Himalaya Recalls For Bacteria, Mold

HimalayaUSA has announced a recall of its Organique Himalaya® Nourishing Night Cream over fears that the lotion could be contaminated with both bacteria and mold. In a statement released late yesterday the company said that tests on the product had found Staphylococcus aureus and a fungus in samples taken from 1 batch of the cream. (The company did not disclose exactly what the fungus was.)

There’s no word on whether the contamination was found through tests that were performed by the company or if the contamination was found by an outside lab but we do know that the product has made it to the marketplace. HimalayaUSA says that this cream was sold nationwide in the U.S. and Canada.

The problem, claims the company, was ultimately traced back to pumps supplied by a third party manufacturer. And because the same pumps were found in a 2nd batch, the company is recalling products with 2 production codes, just to be careful.

Covered by this recall is Organique Himalaya® Nourishing Night Cream with either of these batch codes:

• #S691001
• #S691002

If you think you may have this product on hand you’ll want to look, the company advises, for a teal cylinder with an orange cap. The batch code can be found on the bottom of the bottles. HimalayaUSA did not provide photos of the recalled lotion.

There have been no reports so far of any customer complaints blamed on the contaminated cream and the company says that it will begin testing all containers for such contamination in the future. In its statement the company apologized for the “inconvenience” to customers. It has not, as far as I can see, posted a recall notice on its website, though.

Staphylococcus aureus is the bacterium responsible for most of the Staph infections seen in the U.S. It can cause everything from acne to toxic shock syndrome. Drug resistant strains of S. aureus are of special concern because these are the so-called “flesh-eating” bacteria that have been in the news lately.

Source:

HimalayaUSA. (2011). HimalayaUSA Announces Voluntary Product Recall For Organique by Himalaya® Nourishing Night Cream Batch #S691001 and Batch #S691002. (PRESS RELEASE). Accessible at www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm285459.htm?source=govdelivery.

Fitness Ball Seller Settles With CPSC

The main consumer advocacy agency in the US, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, announced last week that it had settled with E&B Giftware in a case involving inflatable fitness balls. From the docket we learn that the CPSC accused the company of failing to report a known defect affecting its fitness balls. The company knew as early as 2007 that the alleged defects were causing the balls to fail. Failure to report such defects—and the incidents that result from them—is a violation of federal law.

By early 2007 the number of incidents logged by the company was 25, with 20 of them associated with injuries. By October 2008 those numbers had jumped to 44 and 29. And by the time the stupid things were finally recalled—which didn’t happen until April 2009—there were 47 reports injuries. Most were minor but there was at least 1 fracture blamed on a burst ball.

Millions of these balls were sold in the U.S. As part of the agreement EB Brands admits that it knew that it was violating federal law by failing to report the early incidents as soon as they happened. The admission will cost EB Brands $550,000.

Source:

Consumer Product Safety Commission. (2011). E&B Giftware Agrees to $550,000 Civil Penalty for Failing to Report Defective Fitness Balls. (PRESS RELEASE). Accessible at cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12060.html?tab=news.

Consumer Product Safety Commission. (2011). CPSC Docket 12-C0005. Accessible at cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml12/12060.pdf.

New Years Resolutions To Consider

As the new year looms there’s no shortage of health experts out there telling you what you should and shouldn’t be doing in the coming year. Some of those “experts” make me feel like I’m back in fifth grade with Mrs. Whatwashername standing over me, chastising me for my handwriting. But some of them aren’t so bad. One of the best, in fact, that I’ve seen this week comes from California’s State Health Director, Ron Chapman. In his piece for the CDPH’s website Dr. Chapman keeps it brief and simple. He offers only 6 tips and while they’re geared specifically toward people in California, I think they’re applicable to the rest of us, too:

• 1. Quit Smoking. C’mon. You knew that advice would be on here, somewhere, right? But as Chapman points out, it’s not just your health you’ll be helping. Even just a pack of cigarettes a day will cost you $2000 a year. If the health benefits and the extra savings aren’t incentive to at least try to quit, I’m not sure what is.
• 2. Know your Numbers. In this bit of advice Chapman is talking about things like your blood pressure, weight and blood sugar. By bringing your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar back into the normal range you can lower your risk for several diseases.
• 3. Eat Better. Yeah, I know it’s another one of those pearls we hear every year but we know more than ever about the link between good diet and health. Make half your plate fruits and vegetables, Chapman urges.
• 4. Get up off your behind. OK, he didn’t actually say it like that but let’s be honest here. How many of us really get as much exercise as we think? Even those of us with “physical” jobs often don’t get as much cardio exercise as we’d like to think we do.
• 5. Protect yourself. By this, Chapman means taking simple steps like getting screened for certain types of cancer, wearing sunscreen and, of course, getting caught up on your vaccinations.
• 6. Be prepared. I don’t live in a state that experiences strong earthquakes but I do live right smack in the middle of my state’s “tornado alley”. Whatever the risk is in your area it’s important to be prepared for disasters—whether they’re caused by the weather or they’re manmade.

And that’s pretty much it. But if you have any tips you’d like to share leave me a comment. I’d love to hear about your New Year’s resolutions, how you intend to make sure you keep them and which ones you think might give you the most trouble. Who knows? Maybe you’ll inspire someone else (maybe even me) to be just a little bit healthier in 2012.