Apple has released a statement declaring that they will replace the first generation iPod Nano due to the slim chance of the device overheating.

The iPod was sold from September 2005 to December 2006, and though it hasn’t been mass produced in years, Apple asserts that they will be replacing each 1G Nano with the same version.

Replacements will be sent to users about six weeks after they send their old models.

Some 48 million Americans are afflicted with a form of food borne illness each year. The Food Safety Modernization Act, signed into law in January 2011, now gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration wider latitude in protecting our food supply, including the ability to order recalls of tainted foods (previously, the agency could only negotiate with businesses to order voluntary recalls). (FDA)

Existing laws and oversight from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have done a decent job of keeping the vast majority of Americans safe from food borne illnesses, but several recent cases of contamination have put the spotlight on what more we can do to protect ourselves from unwittingly consuming harmful bacteria, parasites, viruses and toxins that could be lurking on our dinner plates.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that, of the 48 million Americans afflicted with some sort of food borne illness every year, 128,000 are hospitalized and about 3,000 die. In response to this growing problem, in January 2011 Congress passed and President Obama signed into law the landmark Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), a comprehensive $1.4 billion bill that aims to stop outbreaks of food borne illnesses before they begin.

“This law makes everyone responsible and accountable at each step in today’s global food supply chain,” reports FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. “This law represents a sea change for food safety in America, bringing a new focus on prevention, and I expect that in the coming years it will have a dramatic and positive effect on the safety of the food supply.”

FDA inspectors have monitored domestic producers of seafood, juice, meat, eggs and poultry for decades, but the new law expands their powers to evaluate hazards in all kinds of food and to impose stricter standards on imported foods. Processors are now required to proactively take measures to prevent contamination, and must have plans in place for corrective action when something does go wrong. Smaller producers are exempt from some of the more onerous and costly provisions of the new law, but are nevertheless still responsible for maintaining the strict health safety standards set forth in its provisions. The new law also increases the number and frequency of inspections at both high-risk and non-high risk facilities. And the FDA can now order recalls of tainted foods; before FSMA’s enactment, the agency could only negotiate with businesses to order voluntary recalls.

Given that some 15 percent of our food supply—including 60 percent of fresh fruits and 80 percent of seafood—is imported, the new law also requires importers to verify the safety of food from their foreign suppliers and authorizes the FDA to block foods from facilities or countries that refuse inspections.

FSMA also provides funds for training, equipment and facilities at food safety agencies across federal, state, local, territorial, tribal and even foreign jurisdictions to ensure that all parties are up to snuff on the ways and means of preventing and containing food borne illnesses.

“Really this is a major victory for every American who will sit down at the dinner table and have more confidence that their food is going to be safe,” says Erik Olson of the Pew Health Group, one the most vocal of hundreds of nonprofits in favor of strengthening our nation’s food safety net.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) concluded its ten-month study of probable causes of unintended acceleration issues in Toyota vehicles. The study concluded that the only known causes capable of producing the high-speed incidents were of two mechanical defects previously identified by NHTSA – “sticking” accelerator pedals and a design flaw that caused accelerator pedals to become trapped by floor mats in which Toyota has recalled nearly 8 million vehicles in the United States also paid $48.8 million in civil penalties as the result of NHTSA investigations into the timeliness of several safety recalls last year.

During the report, NASA engineers evaluated the electronic circuitry in Toyota vehicles and analyzed more than 280,000 lines of software code for any potential flaws that could initiate an unintended acceleration incident. NASA engineers examined and tested mechanical components that could result in an unwanted throttle opening. Toyota vehicles were also bombarded by NASA and NHTSA with electromagnetic radiation to study whether such radiation could cause malfunctions resulting in unintended acceleration and if there were any additional mechanical causes for unintended acceleration and whether any of the test scenarios developed could actually occur in real-world conditions.

“NASA found no evidence that a malfunction in electronics caused large unintended accelerations,” said Michael Kirsch, Principal Engineer at the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC).

Steve St. Angelo, Toyota’s Chief Quality Officer for North America, said: “Toyota welcomes the findings of NASA and NHTSA regarding our Electronic Throttle Control System with intelligence (ETCS-i) and we appreciate the thoroughness of their review. We believe this rigorous scientific analysis by some of America’s foremost engineers should further reinforce confidence in the safety of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. We hope this important study will help put to rest unsupported speculation about Toyota’s ETCS-i, which is well-designed and well-tested to ensure that a real world, un-commanded acceleration of the vehicle cannot occur. “

Even though no electronic causes were found in this study, NHTSA is considering taking several new actions as the result of today’s findings, including:

• Propose rules, by the end of 2011, to require brake override systems, to standardize operation of keyless ignition systems, and to require the installation of event data recorders in all passenger vehicles;
• Begin broad research on the reliability and security of electronic control systems;
• Research the placement and design of accelerator and brake pedals, as well as driver usage of pedals, to determine whether design and placement can be improved to reduce pedal misapplication.

“While today marks the end of our study with NASA, our work to protect millions of American drivers continues,” said NHTSA Administrator David Strickland. “The record number of voluntary recalls initiated by automakers last year is also very good news, and shows that we can work cooperatively with industry to protect consumers.”

Cadillac announced that it will be recalling more than 20,000 CTS and CTS-V models due to replace a glove compartment box that could lead to leg injuries to the passenger in a crash. GM states that recall involves nearly 5,000 all-wheel drive 2009 Cadillac CTS and CTS-V models, and more than 15,000 vehicles from the 2010 model year.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) concluded that passengers not wearing their seatbelt could strike the glove box door and suffer leg injuries in a crash. Dealers will replace the glove compartment assembly at no charge.

 Owners can contact Cadillac directly or make an appointment at their local dealer to have the issue resolved.

Just when Toyota’s massive recall had become old news, Consumer Reports adds fuel to a simmering fire by declaring Toyota’s Lexus GX 460 a “don’t buy”. Consumer Reports stated that the driver while in an alarmed state “the rear of the GX we bought slid out until the vehicle was almost sideways before the electronic stability control system was able to regain control.”

Electronic stability control provides technology that improves the vehicles stability that detects and minimizes skids by automatically applying the brakes to help direct the vehicle in the path that the driver intended thus reducing accidents in which the driver had initially lost control.

Mark Templin, Lexus Group Vice President and General Manager, maintains that for the last 20 years Lexus has held the highest standards on consumer safety and satisfaction. Lexus is taking the situation with the GX 460 very seriously. To better determine and correct the issue Consumer Reports reported, Lexus is asking the dealers to temporarily suspend the sales of any GX 460 until corrected.

This coming after the late January recall of 8 million Toyota vehicles experiencing issues regarding the gas pedal and floor mats sticking. Toyota sales had already slumped from the previous year plunged even more due to the massive recall along with quality assurance that once was associated hand in hand with the brand. It is not determined how much more financially the manufacture can expect to lose.

Templin said “Lexus’ extensive vehicle testing provides a good indication of how our vehicles perform and we are confident that the GX meets our high safety standards. Our engineering teams are vigorously testing the GX using Consumer Reports’ specific parameters to identify how we can make the GX performance even better.”

An example of accelerator pedal interference caused by out-of-position all-weather floor mat. (Media credit/Courtesy of NHTSA)

“This is an urgent matter” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “For everyone’s sake, we strongly urge owners of these vehicles to remove mats or other obstacles that could lead to unintended acceleration.”

According to NHTSA, the problem is with the clearance of the actual foot pedal.

Toyota and Lexus vehicles affected by this consumer alert are:

• 2007-2010 Camry
• 2005-2010 Avalon
• 2004-2009 Prius
• 2005-2010 Tacoma
• 2007-2010 Tundra
• 2007-2010 ES 350
• 2006-2010 IS 250 and IS350

According to NHTSA, in September 2007, Toyota recalled another all-weather floor mat sold for use in some 2007 and 2008 model year Lexus ES 350 and Toyota Camry vehicles because of similar problems.

For more information, call the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s hotline at 888-327-4236 or the Toyota Experience Center at 800-331-4331 or the Lexus Customer Assistance Center at 800-255-3987.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Tuesday that Wal-Mart was recalling millions of cheap Durabrand DVD players after several units overheated and some caught fire.

About 1.5 million silver-colored Durabrand DVD players were recalled August 20, and Wal-Mart expanded the recall September 1 to include pink and purple versions of the same player. About 4.2 million total units are now under recall.

Owners should immediately stop using the players and call Wal-Mart at 800-925-6278.

According to the CPSC, the DVD player’s circuit board can overheat. Wal-Mart received seven reports of fires sparked from overheating causing property damage. No injuries have been reported.

The Chinese-made players were sold exclusively at Wal-Mart stores nationwide from January 2006 through July 2009 for about $29.

Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced a voluntary recall of 13,500 vehicles equipped with its double-clutch automatic DSG transmission.

Models affected by the recall include the Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, GTI, and Eos built between September 2008 and August 2009.

According to VW, the recall applies to 2009 model year vehicles along with a few of the 2010 model year vehicles.

A faulty temperature sensor on the transmission may trigger false-positive warning lights on the cars, or in some cases the fault may cause the transmission to shift into neutral.

Volkswagen said it will contact owners of affected vehicles. Owners can schedule a free appointment with their dealer to check for and fix the problem.

Customers who have questions or concerns should call the Volkswagen Loyalty Center at 1-800-444-8982.

Nestle has recalled Toll House refrigerated cookie dough after concerns rose about customer illnesses possibly linked to eating raw dough.

Didn’t your mom ever tell you not to eat raw cookie dough? It’s got egg and stuff in it.

This is a voluntary recall, and grocery stores around the country have pulled the cookie dough from shelves.

No complains have arisen about eating cooked cookies.

Recalled items include a variety of chocolate chip cookies in tube, tub and bar form and Christmas, Halloween, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, and Easter themed cookies. Though, if you’re seeing Christmas or Halloween cookie dough at your local Stop & Shop, that’s a whole different problem.

The Centers for Disease Control and several state health departments are investigating an outbreak of E. coli infections that might be linked to these products. Throw them away if you have them. If you get E. coli sickness, it will result in cramps, diarrhea, bloody stool, and could cause kidney failure, which is more common in the young and elderly.

Underwriters Laboratories, the lord almighty of all things electronic, is warning consumers about fake Teknocreations video game controller chargers that could be dangerous or pose fire hazards.

The ICX360500 (InCharge for Xbox 360), ICWII200 (InCharge for Wii) controller charges have been forged by a Chinese company called Wellform Industrial Ltd. from Guangdong.

The counterfeit products bear falsified UL Marks for the United States and Canada and have not actually been verified by the UL for safety.

UL doesn’t know exactly when the fake products were made or how many were produced. They appear to be regularly sold on Amazon.com.

Blast reviewed the real charger late last year.

The Food and Drug Administration has found Salmonella in recalled Austin brand sandwich crackers, a brand under the Kellogg umbrella.

“FDA has advised Kellogg Company that Salmonella was found in one package of Austin Quality Foods Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter,” the FDA said in a statement Monday. “This product had previously been recalled by Kellogg, in one of a series of industry recalls relating to Peanut Corporation of America’s recall of peanut-based ingredients.”

“We apologize to our consumers and customers, and we can’t emphasize enough our disappointment and deep regret about this situation,” said David Mackay, president and CEO, Kellogg Company. “The food industry upholds certain operating standards and we are proud that we exceed these standards in our facilities. Events of the last week suggest there was a breach in this supplier’s process that is unacceptable to Kellogg, our customers and our consumers.”

The FDA has urged customers Jan. 14 to dispose of recalled peanut butter and peanut paste products.

Kellogg has promised an internal investigation.

“Based on our learnings from this experience and consistent with our 100-year commitment to quality and food safety, Kellogg will evaluate its processes to ensure we take necessary actions to reassure consumers and rebuild confidence in these products,” Mackay said.

According to the FDA, products impacted by the Kellogg recall were produced on or after July 1, 2008, including:

• Austin Quality Foods Cheese Crackers with Peanut Butter – all sizes
• Austin Quality Foods Cheese & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers – all sizes
• Austin Quality Foods Mega Stuffed Cheese Crackers with Peanut Butter – all sizes
• Austin Quality Foods PB & J Cracker Sandwiches – all sizes
• Austin Quality Foods Super Snack Pack Sandwich Crackers
• Austin Quality Foods Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers – all sizes
• Austin Quality Foods Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter – all sizes
• Austin Quality Foods Reduced Fat Cheese & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers
• Austin Quality Foods Reduced Fat Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers
• Austin Quality Foods Cookie/Cracker Pack
• Austin Quality Foods Variety Pack
• Keebler Cheese & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers – all sizes
• Keebler Toast & PB’n J Flavored Sandwich Crackers – all sizes
• Keebler Toast & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers – all sizes
• Famous Amos Peanut Butter Cookies (2- and 3-ounce)
• Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies (2.5-ounce)

Underwriters Laboratories — the “UL” you see on virtually all your mechanical or electronic products — has issued warnings about two foreign-made cables, saying they bear UL-approved markings but were not actually evaluated for safety.

First, late last month, UL warned industrial contractors and distributors that a 1000-foot communications cable made by a Hangzhou Xingfa Transmission Equipment Co. Ltd. bears a counterfeit UL Mark for the United States. The communications cable has not been evaluated for safety by UL and is not eligible to bear the UL Mark.

Hangzhou Xingfa is based in Zhejiang Province, China.

The cable displays the following description: KWC RG59/U 20AWG BC (UL) CM E236949 ***FT, which is counterfeit.

Then Friday, a Taiwanese company, Ho Wah Genting Kintron, issued a recall for a standard consumer/home extension cord.

The recall affects 27,000 units of triple-plug receptacle extension cords made in 2004 and shipped all over in 2005. The problem here is that the plastic casing may not be properly secured together, and if it separates it could cause fire or a deadly shock.

The cord’s blue packaging features the description “Snug Plug” in orange lettering.

The company says to return the product where you bought it — but that was three years ago right? Throw it away and buy a new cord.

In this case also, the extension cords were labeled with counterfeit UL-listed marks and do not actually comply with UL’s safety requirements.

Underwriters Laboratories Inc. is an independent product safety certification organization that evaluates more than 19,000 types of products, components, materials and systems every year. More than 21 billion UL Marks appear on 72,000 manufacturers’ products each year in 99 countries.

Coby Electronics announced what is at least its third major product recall in the last year and a half, calling back 13,000 rechargeable batteries sold with their portable CD/DVD/MP3 players.

The batteries, just like the portable audio and video players they recalled last November, were made in China.

Coby warns that the rechargeable batteries can overheat and catch fire. There have been four reports of fires from the batteries overheating, resulting in what the company called “minor property damage.” No one has been hurt yet.

The batteries were sold with Coby’s TF-DVD 1020 portable swivel-style music and video player. Last year, it was the TF-DVD170 and TF-DVD176 players that were recalled entirely — 12,000 units — because of fire worries.

Recalled Batteries Serial Number Ranges:
DG240043D503000001-1006
DG240006D503000001-400
DG240039D603000001-3000
DG240111D603000001-2000
DG240143D602000001-3000
DG240106D602000001-2000
DG240106D702000001-2000
DG240183D942000001-100
DG240071DB02000001-1400
DG240115D702000001-1726
DG240115D702000001-2500

The products were sold at discount toy and electronics stores for about $170 from May 2007 through this July.

For additional information, contact Coby Electronics toll-free at 866-945-2629 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s Web site at http://www.cobyusa.com/.

See also: Consumer Product Safety Commission listing.

By the way: In a reporting error. We spelled Coby “Colby” by accident in an early version of this story.

Seven Massachusetts residents joined two from Pennsylvania as the latest victims of a food poisoning outbreak after eating ground beef tainted with E. coli bacteria.

The source of the outbreak was traced to Whole Foods market and beef supplier Coleman Natural Beef, which has been tied to a nationwide recall earlier this summer.

Consumers are being advised not to eat beef purchased at Whole Foods between June 2 and Aug. 6.

Five of the Massachusetts victims were hospitalized but are expected to recover. Victims ranged in age from 3 to 60.

Low-cost electronics manufacturer Coby Electronics has recalled its TF-DVD170 and TF-DVD176 portable video/music players after three of the products overheated and one caught fire.

“Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed,” according to a statement by the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission.

The Maspeth, N.Y. company sold 12,000 of the units at discount electronics, music, toy, and office supply stores as well as wholesale distributors, the CPSC said. They sold for $140 and $170 respectively.

The products were manufactured in China.

Coby is offering a full refund to all customers. For additional information, call them toll-free at 877-231-9240 or visit the their website at www.cobyusa.com.

The company recalled 15,000 MP-CD475 boomboxes in April for the same reason.