At
Consumer Reports we've been frustrated by the poor rate of return of recalled products. So last week we were happy to be able to get the word out during an appearance by
Don Mays on the Today show and through our
new partnership with the National Parent Teacher Association and the National School Boards Association.
In our view, too few people hear about recalls and far fewer react to them. "The consumer response is dismally poor; at best about 30 percent," Mays, our senior director of product safety, told Amy Robach on
Today. "For some of the major toy recalls that even made the front pages of the paper, it's about a 10 percent response."
Mays showed Robach a number of products that have been recalled in recent months beginning with the Simplicity bassinet. (
Watch our video.) Four deaths have been associated with the bassinet.
Other hazards highlighted by Mays included toys and jewelry that violate the lead standard, some children's choking hazards and
window blinds. An average of one child a month dies after getting strangled by the cord of a window blind or shade, he said.
As we told readers last week, we are offering
weekly e-mail updates via our partners in the PTA and the NSBA. "We want to try to make sure people learn the recall information that could be essentially important to the children in their homes," said Mays.
