A Look at the Two Biggest Recalls of 2009

Quick! What do peanut butter, window blinds, pistachios, cribs, cookie dough and sweatshirts with drawstrings have in common?

The answer is: “Many of them have been recalled over the past year.”

When a product is being sold on the market and then found to be dangerous, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the manufacturer can recall the product and remove it from store shelves. The CPSC works to protect us from serious injury risks or death from thousands of different consumer products like toys, household goods, bicycles, off-road vehicles, etc.

As you may have noticed in 2009, many products were recalled because they were unsafe. Unfortunately, manufacturers are not obligated to test most children’s products for safety before they are sold to you. That’s why you hear about all these recalls…

Here is a quick look at two of the biggest recalls of 2009:

• The first recognition goes to the massive recall of ALL Roman and roll-up blinds due to their risk of strangulation. The number? Over 50 million recalled products! It’s safe to say 2009 was the year for blind recalls…

• Another record breaker in 2009 occurred with the largest crib recall in U.S. history. More than 2.1 Stork Craft drop-side cribs were recalled after the tragic death of two infants. The CPSC urged parents to immediately stop using the cribs and to find an alternate safe sleeping environment.

Got an Evenflo Envision high chair, a Simplicity close-sleeper/bedside sleeper bassinet, a Rettig Belgium wall-mounted radiator or a Hill Sportswear hooded sweatshirts with drawstrings? Click here to find out what to do with your recalled product.

Make your life easier. To find out if a product you’re using has been recalled, visit http://www.recalls.gov/.   You can also sign up here to receive product recall alerts. These alerts will keep you up-to-date with current information about product recalls, the hazards, and the actions you should take.