I’m expecting my first child and preparing to buy things she’ll need like a stroller and crib. I often hear about products getting recalled–especially baby products–months after they’ve been on the market. Is there any way I can keep track of product recalls so I’ll know about them sooner?
–K. Arnold
San Francisco
I can understand your concern; not all product recalls make the news. And if a recall does affect you, ideally you want to find out before it hits the media. By then it could be too late. You can keep track of product recalls in several ways. The website Recalls.gov is a one-stop shop for recalls of everything from children’s toys to medicine. Information is gathered from six federal agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. If you don’t have time to check the Recalls.gov website for updates, you can join the mailing lists of four agencies (excluding the U.S. Coast Guard and the EPA) at www.recalls.gov/list.html and have recall information sent directly to your e-mail inbox. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed of any of the six agencies. Feeds and podcasts cover a variety of specific topics (such as tires, child restraints, etc.); go to the Consumer Product Safety Commission site (www.cpsc.gov) to subscribe to an RSS feed that lists all major recalls. For more information on this topic, visit BlackEnterprise.com and read the post “How to Keep Track of Product Recalls.â€