Product recalls, warnings increased in 2023, report finds
There were 323 product recalls for household items and appliances in 2023
(InvestigateTV) — 2023 had the highest number of household product recalls in seven years, according to a new study by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG).
“We’re not nearly as safe as what we think we should be, and what we deserve to be, frankly,” Teresa Murray with PIRG said.
PIRG analyzed 323 product recall announcements from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and found a more than 10% increase in the amount of recall notifications from 2022 to 2023.
The types of products recalled the most were children’s sleepwear, small vehicles like ATVs and golf carts, toys, infant sleep products, furniture, and small kitchen appliances.
PIRG’S analysis also found that dangerous products were connected to more than 550 injuries, ranging from minor cuts and burns to even paralysis and permanent brain injuries.
15 people died in connection with products before they were recalled.
“Those people aren’t coming back,” Murray said. “And the thing that really gets me is that in a lot of these cases with the recalls, the process has gone on for months or years. Like, some of the initial complaints were filed YEARS ago, and it takes so stinkin’ long to get a product recalled and to get the word out to the public. It’s just tragic.”
Murray said the CPSC doesn’t have mandatory recall authority without going through years of legal battles, making it an obstacle to instantly put a product on the recall list.
Murray urged people to go to the CPSC’s website to search recalls and look at what’s listed.
“They generally post recalls every Thursday, and it’s usually about half a dozen recalls a week,” Murray said. “Just bookmark it. Look at it every Thursday or Friday, or the weekend and see if anything has been recalled is something that you own!”
She also encouraged people to visit saferproducts.gov.
“There it’s really interesting because that includes complaints about products that have not been recalled, but names names. And that’s one of the ways the CPSC figures out what kinds of products need to be investigated,” Murray explained. “So you and I, we can go on there and see, ‘hmmm. Maybe I don’t want to buy that thing for my child.’”
She encouraged people to do their homework and research items before purchase.
Consumers who have experienced an issue with a product are encouraged to file a complaint so others can be warned about defective product.
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