This week in safety: Attention cracker snackers

Remarkably, despite massive amounts of publicity and a steady drumbeat of recalls—3,400 and counting—there are still some people who have not gotten the message about the ongoing salmonella outbreak. People are still getting sick from eating recalled products containing peanut butter. Especially peanut butter crackers. According to the Centers for Disease Control, about half of the new cases of confirmed salmonella infections are showing up in people who ate Austin or Keebler peanut butter crackers manufactured by the Kellogg Co., MSNBC reports. 

The crackers make up only a fraction of the products that have been recalled because they contain peanut ingredients processed by the Peanut Corporation of America. Still, the crackers account for the largest share of the food poisoning cases that have sickened 683 people in 46 states and Canada and contributed to nine deaths. "Not everybody gets the message—and not everybody acts on it." said Dr. Robert Tauxe, chief of the CDC's foodborne disease program.

As we reported here before, food safety experts are concerned that many of the foods on the recall list will go unnoticed in people's pantries because they have a long shelf life. But so does the salmonella. This weekend take time to search your shelves and the FDA's recall database. And to help get the word out, share the information with your friends and family. Here's more safety news:

Group finds carcinogens in kids bath products
USA Today
Many children's bath products contain chemicals that may cause cancer and skin allergies, according to a report released this week by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. Twenty-three of 28 products tested contained formaldehyde, the report says. Read more ...

What to do in a product safety crisis
BusinessWeek
If "reality television" has exposed the personal lives of ordinary people, then speed-of-light electronic communications have stripped bare the most intimate vulnerabilities that companies face when managing product safety concerns. Read more ...

Taking on toy safety
BusinessWeek
Say "product recall" now, and the first thing that comes to mind is probably peanuts. Yet even as peanuts were center stage, in mid February the Toy Industry Assn. (TIA) announced the launch of a Toy Safety Certification Program—a direct response to a series of high-profile recalls of lead-contaminated products in 2007. Read more ...

A view on product safety: Injured consumers win much-needed day in court
USA Today
What if you lost your arm because a drug was administered in a risky fashion? Or you were injured when your mattress caught fire? Or you wound up a quadriplegic after your vehicle rolled over in a crash? Should you be able to sue the manufacturer for damages? Read more ...

Fire safety standards no guarantee you won't get burned
KIROTV.com, Seattle
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, an average of 120 clothing-caused, fire-related deaths occurred in the U.S. each year between 2002 and 2004. Nearly 4,000 injuries each year were treated in hospitals, all from burning clothes, even though federal flammability standards have been in place for more than fifty years. Read more ...

Researchers warn that treehouses need to be safer
Chicago Tribune
Medical researchers in Ohio published a paper this month suggesting national safety standards for treehouses after statistics showed that 2,800 children a year are hurt in accidents linked to them. The injuries ranged from bruises to broken bones, but all were serious enough to send the children to the emergency room. Read more ...

Child safety seat review is welcome news
Yakima Herald-Republic
Ray LaHood, the newly installed transportation secretary, has called for a "complete top to bottom review of child safety seat regulations." Thanks, Mr. LaHood, from all the parents who have agonized over finding the best safety seat for their child. Read more ...

Maker of cleaners to scrub some chemicals from products
USA Today
S.C. Johnson announced this week that it's removing controversial chemicals called phthalates from Windex, Shout, Pledge and its other popular cleaning products, and will begin disclosing all ingredients on its labels. Read more ...

Consumer Reports blogs on safety

• Cars: Fatal combination—kids and hot cars
• Cars: Electronic stability control not always offered
• Baby&Kids: Does your child's car seat installation need a check-up?
• Baby&Kids: Stationary activity centers are safer than door jumpers
• Electronics: Cell phone crackdown in New York and beyond
• Health: Is ibuprofen risky for broken bones?
• Health: FDA issues warning about contaminated cheese
• Consumer Reporter: CPSC establishes rules for exempting products from lead law

Don't miss these recalls

• 172,000 Infantino toys (3 different sets) (choking hazard) [see image above]
  
• 40,000 Seattle Cotton Works hooded sweatshirts (drawstring violation)
• 31,000 Big Lots' Style Elements hair dryers (electrocution hazard)
• 13,000 Tippmann A-5 paintball markers (faulty assembly)
• 3,000 Electra bicycles (2009 model) with front trays (fall hazard)
• 2,600 Pure Fishing Shakespeare casting game and fishing kits (lead paint)
• 600 pairs DBX Glide boys ice skates (lead paint)