Top 20 Most Expensive Product Recalls in History

but something went wrong it made its way onto numerous supermarket shelves after being detected in some worcester sauce in italy welcome to watch mojo and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 most expensive product recalls in history this morning an urgent new message from samsung this is not a food safety issue it's an issue of inhumane treatment i think it's a tough holiday season and i think it's going to be tough for toy manufacturers for this list we're looking at the costliest company initiated product returns and why they needed to happen let us know in the comments if you've ever been part of these or any product recalls number 20 infantino sling rider baby slings the first thing we're saying to mums is don't panic in 2010 over one million sling style infantino brand baby carriers were recalled from the market the consumer product safety commission determined there was a risk of asphyxiation for those being carried you might have your baby in a sling next to you and not notice that the baby has gone into this position where it cannot breathe after three infant deaths occurred an investigation was launched which revealed sling style carriers could fatally block air passages the risk was especially great for those under the age of 4 months in march 2010 the cpsc issued a report linking 14 deaths to the product dating back as far as 1990 and just weeks later the recall was issued if you are going to shop craigslist for any type of input products do you go to the cpsc website i would check their website before you purchase something number 19 roman blinds i mean people aren't always in a position to just yank them off the windows and and go without the exact number of deaths and injuries due to this product can be debated as use of roman blinds is so widespread but what cannot be argued is the fact that in 2009 all roman style blinds were recalled from the market we'd place those shades there next to his crib with no idea that they were potentially so dangerous what does all constitute well around 50 million units the united states consumer product safety commission pulled roman style blinds when several children became entangled in the shade's exposed inner cord it's really shocking you know because a lot of us have these in our homes ultimately the report recommended consumers stop using roman style shades altogether if they were not equipped with updated safety precautions obviously we want to sell a product that's safe it's safe for our customers are safe for their pets to save for their children number 18 easy bake ovens introduced in 1963 the easy bake oven was immediately appealing what can i get for 8 000 tickets a bb gun or an easy bake oven hmm hot food is tempting but i just can't say no to a weapon kids getting to make tasty treats what's not to like in 2007 however hasbro recalled its latest model of the toy after they received numerous substantial complaints of children getting their fingers stuck in the oven's door do you remember putting your hand in there so how come you're putting your hand in there again hasbro issued a voluntary recall and made available a free u.s consumer product safety commission approved guard for all who still wanted to keep the oven except it didn't work the cpsc report revealed approximately 250 more cases of fingers getting caught in the door and nearly 80 cases of burns this brought on another recall in the end the recall affected nearly one million easy bake ovens cupcake oh me me me me you know that batter is like 30 years old number 17 mattel toys fears over the lead content of chinese manufactured fisher price toys led to a huge recall in 2007. mattel owner of fisher-price was found to be selling toys covered in paint with the harmful element lead poisoning can cause multiple symptoms and be fatal particularly for younger people there is absolutely no excuse for lead to be found in toys entering this country in the u.s alone roughly 9 million lead coded products were involved in the recall the recall itself cost mattel around thirty million dollars the company was also fined more than two million dollars for selling the products in the first place molly getaker says all these toys have some lead in them and these are not recalled items and they've all come back at different levels all above the regulatory limit for packaging and toys three years later a similar scandal struck everyone wanted to be the one who rescued rocky and everyone thought they could do it without help from anyone else number 16. mcdonald's shrek glasses trace amounts of the toxic metal cadmium were found in some limited edition mcdonald's glasses back in 2010. the items were part of a promotion for shrek forever after and featured everyone's favorite shrek characters painted on them along with the threat of ingesting an illness-inducing toxin mcdonald's tried to defend this by saying the glasses didn't actually contain that much cadmium federal regulators are recalling these glasses because they say that the paint used to decorate them contains cadmium but we argue that any amount of a dangerous carcinogen is definitely too much especially where children's drink wear is concerned mcdonald's offered customers a refund of three dollars per glass the u.s consumer product safety commission is warning parents to stop using the glasses and to return to these glasses for a refund mcdonald's will be posting refund instructions on its website next week considering it initially charged and 12 million glasses were recalled that put the company at least 12 million dollars in the red number 15 ford pintos in action movies it's not uncommon to see a car explode after even the smallest impact [Music] starting as early as 1973 there were cases stating that the ford pinto might be volatile it wasn't until 1974 that something official came about with a petition put forth by the center for auto safety to recall the car make compare pinto it may be the best small car buy in america apparently the ford pinto's gas tank was poorly positioned between the rear axle and bumper and it tended to catch fire when it touched the shock absorber in the back of the car and thus would frequently explode in rear-end collisions [Applause] [Music] ford faced a slew of legal battles and accusations criticizing its decision making both before and during the scandal ultimately ford issued a massive recall and in 1980 they stopped producing the pinto altogether america's best-selling small car last year is an even better idea for 77. number 14 westland hallmark meets in 2008 the largest meat recall in american history took place when california's westland hallmark meat company was caught up in an enormous scandal undercover footage from animal rights groups revealed that workers were mistreating certain cows that were part of their beef production those heinous actions are strictly against the law in the united states the ensuing recall resulted in a final judgment of almost half a billion dollars for the company this was thanks in part to the fact that the company provided meat to the us's school lunch program the company's connection to education put even more attention on the scandal it's always appropriate for government the federal government us as a department of education and certainly for school districts to do what they can to ensure parent trust in the food that their kids are eating at school i mean that's just absolutely critical ultimately westland hallmark's meat went bankrupt because nobody wanted to touch their products after such horrendous behavior number 13 sony batteries major laptop manufacturer dell issued a recall for notebook laptops back in 2006 because of the batteries inside these sony made batteries carried a major flaw they were a huge fire hazard multiple stories broke about people's laptops burning during use and reports of laptop owners getting injured dell has set up a hotline for consumers we called it 10 times today and got the following message call volumes are extremely high for the dell battery replacement hotline luckily no one suffered any severe damage but it seemed that sony didn't completely fix the problem in the aftermath of the incident around two years later another recall of laptops containing sony batteries was issued this time it wasn't just dell but also toshiba and hp oh you've been working with hp and in the worst consumer hat trick ever dell recalled over 4 million computers due to batteries in 2011. sony lost hundreds of millions of dollars for these missteps number 12 scarlet red dye for years an illegal red food dye has been causing mass recalls in the united kingdom and europe the specific dye in question bright red sudan one die was banned by the eu in 2003 because it was found to be a carcinogen the dye was in a batch of chili powder used by hertfordshire-based premier foods to manufacture a worcester sauce this was then used in a wide range of products from soups to ready meals to pot noodles that's definitely not the kind of thing you wanted added to almost everything red you can buy in a store since it was found in chile and curry powders chicken tikka and pesto it was a pretty tricky thing to avoid at the time it seems curry eaters are part of the problem some customers have got so used to the dish looking a particular way that they're not convinced by the natural version and even send it back when it doesn't appear bright red the earliest recall started in the mid mid-2000s and after many warnings from the british food standards agency to the companies in question the recalls spread across the entirety of the european bloc number 11. tylenol and i think that this is something that we can learn from today that having at least empathy for consumers and understanding that if there's consumer health and safety issues you need to go that extra mile this pain reliever was pulled from the market in october 1982 after it was linked to seven fatalities reports determined tylenol in chicago and its surrounding areas had been tampered with and laced with potassium cyanide oh we've been receiving calls about once every 15 seconds johnson johnson tylenol's parent company promptly issued warnings suspended production and set in motion a full nationwide recall across the orlando area stores checked their extra strength tylenol stock many stores removed it in total tylenol pulled nearly 100 million dollars worth of product from the market and the entire pharmaceutical industry developed special packaging to prevent tampering and now reintroducing tyronal capsules safety sealed three ways interestingly no culprits in this case were ever caught but in the wake of the crisis the public was scared by several copycat offenses the company faced yet another recall in 2010 but this time initiated due to mildew in its products it's the latest flow to the drug maker's reputation and something parents have to think about every time they try to buy medicine for their kids number 10. the peanut corporation of america's peanut products it's just not something that you sort of think of as a dangerous product remember that salmonella outbreak in 2008 if you don't you should the centers for disease control and prevention reported nine deaths and over 700 cases of food poisoning as a result of negligence some people are starting to look at the salmonella outbreak of the peanut corporation of america as this trend towards more pandemic outbreaks after an extensive collaborative investigation between the cdc and the fda the outbreak was traced back to a peanut corporation of america plant in georgia they were working against them through lies through cover-up and through anything they could do to prevent the truth from coming out reports on that facility as well as the one in texas revealed unsanitary conditions such as dead animals and moldy ceilings reports also accused the plant and company ceo of approving the sale of products that had already tested positive for salmonella you know victims from from the contamination have been waiting and calling for these people to be charged for a long time and so they finally they finally got their answer today the scandal's recall was the largest pertaining to food in u.s history and it forced the peanut corporation to bankruptcy number nine toyota accelerator pedals it happens without warning now i'm going to hit the brake while the throttle is floored watch between 2009 and 2011 millions of vehicles from many of toyota's brands including lexus had to be recalled because of a life-threatening fault with the accelerator pedals this recall affected toyota cars around the planet with more than 14 million vehicles caught up in the proceedings close to 40 people may have lost their lives as a result of the faulty pedals preventing cars from decelerating an entire family tragically lost their lives in a lexus in 2009 repairing the catastrophic fault cost toyota over one billion dollars simply put toyota's engineers weren't up to um to the job on this one number eight beckstra it's always frightening to think that a drug could make it to market that carries untold risks to anyone who needs to take it that's why a lawsuit that cost american pharmaceutical company pfizer over 2 billion dollars was so significant in 2005 an anti-inflammatory drug bextra that was made and marketed by pfizer was taken off shelves by the fda it was shown to increase the risks of a heart attack significantly pfizer was then caught up in numerous lawsuits about baxtra for defrauding the patients it intended to help which was largely people suffering from arthritis pfizer which makes those drugs will plead guilty to one criminal count stemming from the improper promotion of dextra and they'll pay a 1.3 billion dollar penalty luckily plenty of safer alternative medications without adverse effects exist to help those who were using bextra number 7. gm's faulty ignition switches it was reported that over 100 people lost their lives due to faulty ignition switches in a wide range of general motors vehicles this led to a massive recall and costly lawsuits in 2014. billions of dollars were spent recalling the faulty vehicles that could crash when their engines would cut out without warning on the road it can lead to an anxious moment sudden surprise or worse to make matters worse no engines meant no airbags but the situation got worse for the company and far more concerning for consumers it eventually came out that gm had known the switches didn't work for close to 10 years but lawsuits and congressional testimony this year has uncovered gm new about these defective ignition switches dating back to 2002 and did nothing to alert customers and in many of those early cases victims and families may not have documentation to get compensation after the lawsuits started piling up gm actually decided to do something about it to the tune of three billion dollars number six ford explorer's firestone tires in 2000 after a warning from the national highway traffic safety administration ford launched an investigation into the quality of the firestone tires that it used on its vehicles with long lasting firestone champion tires is there really such a thing as a wrong turn they determined that several firestone models failed far more often than what's considered normal and after more tests found that explorers fitted with these tires tended to roll over when they failed most of the deaths and injuries involve ford explorers not other vehicles equipped with the same tires one possible reason for these problems before the explorer was first put on the market they discovered it was inclined to roll over in accidents instead of a complete redesign they opted to reduce air pressure in the tires however low tire pressure can lead to accelerated deterioration of the rubber reports vary but these firestone tire failures are thought to have caused hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries the recall ultimately pulled over 14.4 million tires explorer was built for any kind of adventure so get up get out get moving number five the galaxy note 7 because to make it big you don't just need a big smartphone you need a smartphone that thinks big you may remember a large number of viral videos after the launch of samsung's galaxy note 7 that showed the cell phone spontaneously combusting design and manufacturing defects with the type of batteries used in the phones led to overheating the devices lithium ion batteries exploding or igniting the company says sparking as many as 35 reported fires this flaw subsequently led to the device catching fire in far too many cases to make matters even more embarrassing for samsung they made a big mistake when trying to fix the issue after changing to another battery supplier and issuing replacements the new phones also ended up catching fire it was a cell phone that certainly had potential all in all samsung lost between 5 and 17 billion dollars from the fiasco it's fair to say other companies have had issues with batteries others have had software problems with phones but nothing on the scale of the disaster that hit the galaxy note 7. number 4 vioxx approved by the fda in 1999 vioxx was yet another drug that was the subject of a recall this time in 2004 almost nine billion dollars went into recalling it after it was found to greatly increase the risk of heart attacks and there was a horrible reason why vioxx was allowed to stay on the market for so long merkin company who produced vioxx didn't report all of the data linking the drug to increased risk of strokes and heart attacks i don't understand why not to put some a strict restriction rather than pulling it out if the company had done due diligence they would have potentially spread medical evidence that vioxx seemed to be responsible for illness and fatal consequences years earlier than they did merkin company's serious lack of oversight was linked to over 140 000 separate cases and a 4.85 billion dollar mass tort settlement between them and the lawyers of thousands of lawsuits number three chinese milk this scandal with powdered baby milk has again shaken consumer confidence back in 2008 china recalled approximately 9 000 tons of powdered baby formula it was revealed that china's largest producer of the stuff had issued products cut with melamine a dangerous chemical used for plastic that can also be used to falsely indicate high protein levels when added to milk 700 tons of milk powder have been yanked from chinese store shelves but parents fear is sticking around according to reports it was this misleading nutritional information that led to at least six deaths from complications with their kidneys ultimately the scandal affected 300 000 victims the responsibility to let the consumers know that what they put in their mouth or in the children's mouth is safe that the ultimate responsibility for that is of course with the with the government two men were sentenced to death by shoujetong's intermediate people's court for their role in selling the contaminated powder number two volkswagen it's more than just a car back in 2015 the u.s environmental protection agency charged volkswagen with breaching the clean air act a 1963 law that tries to ensure exactly what its name implies the investigation revealed that 11 million volkswagen vehicles that had turbocharged direct injection diesel engines were programmed using defeat devices to keep emissions at approved levels during testing periods but would forgo those controls afterwards thereby releasing unapproved levels of nitrogen oxide into the air in other words there was no way this was accidental because the software was designed very carefully to detect an official emissions test as a result volkswagen made plans to invest over 18 billion dollars to refit affected models across the globe and reduce their emissions as you can imagine their reputation also took a bit of a hit but the ceo you know addressing some 2000 employees and speaking publicly made no bones about it this is going to be painful and it's going to be complicated before we continue be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos you have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them if you're on your phone make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications number one takata airbags five million more vehicles with the potentially defective takata airbags chances aren't bad that you've sat in a car with takata corporation airbags given that they've been manufactured since 1988 and covered 20 percent of the airbag market sure thank god the airbags activated those are my lungs however in 2013 complaints against the company came pouring in citing issues that may have spanned the previous 10 years honda asserted that their product caused 8 deaths and approximately 100 injuries claiming that even in minor collisions takata airbags propelled deadly shrapnel upon deployment the 34 year old says when her airbag deployed the flying shrapnel cut off more than half of her left ear an investigation revealed it was a takana production plant in mexico that had inappropriately assembled the less stable parts of the airbags over the course of the controversy several recalls were issued necessitating the recall of millions of vehicles from various brands including ford toyota chrysler and bmw this inflator had been recalled in 61 other countries by other manufacturers ford nitza and takata all knew that this inflator had problems do you agree with our picks check out this other recent clip from watchmojo and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos [Music] you

Channel: WatchMojo.com

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Keywords: Business, Entrepreneur, History, costliest product recalls, deadly product recalls, expensive recalls, ford pinto recall, galaxy note 7 recall, illegal products, list, mojo, most expensive product recalls, most expensive product recalls in history, product lawsuits, product recalls, recalled products, recalls, takata airbags recall, top 10, toyota accelerator pedals, tylenol recall, volkswagen recall, watch mojo, watchmojo, worst product recalls

Id: er1wHlLE4iA

Length: 22min 50sec (1370 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 16 2021