product recall - 2/151 -

A slew of Coachmen, Forest River, Palomino, Prime Time, Cargo Mate, Phoenix, and Revere Recreational Vehicles are being recalled by Forest River because of an issue involving the awning.  A total of 9,526 vehicles are being recalled, and each might have a power awning motor assembly whose screws are in danger of shearing.  This condition can lead the awning to unwittingly unroll, causing a potential injury to persons in the vicinity if parked and posing a crash hazard if in transit.  There is no indication yet of when the recall is going to start, but once it does, owners will hear from Forest River.  They’ll then be able to bring the RVs in for a new awning motor.

Click here for more about the recall.

GOBlock Kits and GoPump Rapid Recovery System kits are being recalled by Symbios Medical Products because of an issue that could compromise patient safety.  Versions of the items that have flow controls put together before July of last year could suffer from flow rates that exceed what would be considered safe.  This could lead to heightened levels of medications being administered to the patient, and thus he or she would be susceptible to toxicity and the associated threat of seizures or even a fatality.  Five incidents have been reported, two of them serious.  It has been noted that no fatalities have reportedly occurred thus far.  Symbios is getting in touch with all affected parties.

For more about the recall, follow this link.

ARFF, Panther, Panther II, Predator SS, and Predator emergency vehicles of the 2009 through 2013 model years have been recalled by Kovatch Mobile Equipment because of a potential issue wherein the steering column shaft’s grease fitting can find itself lodged in the column cover.  The cover could then tear, an issue that can compromise vehicle control and potentially lead to a crash taking place.  An estimated 695 vehicles could suffer from this issue, and the owners should expect to receive notification once the recall begins on Monday.  Owners will be advised to bring their vehicles in to dealers, who will then remove the affected grease fitting at no cost to owners.

For more about the recall, click here.

The Powell Company, an importer based in Culver City, California, has announced the recall of Anywhere Lounger bean bag chairs.  Around 6,300 bean bag chairs of various colors are thought to be impacted by the recall, and each would have been available from furniture outlets across the country between last June and this past February.  These items may not have an attached permanent zipper enclosure, a situation which could enable kids to unzip the product.  The children would then be exposed to small beads that may pose an ingestion, strangulation, and suffocation threat.  No such incidents have been reported at this time.  The product should be removed from your kids’ grasp and inspected to determine if opening the chair is possible.  If it is, Powell should be contacted.

For more about the recall, click here.

The New York City-based Avon Products has announced the recall of Microwave Popcorn Makers under the Avon’s brand.  These six inch tall products will have a plastic yellow lid and an item number of 474-105.  Sold online and via direct sale from Avon reps between this past October and February, the products pose a fire hazard when heated too long.  The popcorn inside can heat to an unsafe degree, potentially igniting and causing the user to sustain a burn.  20 overheating incidents have been made known, two of which caused microwave damage.  Thankfully, no one got hurt in any of those instances.  Owners of the estimated 54,700 products should get in touch with Avon for new safety instructions.

For more about the recall, click here.

Today saw the release of the ExpertRECALL Index, a compilation of the various recalls that have taken place throughout the first quarter of the year.  The trends contained therein are important to understand, as they can help regulators take steps to protect consumers, food companies eliminate circumstances which typically lead to a recall, and consumers themselves become more aware of injurious conditions.

In regards to food recalls, which for the first time included Department of Agriculture data about things like meat and poultry, a whopping 73.4% of recalls involved a company that announced more than one recall.  The reason has to do with one defective ingredient typically being found in more than one product.

Food recalls most often had their genesis with the presence of foreign materials, with 28% of food recalls stemming from that issue.  The second most common reason for a recall was the presence of an undeclared allergen.

Recalls of consumer products (which can be found on the website of the Consumer Product Safety Commission) were down even as the number of units affected went up.  More than 6 million units in this category were recalled, but it’s important to note that one particular recall accounted for 2.3 million items.

Drug recalls are also on the rise, with the number of recalls issued by compounders increasing dramatically thanks to increased attention from the Food and Drug Administration after a widespread outbreak last year.

Legacy and Outback automobiles of the 2013 model year have been recalled by Subaru.  An estimated 5,379 vehicles are thought to be impacted by the recall.  The steering column assemblies on the affected vehicles could have outer and inner shafts that cease to interact with one another.  Should this situation present itself, the vehicle could not be steered properly, and thus the threat of a crash becomes apparent.  Owners should hear from Subaru soon, as the recall was set to begin today.  The vehicles can then be brought to a dealer for a replacement of the aforementioned assembly at no cost to automobile owners.

For more about the recall, follow this link.

The Anaheim, California-based Optimus Enterprise has announced the recall of Infrared Quartz Radiant Heaters under the Optimus brand.  The recall affects H-5210 and H-5211 models of the portable heaters.  Sold online and across the country between October 2011 and the end of last year, the heaters could suffer from a certain design failure that can lead to a fire.  If combustible items make contact with the heater, they can be set ablaze.  Thankfully, no incidents of such have been reported at this time, and to ensure that continues, owners are being asked to cease using the heaters and to seek out a new unit from Optimus.  An estimated 355,000 heaters are impacted by the recall.

Click here for more about the recall.

General Motors is taking steps to make the recall process go a lot more smoothly, and they’re doing so by harnessing technology.

Until recently, the speed with which a recall could be issued by GM was limited because of the way that information about a potential safety problem was gathered.  If a problem were to crop up in one region, for instance, only engineers in that particular region would look into the issue.

Since this was done without communicating with other areas, the identification of a widespread safety defect might be slowed down.  This approach ends up costing more money and consumers across the globe could be put at risk, as many components are the same across vehicle models and countries.

To combat the issue and hasten defect investigations, GM will open two state of the art data centers modeled off of the facilities of tech giants like Facebook and Google.  It’s hoped that the boon to data storage and communication will facilitate speedier investigations that ultimately serve to protect consumers.

The company will also make more of an effort to develop their software in house as opposed to outsourcing it.  The thought is that becoming more invested in the IT sector will enable the company to get a better understanding of business operations in their entirety.

All of these things should improve crash tests, bring products to the market more quickly, and foster hasty identification of manufacturing problems.

Additional trailers are being recalled because of a familiar issue involving the sudden unfurling of the awning.  The recall was announced by Heartland Recreational Vehicles and affects Bighorn, Sundance, Sundance XLT, Landmark, Elk Ridge Express, Elk Ridge, Silverado, and Big Country travel and fifth wheel trailers.  890 or so trailers are thought to be impacted by the recall, which was initiated thanks to a potentially faulty awning installation sequence.  If this leads the awning to come down during transit, it poses a distinct crash threat.  There’s been no indication as to when the recall will take place, but once it does, new awning motors can be sought by vehicle owners for free.

Follow this link for more about the recall.