recall – Natural families and lifestyle

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Trisha · 2 Comments

Lead found in Medela Cooler Carrier

Apparently I am behind the times on this one. Last year, the Center for Environmental Health tested the Medela Cooler Carrier and found traces of lead. I was less than thrilled to hear about this since I have been carrying my daughter’s organic milk in it to daycare for the last 2 years and used it to carry the breast milk I pumped for her at work for over a year.

Medela believes the coolers are safe and lead free, but, being the great company they are, are gladly replacing them if you are concerned. So mine is on its way back to Medela. The downside is it takes 6 weeks to receive the replacement and since I am pumping now for my 4 month old son, I needed something now.

So I went to www.reusablebags.com where this is a selection of lead-free bags. I got a Munchler’s lunch backback for my daughter to carry her milk – CUTE!!!! She will be able to use this bag for a long time. Very cute and durable. It’s a backpack style, so she can easily put it on and carry it. Highly recommend.

For my son I purchased an ACME lunch bag which works perfectly for baby bottles, much better than the likely lead-tainted freebies that you get in the hospital. I got a second one in another color that I use to carry the pumped milk. It’s a little big for that purpose, but I will be able to use the bag for lunches or otherwise when I am done pumping, which is what I wanted anyway.

Check all your milk, bottle and lunch cooler bags. Many are made of vinyl/PVC and likely contain lead. There are many very cute, lead free options available, so why risk lead exposure?

Even though the food or milk may not come in direct contact with the bag, contamination is still probable since you touch the bag, then your food, your breast pump parts, whatever the case may be.

Click here to find out if your Medela cooler is affected and if so how to return your Medela Cooler for a refund or replacement.

Posted on May 18, 2009May 18, 2009 by Trisha · 3 Comments

Food Manufacturers Confess They Have No Idea if Their Food is Safe

By Janelle Sorensen
(Thanks to Janelle for her permission to re-post this article.)

I, like many others, have lost track of all the food recalls that have happened in the last 18 months. Pot pies, pizzas, peanuts, tomatoes, egg rolls, spices, flour, and more. The number of illnesses and the amount of food thrown away is staggering.

Fortunately, none of the tainted foods have impacted my kitchen. Our culinary choices thus far have been safe. But, my faith in the FDA, who I once relied on as an invisible guardian watching over my plate, has been shattered. My optimistically naïve belief that food, of all things, should be safe, has gone the way of childhood beliefs in Santa and the Easter Bunny. And, I’m not just being dramatic – here’s why:

According to an article in the New York Times, “increasingly, the corporations that supply Americans with processed foods are unable to guarantee the safety of their ingredients…companies do not even know who is supplying their ingredients, let alone if those suppliers are screening the items for microbes and other potential dangers…”

They don’t know where the ingredients are coming from? Seriously??

Commence paranoia.

Not only are many major manufacturers openly admitting that they’re pretty clueless about what’s in their food, instead of owning up to their mistakes, they’re placing the burden for safety on the consumer. We are now responsible for what’s called “the kill step,” and it’s not clear what that entails. Some companies are resorting to detailed diagrams and “food safety” guides outlining how to heat foods in a microwave and then check the temperature in several locations with a food thermometer. Others advise against using a microwave altogether. Frozen convenience foods suddenly seem very inconvenient.

Even if simply educating people to warm food to an adequate temperature was a reasonable solution, which it’s not, it wouldn’t address non-pathogenic contaminants like the arsenic found in a huge variety of processed foods around the globe a few months back.

What’s a mother to do? I’ve been a loud proponent for whole foods, local and organic when possible, for many years now, but I still have some processed foods in my pantry. I mean, who really makes things like crackers and cereal from scratch? I also buy a lot of frozen veggies – and I’ve never checked to see if I’ve warmed them to 165 degrees.

Clearly, we have problem on our hands. What do you think should be done? Do you think food safety is up to the consumer? Do you think it’s up to the government? What if safer food meant it cost a bit more? Are you willing to pay?

Find more from Janelle Sorensen at Healthy Child Healthy World, WebMD, MomsRising, and on Twitter (@greenandhealthy).

Follow me on Twitter!

Posted on February 4, 2009 by Trisha

Kashi products added to peanut butter recall

Kashi has added some products to the peanut butter recall. They have set up a website dedicated to this. Click here.

The products affected by the recall are:

Kashi™ TLC™ Chewy Granola Bars in Trail Mix and Honey Almond Flax varieties, 7.4 ounce box with a “Best If Used Before” date prior to September 19, 2009 and followed by the letters CD (SEP 19 2009 CD)

Kashi™ TLC™ Chewy Granola Bars Peanut Peanut Butter, 7.4 ounce box with a “Best If Used Before” date prior to August 8, 2009 and followed by the letters CD (AUG 08 2009 CD)

Kashi ™ TLC™ Chewy Cookies in Oatmeal Dark Chocolate, Happy Trail Mix and Oatmeal Raisin Flax varieties, 8.5 ounce box with a “Best If Used Before” date prior to July 30, 2009.

These products were also included in some Club assortment and variety packs of Kashi™ TLC™ products.

Posted on November 17, 2008 by Trisha

Mylicon Infant Gas Drops Recalled

Some Mylicon Infant Gas Drops have been recalled due to metal fragments being found in the product. Two lots are affected. Click here to go to the Johnson & Johnson page with all the recall information.

Posted on October 21, 2008 by Trisha

Infant death prompts recall of 1.6 millions cribs

I am expecting in 5 weeks and all these crib and bassinet recalls are pretty unsettling. Please check the www.cpsc.gov website to make sure you do not have a crib of bassinet affected by any of these recalls.

From USA Today:

Federal regulators announced the recall today of 1.6 million drop-side cribs following the death of an infant.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says an 8-month-old baby “became entrapped and suffocated when the drop side of the crib detached in a reassembled crib where the safety pegs were not installed.”

Other children were trapped because of the defect, the agency says.

The recall includes 985,000 Delta Enterprise cribs that were manufactured in Taiwan or Indonesia and have the ‘“Crib Trigger Lock with Safety Peg” drop side hardware design.”

“The recalled cribs have date codes ranging from 1995 though December 2005 and one model (4624) was made in 2007,” the CPSC announcement says. “The model numbers are located on the top of the mattress support board.”

The recall also involves 600,000 Delta drop-side cribs that were made in China before 2006.

“We’re erring on the side of caution,” Jack Gutt, a spokesman for New York-based Delta Enterprise, tells the Associated Press. “Anyone who calls and has these cribs that were constructed in these time periods, we’re going to send anybody and everybody either additional safety pegs or the retrofit kit.”

Learn more at www.cribrecallcenter.com. You can also call (800) 816-5304.

Posted on September 26, 2008 by Trisha · 2 Comments

Chinese milk scandal widens

This just gets worse and worse. The Chinese milk scandal has spread basically to anything made with any milk product whatsoever. Baby cereal, baby food, even those made by Heinz, has been tested and has confirmed unacceptable levels of melamine. Bread, cookies, crackers, chocolates, cheese powder made for Pizza Hut are on the growing list – all found to have unacceptable levels of melamine.

This is so troubling – 4 infants have died, more than 50,000 infants are sick, and too many of those have acute kidney failure. Now a mother and her children from Taiwan have kidney stones from eating tainted Chinese products while in the country. Even baby zoo animals have fallen ill after being fed the tainted milk.

While the FDA is close watching all import, please people, read the packaging to see where the product was made. If it was made in China, don’t buy it or eat it!! The list of contaminated food products grows daily. I am just all out boycotting ANYTHING made in China. Many toys, clothing items and shoes have been recalled for lead, food has been tainted with melamine. They obviously have no value on human health, so I have no faith or value in anything coming out of that country. And even US companies who manufacture their products in China really have no control on what actually goes on in their factories and it’s quite obvious by the number of recalls that they do not independently test for lead once the finished product his US soil.

Please read this press release for an update on what products are known to be contaminated today – of course that list is likely to grow by tomorrow.

Posted on September 17, 2008September 17, 2008 by Trisha

More information surfaces on China formula recall

There are now 3 infant deaths, over 6,000 are sickened and 158 infants have accute kidney failure that are all known to be a direct relation to drinking the Chinese formula laced with Melamine. The melamine was added to the milk to give it the protein it was lacking.

Here is the most sad and shocking thing. The formula manufacturer, Sanlu, along with other government officials, knew about the tainted formula in early August, but delayed going public with the information as to not harm China’s image among the hype of the Olymipc Games in Beijing. For good reason, Sanlu’s chairwoman has been fired from the company and arrested.

Among the other offending companies are Beijing Olympics sponsor Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group and China’s biggest dairy producer, Mengniu Dairy, which plans to recall “unfit” products.

Excerpt:

The scare has rippled beyond China’s borders with the top quality watchdog saying two manufacturers were recalling milk powder exported to Yemen, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Gabon and Burundi. It was not clear whether those exports were contaminated. Hong Kong food inspectors ordered the recall of an ice cream bar made by Shanghai Yili AB foods because melamine had been found.

and another:

The escalating scandal is an embarrassing failure for China’s product safety system, overhauled last year to restore consumer confidence and preserve exports markets after a string of warnings and recalls involving tainted toothpaste, faulty tyres and pet food laced with melamine.

Really? You think this is embarrassing for China? It’s a tragedy. These officials put China’s “image” ahead of human lives. Now 3 infants are dead, 158 have acute kidney failure and over 6,000 others are sick because of their decision. I am willing to bet they are regretting not going public sooner. It may have at least prevented some of these illnesses.

This really sickens me. While breastfeeding is the best for nearly all infants, there are medical reasons why some infants can’t take breastmilk or mother’s can’t offer it. These babies certainly deserve much better than this. After trying to avoid China-made products, toys in particular, I am going to have to go on an all-out ban until they get their sh– together.

Posted on September 15, 2008 by Trisha · 1 Comment

2 death from Chinese Formula – FDA warns parents to not purchase Chinese made formula

This is just horrible. Two infants have died in China from drinking formula tainted with Melamine. Officials believe Melamine was added to give the appearance the powdered formula contained more protein than it did. Over 1200 other infants are known to be sick and I am sure that number is expected to rise. The tainted formula has caused kidney stones in infants, a usually very rare condition in babies.

The FDA has put out a statement telling parents to avoid formula manufacturered in China. According to a news report this morning, it sounds like Chinese-made formula in the US is mainly limited to Chinese grocery stores and neighborhoods, but it is still wise to read ALL formula labels prior to purchasing.

Melamine is the same plastic that was found in pet food a few years ago that caused kindey failure and death in many beloved pets. Melamine is also a common medium used to make children’s plates. I have tossed out all my Melamine plates.

Posted on September 11, 2008September 12, 2008 by Trisha

Simplicity and Graco Bassinet/Co-Sleeper Recall

What the crap?? A Chicago Tribune article reports that a bassinet manufacturer and federal officials knew of 2 infant deaths directly related to the bassinet a full TWO WEEKS before reporting it to the public. This is INSANE!!!

If you are using a Simplicity or Graco bassinet, PLEASE read here and make sure your bassinet is not affected by the recall, and let your friends and family know as well, so this does not happen to another infant.

Posted on August 12, 2008 by Trisha · 3 Comments

Whole Foods recalls beef after customers get sick

Whole Foods recalled all fresh ground beef sold between June 2 and Aug. 6 at its stores in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.

Whole Foods realizes there was a system breakdown and it taking means to ensure this will not happen again. Read the NY Times article.

This is troubling. I expect more out of Whole Foods. Their private label 365 brand canned food is lined with BPA, their 365 brand body care line contains dioxanes (a carcinogen) and they do not mention this on their packaging and have no plans to make a change. On the latter, they are involved in a law suit in California, where its required to have proper package labeling for products containing dioxanes.

So disappointing, Whole Foods. I am seriously rethinking my loyalty now. I want to be able to go to a store where I do not have to worry about pesticides, dioxanes, e-coli, etc. Even now, I still need to research and read product labels before picking anything up off the shelves no matter where I shop. I did feel safer with WF’s produce and meat, but that system has an obvious breakdown. Sure no one is perfect, but WF has certainly had it’s fair share of negatives in the very recent past. I hope they clean up their act and live up to consumer expectations.