People often ask, what is a product recall? A product recall is a request to return to the maker a batch or an entire production run of a product, usually due to the discovery of safety issues. The recall is an effort to limit liability for corporate negligence (which can cause costly legal penalties) and to improve or avoid damage to publicity. Recalls are costly to a company because they often entail replacing the recalled product or paying for damages caused in use, albeit possibly less costly than indirect cost following damages to brand name and reduced trust in the manufacturer.
Here are some of the most famous product recalls in history. Should you be harmed in the United Kingdom by defective products of any type, make sure to get solid legal advice by a trusted personal injury firm like InjuryLawyers4u. Their law firm is one of many that are specially trained to handle the specific details involved with product recall litigation.
Tylenol
Arguably the biggest and most publicized product recall in business history involved Tylenol, when their over the counter pain relief pills killed seven people in 1982. The deaths came as a result of the pills being laced with potassium cyanide and led Johnson & Johnson to issue a nationwide recall of some 31 million bottles of Tylenol - with a retail value of about $100 million. When the FBI investigated the incident, it was found that the poisoned bottles came from different factories, but the deaths all occurred in and around Chicago, suggesting that the tampering took place at the store level. The perpetrator was never charged, but a man named James W. Lewis was caught trying to extort money out of Johnson & Johnson to “stop the cyanide-induced murders”. Lewis served 13 years in prison on the extortion charges, but was released in 1995 on parole and now lives freely in Massachusetts.Firestone Tires
While Johnson & Johnson can be excused from personal blame, Firestone and Ford bear total responsibility for the carnage and destruction that led to a massive recall of Firestone tires in 2000. Upon being informed that several models of 15″ Firestone tires on Ford Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers had extremely high failure rates, Ford engineers evidently recommended several safety changes and improvements that were not implemented by either company. All of the alleged problems centered around tread separation, whereby the tire’s treads rapidly frayed away leading to the total disintegration of the tire - sometimes while the car was in motion. Some 200 deaths and 3,000 major injuries resulted from the catastrophic tire failures, which also preceded then Ford CEO Jacques Nasser’s resignation.Dell Notebook Batteries (see previous post)
The press was on to something when it reported on a Dell laptop bursting into flames at a technical conference in Japan in June, 2006. What must have seemed at the time like a freak occurrence turned out to be a systemic flaw with over four million Dell notebook batteries produced by Sony. The lithium ion batteries were prone to excessive overheating, posing a fire hazard that at least six people reported before Sony mandated a worldwide recall of the defective batteries, which were used in Dell’s Latitude, Inspiron, Precision and XPS models. To its credit, Dell exchanged the hazardous batteries with new ones, often supplying consumers with brand new machines in its place.Worcestershire Sauce
Many of us enjoy adding a little spice to our meals, but our fellow UK residents took a lot of risk in doing so between 2005-2007. A lengthy investigation found that a Worcestershire sauce manufactured Premier Foods had been contaminated with a carcinogenic dye known as Sudan 1. The contamination was linked back to adulterated chili powder, and the resulting products were used in everything from pizzas to ready-made meals sold on supermarket shelves. Fear of the contamination and its risks prompted the removal of over 400 suspected products from shelves. Remarking on the financial loss to manufacturers and retailers, FoodNavigator.com contends that “the figure is certain to run into double digit millions.” Interestingly, the Sundanese government has demanded that the deadly dye have its name changed, presumably to deflect attention away from where it is produced.Peanut Butter
One of the most far-reaching food recalls in history came in 2009, when Peanut Corporation of America recalled bulk peanut butter products for fear of Salmonella contamination. In total, the Food & Drug Administration eventually recalled at least 3913 different products from roughly 361 different companies companies, including such popular snacks as Little Debbie crackers. According to MSNBC, at least six deaths were blamed on the outbreak, along with some 470 people who became ill in 43 different states and internationally. Cries for food safety reform were heard far and wide following the recall, and it remains to be seen whether any changes occur.
