In light of Apple’s recall near-miss on its new iPhone, we take a look at some of the most infamous recalls in the history of the universe.
By Robert Carry
Dell’s exploding laptops
It’s 2006 and two grizzled American outdoorsmen have been sent running for cover from their burning truck as bullets whizz past them. The prime suspect in the case? The battery of a Dell Inspiron laptop one of them left in the passenger side foot-well. The battery exploded into flames setting the truck, and boxes of hunting rifle ammunition, into a blaze.
Similar tales were emerging all over the world, but Dell was finally sparked (sparked!) into action when footage surfaced of a laptop exploding in the middle of a seminar in Japan. A recall was ordered for some 4.1 million Sony-manufactured laptop batteries which, it was confirmed, could overheat and pose a fire risk.
Toyota super-dodge
One of the most infamous recalls in motoring history came when Japanese car manufacturer Toyota was forced to sound the whistle due to floor mat and accelerator problems in several of its newest models. It was almost game over for the company when the depth of the problem came to light – over eight million motors would have to be brought back in for a re-fit.
Just three months later Toyota was hit with a further hammer blow – its Prius and other hybrid models were also bogey. They had to recall a further half million motors due to issues with the breaks. It was all gravy in the end though. Toyota launched a series of TV ads featuring a groveling apology to customers.
Poisoned pigs
Many of you may remember the agony and debasement of unsuccessfully begging the girl who makes the sandwiches for breakfast a roll. Morning after morning.
That’s right, 2008 was the year – the country was in recession just as it is now and people dressed pretty much as they do at present. In December of that year however, you couldn’t get yourself a battered sausage for love nor money. The €400 million Irish pork industry had been thrown into chaos when a contaminant was discovered in pig feed. Banned chemical PCB was found to be at levels between 80 and 200 times the safety limit in the feed – and Irish porkers had been scoffing the stuff for months.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland leapt into action by withdrawing every rasher of pork in the country from shelves in a bid to protect the industry and prevent us from downing too much of the cancer-causing dioxin. Happily, that put an end to the debacle, pudding was back on the shelves and myself and the girl who makes the sandwiches are back on speaking terms.
The pet food massacre
2007 wasn’t a good year for pets in the US. Owners were thrown into a panic when cats and dogs started dropping dead – by the thousand. Vets pointed to kidney problems as the cause of death, but despite the fact that many of the animals died holding their throats and pointing at their pet food, they couldn’t put their finger on the mysterious origins of the issue.
As it turned out, a company called Chemnutra Inc. had imported and distributed a tainted ingredient used in pet food production. In an effort to boost protein levels in wheat gluten used in some of the cheaper and nastier types of pet grub, the manufacturers saw fit to plop a load of melamine into the mix. Sadly, the agent was high in nitrogen which doesn’t get on with dog or cat kidney.
The company was forced to pay out $24 million in a civil settlement and its Chinese owners were given suspended sentences.
Lead paint toys
Back in 2007 the biggest toy manufacturer in the US, Mattel, was forced to recall 21 million of its Chinese-made toys due to lead-paint and choking hazards.
Barbie, Polly Pocket and “Cars†movie items were pulled from the grasping fingers of tearful children both because of the threat of lead paint and because some included tiny magnets which children seemed to enjoy the taste of.
Several injuries had been reported ahead of an earlier Polly Pocket recall – at least one U.S. child died with a further 19 left needing surgery. Nice one Mattel.
