This week in safety: Baby birds carry big risk

Children who find a chick or duckling in their Easter basket may also encounter something less cute -- salmonella. A warning to parents to forgo gifts of baby birds was issued by the Centers for Disease Control, which says that each spring it gets reports of children becoming infected with salmonella after receiving a baby bird for Easter.

Bacteria carried in the birds' intestines contaminates their environment and the entire surface of the animal, the CDC said. Children can be exposed to the bacteria by holding, cuddling or kissing the birds and by contact with bird cages or enclosures. Young children are most susceptible to infection by salmonella because they are more likely to put their fingers in their mouths and because their immune systems are still developing.

The CDC pointed out that even birds that appear healthy can carry salmonella. If you don't have the heart to tell your kids about this health threat, download the "kidtastic" podcast from the CDC Web site to alert them to the risks. And take a peep, make that peek, at the rest of this week's safety news.

As food recalls continue to sprout, what can a consumer do?
The Washington Post
Peanuts and pistachios have much in common. Neither is a true nut: the peanut is a legume while the pistachio is a seed. Long dismissed as high-calorie snacks, both are enjoying newfound recognition as healthful foods ... Both were also the subject of recent food-safety alarms. Read more ...

Pistachio recall signals tough stance on safety
The New York Times
As the nation‚'s second-largest processor of pistachios agreed to recall its entire 2008 crop despite no confirmed illnesses, the Obama administration issued a tough warning to all food makers that sloppy manufacturing practices would no longer be tolerated. Read more ...

Study links alcohol and bicycle deaths
The New York Times
Don't drink and drive? What about don't drink and bike? Some 21 percent of autopsies for New York City bicyclists who died within three hours of their accidents detected alcohol in the body, according to a Department of Health and Mental Hygiene study that examined fatal bicycling accidents in New York City from 1996 to 2005. Read more ...

Giving lessons in traffic safety at middle schools
The New York Times
Among the many worries of Los Angeles parents who pack their children off to school each day, traffic dangers have been looming larger in recent years. The number of serious traffic incidents involving schoolchildren across the 900 Los Angeles public schools has significantly increased, particularly around middle schools. Read more ...

Safety news from the CR blogs
Consumer Reporter: 14 companies fined $1 million over drawstrings in kids' clothes
Fourteen companies will pay $1,055,000 in civil penalties to settle allegations that they failed to report that "children's hooded sweatshirts or jackets they sold had drawstrings at the hood and/or neck," the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced. Read more ...

• Cars: Driving the Volvo XC60 with City Safe
• Cars: Traffic deaths decline as more people are buckling up
• Health: Peanut distributor refuses to recall peanuts
• Health: Rocket fuel in baby formula?

Don't miss these recalls

• 200,000 Walmart 'George' women's slingback shoes (fall hazard) [See image, above]
• 91,000 Buster Brown & Co. (Walmart) 'CARS' fleece clog children's shoes (choking hazard)
• 40,000 Healthtex 'Zoo' pacifiers (choking hazard)
• 78,000 Stanley stud sensors (two models) (shock hazard)
• 7,200 Polaris snowmobiles (fire hazard)
• 730 Ross Stores folding patio chairs (fall hazard)