Recall : Pointe Scientific, Inc Liquid Glucose Hexokinase Reagent (G7517)

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Earlier today, Pointe Scientific, Inc issued a big nationwide recall of their Liquid Glucose Hexokinase Reagent with catalog number G7517.

The notice on the FDA site says “the reagents have been found to fail linearity at >200mg/dL that results in inaccurate glucose values above this range. Distributors and testing laboratories who have received the Pointe Scientific, Inc Liquid Glucose Hexokinase Reagent (G7517) which is being recalled should destroy remaining inventory.”

“The recall includes the following lot numbers: Lot # 823901 (all batches) Expiration:  2010-02  : Lot # 826801 (all batches) Expiration:  2010-03 : Lot # 829401 (all batches) Expiration:  2010-04 : Lot # 831502 (all batches) Expiration:  2010-05: Catalog #s:  G7517-120 (97 kits), G7517-500(129 kits), G7517-1L (31), 8-G7517-120 (15 vials), 8-G7517-500 (21vials), 3-G7517-L (28L), 7-G7517-500 (5 vials). 7-G7517-1000 (3bottles)”

No injuries or problems have been reported yet, but better safe than sorry.

Trash ’em if you got ’em!

Here’s a link to the FDA recall notice.

FDA’s latest recall and a real PTOO! moment

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So there I was, going home for lunch today. I made myself a nice roast beef and horseradish sandwich on wheat, some Flamin’ Hot Cheetos with Tabasco sauce, and a freezing cold bottle of Evian water. As an indulgence, I grabbed one macadamia nut cookie from an unopened Sam’s cookie box I got a few weeks ago.

I had finished lunch watching some stuff on the Tivo, and was nomming on my cookie when I started to open the mail. First up – a letter from Sam’s.

Cookie bite number four was in progress when I read…

“Dear Sam’s Club Member: Today we were notified that Countryside Backing Co Inc in conjunction with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has initiated a Recall of cookies made with Macadamia Nuts because the nuts may be contaminated with Salmonella. Our records reflect you may have purchased one of more of the following: Assorted 24ct Cookies (choc chunk, oatmeal, mac nut) Item # 68503 UPC #: 0022193700000”

PTOO! PTOO! PTOO!

Figures.

Here’s the actual letter with more detail…

Sams Cookie Recall

Sam's Cookie Recall

The bad thing is I took two of those cookie sets to a recent birthday party. Not funny.

It’s great and very commendable that Sam’s sent out this letter directly to its’ customers who made the actual purchase. Sam’s definitely stopped one possible infection. Well done ya’ll. But I still can’t find the official FDA notice about this tie-in with Sam’s.

So until the FDA notice comes out, take this letter as a basic guideline on the UPC codes. The items affected are Item # 68503 with UPC # 0022193700000, Item # 6850 with UPC # 0022193900000 and Item # 929830 with UPC # 0022201900000.

Facebook attack

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If you are a user of Facebook and get an email saying “your password has been reset” with a attachment to open, just delete the email. A new scam/trojan attack is making the rounds, and this one is specifically targeting users of Facebook.

According to the tech site Neowin, Facebook users may get an email saying… “their password has been reset, and that the attached zip archive contains their new password. Instead of a new password, users will find a trojan downloader.”

Once the trojan is opened, it will go out over the internet and grab more viruses and malware to download to the infected PC. The article says there are “around 735,000 of the phony Facebook messages since Monday”, so this thing is only getting bigger.

Make sure to update your antivirus definitions this weekend, and it would be a good idea to set your antivirus application to run a full scan while you are out for Halloween.

Free Quickbooks Simple Start Edition

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In a recent set of HP ink I got for a company printer, a small flier was enclosed that advertised a link to a free and legal copy of Quickbooks.

The promotional special with HP is for a free copy of Quickbooks Simple Start Free Edition 2010. While not as full featured as the “Pro” version, it does “keep track of money coming in and going out, track income and expenses (for up to 20 customers), track sales, expenses & sales taxes, [generate] professional-looking invoices & estimates and [also has] 14 Financial, sales & tax reports.”

That’s not too bad. Especially for free. It might be worth it to keep on a memory stick and use to set up someone new to paperless accounting. Or even for use as a very basic home accounting system.

You can download your free and legal copy at http://www.quickbooks.com/hpink4

Recall : Pop’s Bakery Tortillas

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Before you read too far, this recall only concerns Texans. The rest o’ ya’ll can mosey on by now.

A new recall by the FDA says Pop’s Bakery is recalling all tortillas… “marked by the following number codes: 110609, 110509, 110409, 110309, 110209, 110109, 103109, 103009, 102909, 102809, 102709, 102609, 102509, 102409, 102309, 102209, 102109, 102009, 101909, 101809, 101709, 101609, 101509, 101409, 101309, 101209, 101109, 101009, 100909, 100809, 100709. These products may contain undeclared whey (milk). People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to whey (milk) run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products. Flour tortillas were distributed only within the state of Texas, specifically to the West Texas region. The product was distributed to restaurants and retail grocery stores via direct delivery.”

This is a great recall notice, but I think a list of restaurants would be nice to have. Not to cause a panic, but to get the word out to restaurant chain owners and franchises that might not read their mail until the end of the week.

Here’s a link to the recall article.

And now for the cute side of the pandemic

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The US Department of Health and Human Services has a spinoff website called flu.gov with tips on how to stay healthy this flu season, downloads to business and school sickness plan-of-action sheets, and some good information about vaccinations. But what got my attention were the great Public Service Announcements (PSAs) they have.

Try watching this one and not smiling a little.


And in Spanish! Even better!



Gordon and Luis from Sesame Street also make an appearance in other PSAs, along with celebrities Marc Anthony, Amy Ryan and Jackie Joyner-Kersee. There’s also some good PSA winners from a recent video contest to round out the page.

The US Department of Health and Human Services has their own YouTube channel here if you want to see everything they have without going through their site. Who knew they had a sense of humor over there?

Rain delivery service

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First photo with the new FLICKR account upgrade.

Rain Delivery Service

Rain Delivery Service

The rain clouds started rolling in yesterday. The fast dirt-grey rain swirled out everything more than two feet away, and the ensuing flash flood rivaled anything a category 1 hurricane could offer.

And in just a few hours, it was gone. It’s back to 78 degrees today and 93 tomorrow.

FLICKR upgrade

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Just updated my FLICKR account.

Now you can see the original size of 3264 x 2448 on all photos and I won’t have a limit on my monthly photo postings.

Recall : Dove Caramel Pecan Perfection ice cream

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Today, “Mars Snackfood US announced a voluntary recall of its Dove Caramel Pecan Perfection ice cream with the lot number 931AB5YN07 because it may contain undeclared peanuts. People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to peanuts run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products. No related illnesses have been reported to date.  For consumers who do not suffer from a peanut allergy or sensitivity, this product is safe to eat. The lot number is found on the bottom of the containers. This voluntary recall is limited to this specific lot number (931AB5YN07) and was distributed only in the United States, and specifically to the following states: AL, CO, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, NC, OH, OR, TX, UT, WA and WI.”

I recently found that I have a very specific and very nasty “visit your local ER for a week” food allergy, so I really know how important it is to avoid certain foods that you’re allergic to.

Here’s a link to the official FDA recall notice.

$5 fishy fee

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I was at Petco this weekend, picking up more cute fuzzy squeaky things for my cute fuzzy squeaky dog.

I was crossing through the aquarium section when I saw this in the Betta (Siamese fighting fish) isle.

$5 Betta Water - front

$5 Betta Water - front

$5 Water specifically made for Betta fish.

I’ve had 3 Bettas in my life so far. Each was a joy to have and lived around 4-5 years each. I never, ever used anything but tap water for any of them.

Out of curiosity, I turned the bottle on its’ side. The label read… “Pure and Healthy Betta Water is environmentally friendly and makes for simpler water changes. Directions for use: For best results, Betta Water is to be used as the water for your pet. For water changes empty and wash bowl with clean water. Do one final rinse with Betta Water before refilling. Change Betta Water every 7-10 days as needed.”

Betta Water - Side

Betta Water - Side

No ingredients. And nothing else was on the other side of the label.

In the very best case, based on the description and labeling, this might be nothing but a bottle of distilled water. The same kind of distilled water they sell for $1 a gallon at just about every grocery store. But you’re not supposed to use distilled water for Bettas! Plain old tap water is the recommended environment for all Bettas.

So then no matter what this $5 bottle is, it’s criminally overpriced, bad for Bettas, and only sold at Petco.

And the really sad thing is that this was the last one left.

Rip. Off.