The other day we were watching the news and there were three product recalls in a row and my wife mentioned hearing on the radio a report about ‘recall overload’, how so much stuff is being recalled so frequently that we become numb to it all. In fact, this week there are reports on various news sources about the issue.
Well, apparently the government agencies issuing these recalls are aware of this, and have launched a mobile app called ‘Recall.gov’. It brings together data from the relevant agencies – Consumer Product Safety Commission, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Food and Drug Administration, and the Department of Agriculture – and displays it on your smartphone or straight from the site on your PC.
As of right now it is available for Android phones either manually or on the Market, and versions for the Blackberry and the iPhone (no word on when a version for the hot-selling Kin will be ready!)
From the USA.gov site:
When you’re buying and using products, safety comes first. And now, with this product recalls application, you have vital safety information available whenever and wherever you need it — right on your mobile phone.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Food and Drug Administration, and Department of Agriculture monitor the safety of thousands of products and issue hundreds of recall announcements each year of millions of products.
Now, those recalls are right at your fingertips, thanks to the new RECALLS.GOV mobile application. Whether you’re at your child’s day care center or a yard sale, whether you’re at a store or at home, you can now type a product’s name into your phone and learn immediately whether that product has been recalled because of a safety concern. You can also see photos of recalled products and learn what to do with recalled products in your homes.
Stay informed, stay safe, check for product recalls.
So how bad is the overload? The screen I grabbed for the article is from the USA.gov site and has recalls through June 29th. I wanted to see how many recalls were issued between the 30th and July 7th – just one week, with a Holiday tossed in there for good measure. Based on the 10 results per page display I had to click multiple times to get to the 29th. The result – 45 new recalls in the last week! Wow! No wonder we’ve become numb to recalls!
Personally I am at the point where I have seen every thing we used for our kids having been recalled and/or declared incredibly dangerous, watched the advice on sleep positions flip-flop multiple times and more … and so on. What about you? Do you actually pay attention to recalls?
Source: USA.gov via The Consumerist