Product Recalls

In one of the more counterintuitive product recalls we've seen, a dietary supplement that promises to enhance male sexual performance is being recalled for containing a drug that enhances male sexual performance.

New Jersey-based Freedom Trading announced last week that it was issuing a voluntary recall of Super Power, an "all-natural herbal extract" that promises enhanced libido and a "powerful erection," among other benefits. Independent laboratory tests determined that the pills contained small amounts of an ingredient not listed on the label: Sildenafil, the generic name of the drug best known as Viagra.

Daily Finance

There's been no shortage of successful product launches in 2012 -- think iPhone 5 and "The Avengers." But sometimes, no matter how many months a company invests in development or how many millions it spends on marketing, a new product can fall flat on its face.

This year's most noteworthy flops had to meet a few key criteria: the rollout had to be expensive, the product had to fail quickly (none of these were on the market for more than a few months before tanking), and the failure had to represent a significant hit to the company's reputation, if not its bottom line.

Sometimes the culprit was avoidable mistakes -- Apple Maps, one of the worst flops of the year by any measure, was riddled with egregious flaws such as mislabeled buildings, streets and even cities. Sometimes it was competition from more popular rivals, as in the case of Sony's Playstation Vita, which had trouble competing with Nintendo 3DS (never mind smartphone and tablet gaming). And sometimes it was pricing --Intel's Ultrabook was widely panned as too expensive, especially with more people taking advantage of cheaper mobile options.

Here are the highest-profile product flops of 2012.

Dollarama has pulled two products from their shelves after tests showed unacceptable levels of bacteria in cosmetic and baby wipes, according to the CBC.

Huggies Pure wipes and Merida cleansing wipes are the products involved. One is a Kimberly-Clark product, the other made by a manufacturer in China. These product recalls have given critics a new reason to denounce dollar stores.

Techcrunch

Apple (AAPL) has finally made a real statement to its customers apologizing about the Maps drama that's been unfolding over the past few weeks with the introduction of iOS 6. According to CEO Tim Cook, the company "fell short" on its commitment to bring world-class products to its customers.

Last week, the only comment we got out of Apple was that this is "just the start."

Within the letter, Cook makes mention of Google Maps being the first version of Maps on iOS, but that "as time progressed, [they] wanted to provide customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps."

Obviously, this is directed toward the recent discovery that Apple and Google (GOOG) may have parted ways over the fact that Google was unwilling to let iOS users enjoy turn-by-turn navigation.

See the full letter on TechCrunch.

It's all about the children in this week's recall report (well except for those who can operate a boat):

Health Canada has issued a recall for Green Toys vehicle sets: Mini Fastback Set, Mini Vehicle Set and Mini Vehicles Assortment Box, due to the possibility of the tires of cars detaching and posing a choking hazard to children.

Each set contains small plastic toys in the shape of race cars, ambulance, police car and/or yellow taxi cab. Over 400 car sets were sold during May and June 2012 at retail outlets across Canada.

Consumers should return toys to retailer for credit and those seeking more information should contact distributor Storz and Associates Inc. at 1-866-747-4191.

From the workshop to the bedroom, its a unique list of items in this week's Recall Report:

Health Canada has issued a recall for the Skil Miter Saw, due to the possibility of a lower guard hub breaking during operation and poses a safety hazard for users. Some of the saws were packaged with a Skil table saw, which is not included in the recall.

The Skil Miter Saws involved in the recall are model numbers 331601 and 331602 and date codes 111, 112, 201, 202, 203 and 204.

Over 600 saws were sold from January 2012 until April 2012 at Canadian Tire, The Home Depot and Rona.

Consumers are asked to contact Robert Bosch Tool Corporation for a complimentary lower guard hub replacement kit at 1-888-727-6109.

Check your cupboards and be wary of a new barbecue consumers.

Health Canada has issue a recall for the Traeger Pellet Grills and the Uberhaus propane barbecue.

The Traeger pellet grills are black and barrel-shaped, and have not been tested to see if they are compliant with Canadian Standards for safety.

There are five models included in the recall: Traeger Junior Grill (BBQ055), Traeger Lil'Tex (BBQ070), Traeger Lil'Tex Elite (BBQ07E), Traeger Texas (BBQ075) and Traeger Deluxe (BBQ300).

Over 4000 Traeger barbecues were sold between May 2005 and April 2011 at various retailers across Canada.

Consumers can contact Traeger Canada East at 1-866-415-8159 for a free inspection to insure the safety of the barbecue.

This week's recall report includes many household items:

Health Canada and Church & Dwight Canada have issued a recall for the Spinbrush PRO Clean Sonic recharge toothbrush.

The toothbrushes can possibly can cause injury due to fire, shock or burns due to the base overheating while charging.

Church & Dwight Canada have received seven reports from consumers of toothbrushes overheating, but there have been no reports of injury.

The recall is limited to toothbrushes sold between February 2010 and October 2011, with lot numbers DD9355 to 9365 and DD0002 to 0122.

Consumers are asked to contact Church & Dwight Canada to return the toothbrush at 1-888-709-4100 for a full refund.

Hopefully we're moving into summer as it's now May, but it also means we need to keep a close eye on the recalls reflecting the season.

Health Canada has issued two recalls for children's clothing. The first items is a 100% cotton dress from MEXX Fall 2011 collection, which poses a hazard to little girls because a decorative item on the dress can detach from the clothing and become a possible choking hazard.

This part of an expanded recall, which now includes sizes 3-6 months to 24-30 months in Choco-Beige, Playing Pink, Mulberry and Purple Haze, sold from August 2011 until March 2012 in MEXX stores across Canada.

Consumers are asked to contact MEXX 1-800-565-6399 and can return the item for a full refund.

It must be a sign of summer that the top three items listed in this week's product recall are all related to warm temperatures:

Health Canada has issued a recall for Husqvarna Grass and Hedge Trimmers, due to a possible problem with fuel leaking from the fuel lines.

The grass trimmer recalled is model 122C with serial numbers 2011 17 00001 to 2011 52 99999, while the hedge trimmer is model 122HD60 and 122HD45 and serial numbers 2011 17 00001 to 2011 52 99999.

There have been no reports of injury due to this possible problem. Consumers are asked to return their trimmers to Lowe's for a free repair.
For more information, consumers can contact Lowe's.