Applica Consumer Products Inc., of Miramar, Florida, just issued a <"https://www.yourlawyer.com/practice_areas/product_liability">recall of about 9,800 Black & Decker® Thermal Coffeemakers, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced. The CPSC explained that the coffeemakers can overheat and melt, posing a burn hazard to consumers. To date, the firm has received one report of a coffeemaker melting; no injuries have been reported.
This recall involves Black & Decker 8-cup programmable thermal coffeemakers with model number TCM1000IKT, which is printed on the rating plate on the bottom of the coffeemaker. The recalled Black & Decker® Thermal Coffeemakers were sold for between $50 and $65 at Wal-Mart and small retail stores nationwide from April 2008 through July 2009.
The recalled Black & Decker® Thermal Coffeemakers were manufactured in China
The CPSC is advising consumers to immediately stop using the recalled Black & Decker® Thermal Coffeemakers and contact Applica to receive a free replacement household product. Applica can be reached toll-free at 1-866-699-4595 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, or at the firm’s Web site at www.acprecall.com
In June we wrote that about 584,000 Black and Decker® Spacemaker™ Coffeemakers were recalled by Applica because the coffeemakers’ brew basket can shift out of alignment, allowing hot water to overflow, posing a scalding and burn to consumers. At that time, the firm received 235 reports of hot water overflowing and contacting consumers, including 10 reports of second-degree burns. In that case, the recalled Black & Decker® Spacemaker™ Coffeemakers were also manufactured in China.
We have long been writing about the myriad problems associated with imports entering the United States from China. In recent years, imports from China have been at the center of safety worries in the United States and other countries and have impacted everything from medications, to children’s toys, to consumer products, such as the two cases involving Black & Decker coffeemakers.
A heparin contamination with a counterfeit ingredient linked to dozens of deaths in the U.S. and hundreds of serious reactions here and abroad originated in China. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) called for recalls of several foods imported from China that may have been tainted with the industrial chemical melamine; melamine-tainted dairy products hospitalized thousands of children in that country.
We have also long been reporting that despite federal lead standards and that many consider lead poisoning to be one of the most important chronic environmental illnesses affecting children today, toys—many imported from China—continue to be made with lead contents that exceed federal standards and could pose serious, sometimes fatal, health concerns.
In recent months, the defective Chinese drywall debacle has been making news and plaguing homeowners with sulfur fumes that cause air conditioning coils to corrode, as well as sinus and respiratory ailments, eye and skin irritation, persistent runny or bloody noses, headaches, and asthma. In addition to causing illnesses in residents, some situations were so severe that families have had to vacate their homes.
