A new website, ClickCheckandProtect.org, offers a comprehensive, centralized list of recalled items for parents of school-aged children. The website's goal is to make it easier to get information on safety alerts concerning toys, food, medicines, furniture and other products.
The website is a product of the recently formed National School Safety Coalition, which was created by Consumer Reports, the National Parent Teacher Association and the National School Board Association.
“The whole idea is to get the information into the homes of school-aged children,” said Don Mays, senior director of safety for Consumer Reports. The National School Safety Coalition also plans to send weekly school newsletters home with children to make information more readily available for parents.
A poll by Consumer Reports shows that most Americans agree that it's important to know about product recalls - but they aren't confident that they're getting adequate information. More than half of Americans reported that they have never or rarely filled out the products' registration cards, which are used to contact consumers in the event of recalls.
The new website has compiled one list of recalled products that were previously announced by multiple governmental agencies depending on the type of product. The need for an organized, comprehensive list is clear: Product recalls are released by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, food and medicine recalls are released by the Food and Drug Administration, and meat recalls are released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is planning to launch another website this month, SaferProducts.gov, which will feature a database for consumers to report dangerous and defective products and to view other consumers' reports. If you have been injured as a result of a defective product, contact an experienced product liability attorney.