brooklyn row house where the early Sunday blaze killed Albertha West, 81, her son Michael West, 58, and her grandson Jamiyl West, 33.

    Fire officials said the fire broke out on the ground floor of the building. “It’s extensively damaged,” Kavanagh said, adding that the battery that sparked the fire was for a “scooter of some kind.”

    The city has seen hundreds of fires linked to the lithium ion batteries that power electric bikes and scooters in the last few years. City officials have blamed off-market batteries and chargers that don’t meet safety standards for many of the fires, and they have lobbied the federal government to strengthen regulations governing the sale of e-bikes and batteries.

    But Kavanagh said companies also have a role to play too.

    “Retailers like Amazon and Walmart need to stop selling devices that are not safety certified by a national testing laboratory, and food service apps like Grubhub and Uber Eats need to do more to ensure the safety of their workers who depend on these bikes to make a living,” she said.

    City officials haven’t said whether the battery that caused Sunday’s fire came from a vehicle used to make deliveries for one of the food service apps, and they didn’t immediately respond to a Tuesday email seeking further information.

    Tens of thousands of the city’s food delivery workers rely on e-bikes to get dinner to customers quickly, and Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi singled out the delivery industry during remarks at a City Hall news conference Tuesday, noting that time is money for delivery workers.

    “They’re paid to deliver and speed is rewarded,” Joshi said. “And speed means oftentimes they take risky moves like using uncertified batteries and bikes and chargers, or changing the mechanics of the bike so that they go faster so that they can make more money.”

    Joshi said New Yorkers should ask “what is the role of the apps in this? What is their responsibility to make sure that the workers that they profit from have safe equipment without having to pay for it themselves?”

    Josh Gold, a spokesperson for Uber, said online retailers should stop selling devices that haven’t been certified by UL, a company that conducts product safety testing on electronics. “In March, Uber called for the City to implement a small fee on all food deliveries to help transition this industry to UL certified bikes,” he said in a statement.

    Grubhub spokesperson Patrick Burke said, “We’ve repeatedly called on New York City and the U.S. Congress to provide safe charging hubs for delivery partners, to establish a product safety standard for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, and to address concerns related to illegal, unregulated charging devices widely available for purchase through online retailers.”

    Walmart officials said in a statement, “Walmart has zero tolerance for fraudulent sellers or the sale of products with false claims. Like our customers, we expect sellers and suppliers to provide accurate and honest descriptions about their products. When we identify a false claim, we take action to protect our customers and maintain their trust.”

    Amazon said in a statement, “We strive to ensure all products offered in our store to comply with applicable laws, regulations and Amazon policies—including NYC Local Law 39. We ensure our selection meets industry-accepted standards, and we develop innovative tools to prevent the sale of unsafe products.”

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  • Shimano recalls 760,000 bike cranksets over crash hazard following several injury reports

    Shimano recalls 760,000 bike cranksets over crash hazard following several injury reports

    Cycling company Shimano is recalling some 760,000 bike cranksets in the U.S. and Canada due to a crash hazard that has resulted in several reported injuries

    ByThe Associated Press

    September 22, 2023, 9:44 AM

    This photo provided by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission shows 11-Speed Bonded Hollowtech II Road Cranksets by Shimano. Cycling company Shimano is recalling some 760,000 bike cranksets in the U.S. and Canada, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, due to a crash hazard that has resulted in several reported injuries. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the now-recalled crank parts can separate and break, risking crashes. (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission via AP)

    The Associated Press

    NEW YORK — Cycling company Shimano is recalling some 760,000 bike cranksets in the U.S. and Canada due to a crash hazard that has resulted in several reported injuries.

    According to a Thursday notice from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the now-recalled crank parts can separate and break, risking crashes. More than 4,500 incidents of the cranksets separating and six injuries have been reported to date — including bone fractures, joint displacement and lacerations.

    The recall impacts Shimano Ultegra FC-6800, Dura-Ace FC-9000, Ultegra FC-R8000, Dura-Ace FC-R9100 and FC-R9100P 11-Speed Bonded Hollowtech Road Cranksets that were manufactured in Japan prior to July 2019.

    The cranksets were sold both individually and on bicycles sold by other companies, including Trek and Specialized, regulators said.

    Consumers can identify the recalled crank parts by their production date and two-letter codes. In the U.S., where about 680,000 cranksets are under recall, the products were sold at stores nationwide between January 2012 and August of this year.

    Those who own the recalled cranksets are urged to stop using them immediately and contact an authorized Shimano dealer for an inspection, the CPSC said. Only cranksets that show signs of bonding separation or delamination will be applicable for a free replacement and installation.

    Impacted consumers can take their bikes to participating retailers starting Oct. 1, Shimano said on its website.

    “Shimano will replace any cranks that fail the inspection process,” the company wrote in a Thursday announcement. “There is no need for further action for cranks that pass the inspection process.”

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  • Food recalls are pretty common for things like rocks, insects and plastic

    Food recalls are pretty common for things like rocks, insects and plastic

    Rocks in Trader Joe’s cookies. Insects in its broccoli-cheese soup. Pieces of plastic in Banquet frozen chicken strips.

    In recent weeks, U.S. consumers have seen high-profile food recalls for an unappetizing reason: They’re contaminated with foreign objects that have no place on a dinner plate. And while no one wants to bite down on stainless steel in peanut butter or bone fragments in smoked sausage, this type of contamination is one of the top reasons for food recalls in the U.S.

    Food safety experts and federal agencies use the terms “extraneous” or “foreign” materials to describe things like metal fragments, rubber gaskets and bits of bugs that somehow make it into packaged goods.

    “Extraneous materials” triggered nine recalls in 2022 of more than 477,000 pounds of food regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service — triple the number of recalls tied to food contaminated with toxic E. coli bacteria.

    And the size of recalls can reach into the millions: In 2019, USDA reported 34 recalls of more than 16 million pounds of food, spurred in large part by a giant recall of nearly 12 million pounds of Tyson chicken strips tainted with pieces of metal.

    Plastic pieces from frayed conveyor belts, wood shards from produce pallets, metal shavings or wire from machinery are all common. So are rocks, sticks and bugs that can make it from the field to the factory.

    Some contamination may even be expected, the FDA acknowledges in a handbook.

    “It is economically impractical to grow, harvest or process raw products that are totally free of non-hazardous, naturally occurring, unavoidable defects,” the agency wrote.

    Both the USDA and FDA ask companies to promptly notify them when food is potentially contaminated with objects that may harm consumers. The agencies then determine whether recalls are necessary. Most recalls are voluntary and initiated by the companies, though the agencies can request or mandate the action.

    Regulators said the Banquet issue was discovered when someone reported an oral injury after eating chicken strips. ConAgra Brands Inc., which owns Banquet, declined to comment beyond the firm’s news release. Trader Joe’s wouldn’t elaborate on how material got into the foods that led to its recent recalls.

    Detection of unwanted objects has vastly improved in the past several years, said Keith Belk, director of the Center for Meat Safety and Quality at Colorado State University. Large manufacturers use magnets, metal detectors, X-ray devices and other technology to find unwanted materials in their products.

    Still, “they’re going to miss things,” Belk said.

    Those things have included pieces of gray nitrile glove that forced the recall of nearly 6,400 pounds of chicken tortilla soup in 2021 and pieces of copper wire that led to recall of nearly 5,800 pounds frozen beef shepherd’s pie in 2022.

    There are also two notorious examples from 2017: “extraneous golf ball materials” that triggered a recall of frozen hash browns and a dead bat found in bagged salad that led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend rabies treatment for two people.

    In recent years, firms have become increasingly cautious and are recalling products more frequently than before, said Nathan Mirdamadi, a consultant with Commercial Food Sanitation, which advises the industry about food safety.

    That may be because consumers don’t like finding weird things in their food. When they do, lawsuits may follow, experts said.

    “It’s never good business to injure your customers,” Mirdamadi added.

    Actual contamination may affect only a small amount of product, but firms recall all food produced within a certain window just to be safe. And while some of the food may be able to be “reconditioned” or treated for safety and sold again, “most of the time, it’s going to landfills,” Mirdamadi said.

    Consumers who find foreign materials in food should notify manufacturers, experts said, but also realize that recalls are likely to stick around.

    “The thing is, there’s never going to be a day where there’s zero risk associated with consuming a food product,” Belk said.

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    AP Business Reporter Dee-Ann Durbin contributed to this report.

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    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Over 1.5 million dehumidifiers are under recall after fire reports. Here’s what you need to know

    Over 1.5 million dehumidifiers are under recall after fire reports. Here’s what you need to know

    NEW YORK — More than 1.5 million dehumidifiers are under recall following reports of nearly two dozen fires, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

    The recall impacts 42 models of dehumidifiers sold under five brand names: Kenmore, GE, SoleusAir, Norpole and Seabreeze. These products, all manufactured by the Zhuhai, China-based Gree Electric Appliances, were sold from January 2011 to February 2014 at major retailers nationwide — including Walmart, Home Depot and Sam’s Club, among others.

    According to the CPSC, the now-recalled dehumidifiers can overheat, smoke and catch fire. Gree has received reports of at least 23 fires, 688 overheating incidents and $168,000 in property damage from the recalled products.

    Consumers are instructed to unplug and immediately stop using the dehumidifiers — and contact Gree for a refund.

    The recalled dehumidifiers can be identified by their brand, model number and capacity, which is all listed on the CPSC’s notice. The products are white, beige, gray or black plastic — sold in various sizes for between $110 and $400.

    The Associated Press reached out to Gree for comment on Thursday.

    This isn’t the first time that Gree-manufactured dehumidifiers have been recalled for fire and burn risks. On Wednesday, the CPSC also warned consumers of a previous and separate recall impacting Gree dehumidifiers sold from January 2005 through January 2014 under a handful of brands: Danby, De’Longhi, Fedders, Fellini, Frigidaire, GE, Gree, Kenmore, Norpole, Premiere, Seabreeze, SoleusAir and SuperClima.

    That recall was first announced in 2013, expanded in 2014 and most recently reannounced in 2016. To date, more than 2,000 overheating incidents and 450 fires have been reported — resulting in $19 million in property damage and four deaths “potentially associated with Gree dehumidifiers,” the CPSC said Wednesday, pointing to 2016 and 2022 fatal house fires in Ohio, Iowa and Missouri.

    In 2021, Gree and its Hong Kong subsidiary agreed to pay $91 million for failing to tell U.S. regulators that the devices could overheat and could catch fire. The firms entered into an agreement to avoid criminal prosecution, the U.S. attorney’s office said at the time — noting they would also provide restitution to victims for fire damage caused by the dehumidifiers.

    In April of this year, Gree’s U.S. subsidiary, Gree USA, was also sentenced to pay a $500,000 criminal fine and restitution payments as part of this resolution.

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  • More Trader Joe’s recalls? This soup may contain bugs and falafel may have rocks, grocer says

    More Trader Joe’s recalls? This soup may contain bugs and falafel may have rocks, grocer says

    NEW YORK — Trader Joe’s is recalling a broccoli cheddar soup that may contain insects and cooked falafel that may contain rocks, about one week after the grocery chain recalled two cookie products over similar concerns.

    The soup recall impacts Trader Joe’s Unexpected Broccoli Cheddar Soup with “Use By” dates ranging from July 18 to Sept. 15, according to a Thursday announcement from the company. On Friday, the grocer announced that Trader Joe’s Fully Cooked Falafel sold in 35 states and Washington, D.C., was also under recall.

    On July 21, Trader Joe’s announced that it was recalling Trader Joe’s Almond Windmill Cookies and Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Chunk and Almond Cookies with “sell by” dates ranging from Oct. 17 to Oct. 21. Like the falafel, the cookies may also contain rocks, the company said.

    When asked for further information about how the insects and rocks may have gotten into these products, a Trader Joe’s spokesperson said that “there was an issue in the manufacturing processes in the facilities.” Suppliers alerted Trader Joe’s of the possible foreign material for each recall, the company said.

    “We pulled the product from our shelves as soon as we were made aware of the issue. Once we understood the issue we notified our customers,” the spokesperson said in a statement sent to The Associated Press Saturday.

    All of the recalled cookies, soup and falafel have been removed from sale or destroyed, Trader Joe’s said in its announcements. But the Monrovia, California-based company is still urging consumers to check their kitchens for the products.

    Trader Joe’s says customers who have the recalled products should throw them away or return them to any store for a full refund. Lot codes and further details about the products under recall, as well as customer service contact information, can be found on the company’s website.

    Trader Joe’s did not specify how many products were impacted with each recall or identify suppliers. But one Food and Drug Administration notice cited by NBC News says that the Unexpected Broccoli Cheddar Soup recall impacts around 10,889 cases sold in seven states. Winter Gardens Quality Foods, Inc. is identified as the recalling firm, per the notice.

    No formal releases about the three recalls were published on the FDA’s Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts page as of Saturday. The Associated Press reached out to the FDA and Winter Gardens Quality Foods for information on Saturday.

    “We have a close relationship with our vendors and they alerted us of these issues. We don’t hesitate or wait for regulatory agencies to tell us what to do,” the Trader Joe’s spokesperson said. “We will never leave to chance the safety of the products we offer.”

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  • More Trader Joe’s recalls? This soup may contain bugs and falafel may have rocks, grocer says

    More Trader Joe’s recalls? This soup may contain bugs and falafel may have rocks, grocer says

    NEW YORK — Trader Joe’s is recalling a broccoli cheddar soup that may contain insects and cooked falafel that may contain rocks, about one week after the grocery chain recalled two cookie products over similar concerns.

    The soup recall impacts Trader Joe’s Unexpected Broccoli Cheddar Soup with “Use By” dates ranging from July 18 to Sept. 15, according to a Thursday announcement from the company. On Friday, the grocer announced that Trader Joe’s Fully Cooked Falafel sold in 35 states and Washington, D.C., was also under recall.

    On July 21, Trader Joe’s announced that it was recalling Trader Joe’s Almond Windmill Cookies and Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Chunk and Almond Cookies with “sell by” dates ranging from Oct. 17 to Oct. 21. Like the falafel, the cookies may also contain rocks, the company said.

    When asked for further information about how the insects and rocks may have gotten into these products, a Trader Joe’s spokesperson said that “there was an issue in the manufacturing processes in the facilities.” Suppliers alerted Trader Joe’s of the possible foreign material for each recall, the company said.

    “We pulled the product from our shelves as soon as we were made aware of the issue. Once we understood the issue we notified our customers,” the spokesperson said in a statement sent to The Associated Press Saturday.

    All of the recalled cookies, soup and falafel have been removed from sale or destroyed, Trader Joe’s said in its announcements. But the Monrovia, California-based company is still urging consumers to check their kitchens for the products.

    Trader Joe’s says customers who have the recalled products should throw them away or return them to any store for a full refund. Lot codes and further details about the products under recall, as well as customer service contact information, can be found on the company’s website.

    Trader Joe’s did not specify how many products were impacted with each recall or identify suppliers. But one Food and Drug Administration notice cited by NBC News says that the Unexpected Broccoli Cheddar Soup recall impacts around 10,889 cases sold in seven states. Winter Gardens Quality Foods, Inc. is identified as the recalling firm, per the notice.

    No formal releases about the three recalls were published on the FDA’s Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts page as of Saturday. The Associated Press reached out to the FDA and Winter Gardens Quality Foods for information on Saturday.

    “We have a close relationship with our vendors and they alerted us of these issues. We don’t hesitate or wait for regulatory agencies to tell us what to do,” the Trader Joe’s spokesperson said. “We will never leave to chance the safety of the products we offer.”

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  • As e-bikes proliferate, so do deadly fires blamed on exploding lithium-ion batteries

    As e-bikes proliferate, so do deadly fires blamed on exploding lithium-ion batteries

    NEW YORK — The explosion early on a June morning ignited a blaze that engulfed a New York City shop filled with motorized bicycles and their volatile lithium-ion batteries. Billowing smoke quickly killed four people asleep in apartments above the burning store.

    As the ubiquity of e-bikes has grown, so has the frequency of fires and deaths blamed on the batteries that power them — prompting a campaign to establish regulations on how the batteries are manufactured, sold, reconditioned, charged and stored.

    Consumer advocates and fire departments, particularly in New York City, are urging the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to establish mandatory safety standards and confiscate noncompliant imports when they arrive at the border or shipping ports, so unsafe e-bikes and poorly manufactured batteries don’t reach streets and endanger homes.

    These aren’t typical fires, said New York City Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh. The batteries don’t smolder; they explode.

    “The number of fire incidents has rapidly increased. Other cities across the country have begun seeing these issues as well, and municipalities that are not yet experiencing this phenomenon may be facing similar incidents in the future,” Kavanagh told the commission Thursday at a forum focused on e-bikes and lithium-ion batteries.

    “We have reached a point of crisis in New York City, with ion batteries now a top cause of fatal fires in New York,” she told commissioners.

    With some 65,000 e-bikes zipping through its streets — more than any other place in the U.S. — New York City is the epicenter of battery-related fires. There have been 100 such blazes so far this year, resulting in 13 deaths, already more than double the six fatalities last year.

    Nationally, there were more than 200 battery-related fires reported to the commission — an obvious undercount — from 39 states over the past two years, including 19 deaths blamed on so-called micromobility devices that include battery-powered scooters, bicycles and hoverboards.

    New York’s two U.S. senators, Democrats Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, introduced legislation last month that would set mandatory safety standards for e-bikes and the batteries that power them.

    Because mandatory standards don’t exist, Schumer said, poorly made batteries have flooded the U.S., increasing the risk of fires.

    In many cases, authorities have been challenged to track the source of batteries from overseas sources, many of them bought online or from aftermarket dealers.

    Earlier this year, New York City urgently enacted a sweeping package of local laws intended to crack down on defective batteries, including a ban on the sale or rental of e-bikes and batteries that aren’t certified as meeting safety standards by an independent product testing lab.

    The new rules also outlaw tampering with batteries or selling refurbished batteries made with lithium-ion cells scavenged from used units.

    Meanwhile, New York City officials also announced they had received a $25 million federal grant for e-bike charging stations across the city, which fire marshals hope will reduce the risk of fires.

    “When they fail, they fail quite spectacularly,” Kavanagh said in interview last week. “Once one of these ignites, there is a huge volume of fire, often so much so that the person in their home can’t get out and the firefighters can’t get in to get them.”

    Such was the case in April when two siblings, a 7-year-old boy and his 19-year-old sister, died when a scooter battery ignited a fire in Queens.

    Because of the fire hazard, some residential buildings have banned e-bikes. Last summer, the New York City Housing Authority sought to prohibit tenants in all of its 335 developments from keeping or charging e-vehicles in their units, only to back down a few months later after protests from delivery workers.

    Use of motorized bicycles grew dramatically in the city during the COVID-19 pandemic as homebound people turned more to food delivery workers for meals and groceries.

    With the rash of fires, delivery workers like Lizandro Lopez say they are now more mindful about precautions.

    “As soon as the battery is charged, I disconnect it. You shouldn’t leave it charging for too long,” Lopez said in Spanish, “because if you leave it on there too long, that’s when you can cause a fire.”

    Los Deliveristas Unidos, which represents app-based delivery workers in the New York area, estimates that fewer than 10% of e-bikes sold in the city have been deemed safe by a third-party evaluator, such as UL Solutions, a product testing company that certifies safety compliance for a host of electrical products, including Christmas lights and televisions.

    E-bike batteries rely on the same chemistry to generate power as the lithium-ion batteries in cellphones, laptops and most electric vehicles — products that were initially prone to overheating.

    Tighter regulations, safety standards and compliance testing drastically reduced the risk of fires in such devices, according to Robert Slone, the senior vice president and chief scientist for UL Solutions.

    The same can happen with e-bike batteries, he said, if they are made to comply with established safety standards. One feature most of these batteries lack is the ability to automatically shut off while charging to prevent overheating.

    “We just need to make them safe, and there is a way to make them safe through testing and certification,” Slone said, “given the history that we’ve seen in terms of fires and injuries and unfortunately, deaths as well — not just in New York, but across the country and around the world.”

    In London, the fire brigade says lithium batteries are the city’s fastest growing fire risk, with one fire erupting about every two days. Last year, there were a total of 116 fires involving e-bikes and e-scooters. At least one death has been attributed this year to an overheated battery.

    In San Francisco, there have been at least 21 battery fires so far this year — compared with just 13 battery-related fires in 2017, according to an analysis by the San Francisco Chronicle.

    Last year, some 1.1 million e-bikes were imported into the U.S., according to the Light Electric Vehicle Association, an industry group. In 2021, more than 880,000 e-bikes came into the country — about double from the year before and triple the number in 2019.

    Many of the batteries now on the road are aftermarket products that are cheaply made and popular with delivery workers because of their lower prices.

    “But that product is so cheap because it hasn’t gone through those design and testing. … It doesn’t meet a standard, so that’s why they’re inexpensive,” said Matt Moore, the general and policy council for the PeopleForBikes Coalition, which will also take part in the forum. “Even if there was a regulation, there will still be the ability of foreign sellers and manufacturers to send these products into the United States.”

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    Associated Press video journalist Ted Shaffrey and video producer Vanessa A. Alvarez contributed to this report.

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  • California lawmaker wants Peeps to change its ingredients

    California lawmaker wants Peeps to change its ingredients

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — This Easter, Americans will devour more than 1 billion Peeps — those radiant marshmallow chicks whose appearance on store shelves each year is as much a herald of spring as azaleas at the Masters.

    What makes the treats so vibrant is erythrosine, a chemical that shows up on ingredient labels as Red No. 3. It’s one of several chemicals, along with titanium dioxide, used to color some of the most popular candy in the country — including Skittles and Hot Tamales.

    Both chemicals have been linked to cancer. More than 30 years ago, U.S. regulators banned Red No. 3 from makeup. The U.S. still has not banned the chemical from food, to the dismay of some consumer safety groups.

    Now, a state lawmaker wants to ban erythrosine and titanium dioxide in California, plus three other chemicals used in everyday favorites like tortillas and some store brand sodas.

    The bill, scheduled for its first public hearing next week, has prompted headlines around the world declaring California wants to ban Skittles and other candy. Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, a Democrat who authored the bill, said he wants to ban the chemicals, not the candy. He said plenty of alternative ingredients are available, noting the chemicals are already banned in Europe and that companies still find a way to sell candy there.

    “They still produce Skittles in other parts of the world. What they do is they take out these toxic ingredients, and they replace them with something else,” Gabriel said. “What we really want is for these companies to make the same minor modifications to their recipes that they made in Europe and elsewhere.”

    The National Confectioners Association, the trade group that represents candy companies, says it’s not that easy. Tastes vary across cultures, it said, meaning just because a candy is accepted by Europeans doesn’t mean it will be received well in the United States. Plus, changing ingredients would be a hardship for regional candy makers who don’t sell their products overseas, according to the trade group.

    “There’s a lot more here at play than a simple soundbite solution,” said Christopher Gindlesperger, spokesperson for the association. “We need a comprehensive look at this to make sure there aren’t unintended consequences for chocolate and candy companies.”

    In addition to erythrosine and titanium dioxide, the bill would ban potassium bromate and propylparaben, two chemicals used in baked goods, and brominated vegetable oil, which is used in some store brand sodas.

    The U.S. has allowed dyes like erythrosine in food since 1907. Decades later, researchers found rats exposed to lots of erythrosine over a long time developed thyroid cancer. In 1990, based in part off of that research, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned erythrosine from cosmetics.

    Consumer safety groups have tried for years to get the agency to ban the chemical in food to no avail. Researchers have since linked the chemical to other health problems besides cancer, including hyperactivity and other neurobiological behaviors in some children, according to a 2021 report from the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

    The International Association of Color Manufacturers argued in a 2021 statement that California study was “based on insufficient scientific evidence.”

    Titanium dioxide is a white powder that, because it scatters light, can make colors appear brighter. It’s been used for 100 years in products like paints, paper, rubber, toothpaste, soap and food coloring. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has listed titanium dioxide as a possible carcinogen in humans. The Titanium Dioxide Manufacturers Association maintains there is no evidence of it causing cancer in humans.

    The candy industry insists the chemicals California is considering banning “have been thoroughly reviewed by the federal and state systems and many international scientific bodies and continue to be deemed safe,” according to a letter signed by various industry trade groups.

    “These scientifically based regulatory processes should be allowed to continue without second guessing their outcomes,” the letter stated.

    Scott Faber, senior vice president for governmental affairs for the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, said the only reason the chemical is still deemed safe by federal regulators is because of a loophole that has been exploited by chemical companies. He says regulators have not reviewed their prior decisions in light of new science.

    “The confectioners and the food industry know the review process at the FDA is broken. They have been hiding behind it for decades. We shouldn’t let them hide behind it anymore,” Faber said. “If FDA won’t fix this review system and keep us safe from dangerous chemicals in our food, it’s up to states like California to keep us safe.”

    Just Born Inc., the Pennsylvania-based company that makes Peeps, said in a statement the company complies with FDA regulations and gets their “ingredients and packaging exclusively from reputable suppliers who adhere to high quality and safety standards.”

    The company noted its development team is looking for other options, “including colors derived form natural sources that can deliver the same visual impact and stability as their certified counterparts.”

    ___

    Daley reported from San Francisco.

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  • California lawmaker wants Peeps to change its ingredients

    California lawmaker wants Peeps to change its ingredients

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — This Easter, Americans will devour more than 1 billion Peeps — those radiant marshmallow chicks whose appearance on store shelves each year is as much a herald of spring as azaleas at the Masters.

    What makes the treats so vibrant is erythrosine, a chemical that shows up on ingredient labels as Red No. 3. It’s one of several chemicals, along with titanium dioxide, used to color some of the most popular candy in the country — including Skittles and Hot Tamales.

    Both chemicals have been linked to cancer. More than 30 years ago, U.S. regulators banned Red No. 3 from makeup. The U.S. still has not banned the chemical from food, to the dismay of some consumer safety groups.

    Now, a state lawmaker wants to ban erythrosine and titanium dioxide in California, plus three other chemicals used in everyday favorites like tortillas and some store brand sodas.

    The bill has prompted headlines around the world declaring California wants to ban Skittles and other candy. Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, a Democrat who authored the bill, said he wants to ban the chemicals, not the candy. He said plenty of alternative ingredients are available, noting the chemicals are already banned in Europe and that companies still find a way to sell candy there.

    “They still produce Skittles in other parts of the world. What they do is they take out these toxic ingredients, and they replace them with something else,” Gabriel said. “What we really want is for these companies to make the same minor modifications to their recipes that they made in Europe and elsewhere.”

    The National Confectioners Association, the trade group that represents candy companies, says it’s not that easy. Tastes vary across cultures, it said, meaning just because a candy is accepted by Europeans doesn’t mean it will be received well in the United States. Plus, changing ingredients would be a hardship for regional candy makers who don’t sell their products overseas, according to the trade group.

    “There’s a lot more here at play than a simple soundbite solution,” said Christopher Gindlesperger, spokesperson for the association. “We need a comprehensive look at this to make sure there isn’t unintended consequences for chocolate and candy companies.”

    In addition to erythrosine and titanium dioxide, the bill would ban potassium bromate and propylparaben, two chemicals used in baked goods, and brominated vegetable oil, which is used in some store brand sodas.

    The U.S. has allowed dyes like erythrosine in food since 1907. Decades later, researchers found rats exposed to lots of erythrosine over a long time developed thyroid cancer. In 1990, based in part off of that research, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned erythrosine from cosmetics.

    Consumer safety groups have tried for years to get the agency to ban the chemical in food to no avail. Researchers have since linked the chemical to other health problems besides cancer, including hyperactivity and other neurobiological behaviors in some children, according to a 2021 report from the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

    The International Association of Color Manufacturers argued in a 2021 statement that California study was “based on insufficient scientific evidence.”

    Titanium dioxide is a white powder that, because it scatters light, can make colors appear brighter. It’s been used for 100 years in products like paints, paper, rubber, toothpaste, soap and food coloring. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has listed titanium dioxide as a possible carcinogen in humans. The Titanium Dioxide Manufacturers Association maintains there is no evidence of it causing cancer in humans.

    The candy industry insists the chemicals California is considering banning “have been thoroughly reviewed by the federal and state systems and many international scientific bodies and continue to be deemed safe,” according to a letter signed by various industry trade groups.

    “These scientifically based regulatory processes should be allowed to continue without second guessing their outcomes,” the letter stated.

    Scott Faber, senior vice president for governmental affairs for the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, said the only reason the chemical is still deemed safe by federal regulators is because of a loophole that has been exploited by chemical companies. He says regulators have not reviewed their prior decisions in light of new science.

    “The confectioners and the food industry know the review process at the FDA is broken. They have been hiding behind it for decades. We shouldn’t let them hide behind it anymore,” Faber said. “If FDA won’t fix this review system and keep us safe from dangerous chemicals in our food, it’s up to states like California to keep us safe.”

    Just Born Inc., the Pennsylvania-based company that makes Peeps, said in a statement the company complies with FDA regulations and gets their “ingredients and packaging exclusively from reputable suppliers who adhere to high quality and safety standards.”

    The company noted its development team is looking for other options, “including colors derived form natural sources that can deliver the same visual impact and stability as their certified counterparts.”

    ___

    Daley reported from San Francisco.

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  • FDA sketches out plan to bolster fragile US infant formula supply management | CNN

    FDA sketches out plan to bolster fragile US infant formula supply management | CNN



    CNN
     — 

    The US Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday its initial strategy to boost and strengthen the management of the country’s supply of infant formula.

    The announcement came just ahead of a hearing of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee about what went wrong during last year’s infant formula shortage.

    Committee members and experts who testified were critical of formula makers and the FDA’s food safety program, which the agency has pledged to revamp in order to protect the nation’s food supply and promote better nutrition. Many experts are concerned that the formula shortage of 2022 could easily happen again, even with those changes.

    “While we stand here today, more than a year since the recall, it is my view that the state of the infant formula industry today is not much different than it was then,” testified Frank Yiannas, who stepped down from his role as the agency’s deputy commissioner of food policy and response in late February.

    “The nation remains one outbreak, one tornado, flood or cyberattack away from finding itself in a similar place to that of February 17, 2022.”

    A formula shortage that started in 2021 was exacerbated when the United States’ largest infant formula maker, Abbott Nutrition, recalled multiple products in mid-February and had to pause production after FDA inspectors found potentially dangerous bacteria at its Sturgis, Michigan, plant.

    A former Abbott employee filed a whistleblower complaint about the plant with the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration in February 2021. The complaint suggested that the plant lacked proper cleaning practices and that workers falsified records and hid information from inspectors.

    The complaint was filed February 16, 2021, and was passed on to Abbott and the FDA three days later.

    Yiannas testified that because of the siloed nature of the agency, he wasn’t made aware of the complaint until February 2022. It was only then that he learned that children had gotten sick with Cronobacter after consuming powdered formula made at the plant.

    The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated at least four illnesses and two deaths in three states in connection. The agency sequenced bacteria from two of the children to compare against the samples the FDA took at the facility, but it did not find that the samples were closely related.

    Cronobacter infections are rare but can be serious and even fatal, especially in newborns. The bacteria lives in the environment, but when these infections are diagnosed in infants, they are often linked to powdered formula.

    “Clearly, I really wish, and I should have been notified sooner, so I could have initiated containment steps earlier. Had that happened, I believe we might not be here today,” Yiannas said Tuesday. “Had the agency responded quicker to some of the earlier signals, I believe this crisis could have been averted or at least the magnitude lessened.”

    With more demand for other brands after the Abbott recalls, families across the country had to hunt through multiple stores for formula last year. Stock rates of baby formula stayed lower than they were the year before for much of 2022. Even in October, when rates had improved, nearly a third of households with a baby younger than 1 said they had trouble finding formula over the course of one week, according to a survey by the US Census Bureau.

    The FDA said Tuesday that its new national strategy helps ensure that the country’s supply of formula will remain constant and safe.

    The agency said it will work with the industry on redundancy risk management plans that will help companies identify possible supply chain problems. It will also continue to enhance inspections of infant formula plants by expanding and improving training for agency investigators.

    According to the strategy, the FDA will expedite review of premarket submissions for new products to prevent shortages. It will continue to closely monitor the formula supply and has developed a model to forecast any potential disruptions.

    It also plans to work closely with the US Department of Agriculture to build in more resiliency with its Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children program, or WIC, the nation’s largest purchaser of infant formula.

    The new strategy is just a first step; the long-term strategy is expected to be released in early 2024.

    Dr. Susan Mayne, director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said in a statement that the new strategy aims to incentivize “additional infant formula manufacturers to enter the market.”

    Many parts of the strategy are underway, the FDA said.

    “Safety and supply go hand-in-hand. We witnessed last year how a safety concern at one facility could be the catalyst for a nationwide shortage. That’s why we are looking to both strengthen and diversify the market, while also ensuring that manufacturers are producing infant formula under the safest conditions possible,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said in a news release. “Now, with this strategy, we are looking at how to advance long-term stability in this market and mitigate future shortages, while ensuring formula is safe.”

    Formula stock rates are still not where they once were before last year’s crisis, Yiannas said, but the problem can’t be solved overnight. He said it was a good step for Congress to ask for a resiliency report from the industry.

    One positive development that came out of the crisis is that manufacturers are reporting formula volume to the FDA on a weekly basis even though there is no legal requirement to do so, he said.

    Historically, the FDA has focused on food safety and nutrition, not supply chain availability, but the Covid-19 pandemic opened eyes and served as the “biggest test on the US food system in 100 years,” Yiannas said. Food supply shortages made experts realize that the agency needed more intelligence on how companies’ supply chains worked.

    “Progress is being made, but it’s not being made fast enough,” Yiannas said.

    The FDA is now tracking sales and stock rates of baby formula. He said he’s talked to formula companies that say they have ramped up production, even though they might have cut back on the number of varieties of product they offer.

    The FDA said Tuesday that it has also done a study to better understand what led to the recall of infant formula at the Abbott plant. The agency had conducted a routine surveillance inspection at the plant in September 2021 and even then found problems like standing water and inadequate handwashing among employees.

    Abbott is facing additional investigations from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the US Federal Trade Commission and the US Department of Justice as well as lawsuits from customers.

    Yiannas told the House committee Tuesday that one strategy to head off similar shutdowns would be to require manufacturers to report Cronobacter bacteria found in its products. Currently, only the Abbott plant in Michigan is required to report the bacteria as part of the consent decree that allowed it to reopen.

    The FDA said in November that it would like Cronobacter infections added to the CDC’s list of national notifiable diseases, which would require doctors to report cases to public health officials so the CDC and the FDA could keep better track of infections. Only two states have such a reporting requirement now.

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  • FDA: Two more eyedrop brands recalled due to risks

    FDA: Two more eyedrop brands recalled due to risks

    U.S. health officials are alerting consumers about two more recalls of eyedrops due to contamination risks that could lead to vision problems and serious injury

    WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials are alerting consumers about two more recalls of eyedrops due to contamination risks that could lead to vision problems and serious injury.

    The announcements follow a recall last month of eyedrops made in India that were linked to an outbreak of drug-resistant infections. One person died and at least five others had permanent vision loss.

    There’s no indication the latest recalls are related to those products.

    The Food and Drug Administration posted separate recall notices for certain eyedrops distributed by Pharmedica and Apotex after the companies said they are voluntarily pulling several lots of their products from the market. Both companies said the recalls were conducted in consultation with the FDA.

    Pharmedica on Friday said it is recalling two lots of Purely Soothing 15% MSM Drops due to problems “that could result in blindness.” The over-the-counter drops are designed to treat eye irritation. The Phoenix-based company said consumers should immediately stop using the drops and return them to the place they were purchased.

    The recall affects nearly 2,900 bottles, according to the company. The drops were manufactured in Arizona.

    Last week, the FDA posted a separate recall announcement from Apotex recalling six lots of prescription eyedrops used to treat a form of glaucoma. The company said it launched the recall after finding cracks in a handful of bottle caps.

    The drops are distributed as Brimonidine Tartrate Ophthalmic Solution. 0.15% and were sold between last April through February.

    Apotex said in an email that the eyedrops were manufactured in Canada. The company hasn’t received any reports of injuries related to the drops.

    ___

    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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  • Cosori recalling 2 million air fryers for fire risk

    Cosori recalling 2 million air fryers for fire risk

    Cosori is recalling more than 2 million air fryers sold in the U.S., Canada and Mexico because their wire connections can overheat and cause a fire risk

    ByDEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer

    February 23, 2023, 5:08 PM

    Cosori is recalling more than 2 million air fryers sold in the U.S., Canada and Mexico because their wire connections can overheat and cause a fire risk.

    The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall Thursday. The agency said consumers should stop using the air fryers immediately.

    The recall involves multiple model numbers in 3.7-quart and 5.8-quart sizes. All of the units have the Cosori brand name on the front.

    The air fryers were sold between June 2018 and December 2022 in Best Buy, Target and Home Depot stores and online at Amazon, Walmart and other retailers. They cost between $70 and $130.

    Consumers should contact Cosori at recall.cosori.com to receive a free replacement air fryer or another product. Consumers must provide their contact information and a photo of their recalled unit. Receipts aren’t needed.

    The Cosori brand is owned by Vesync, a company based in Shenzen, China. Vesync has received 205 reports of air fryers catching fire, burning, melting, overheating or smoking. There have been 10 reports of minor burns and 23 reports of minor property damage, the agency said.

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