Product recalls are not a rare occurrence. It happens. But here are a dozen products with the worst recall history. If you are planning to buy products from one of these companies, just consider this information before taking the decision because these have not been recalled due to ordinary reasons like low quality or average performance, but they’ve had disastrous effects. Some were known to cause death of consumers, while others resulted in the company CEO’s resignation while still others brought about huge financial losses.

With these reports you cannot view the other products of these companies with jaundiced eyes because they may be good. But knowing these products will keep you well informed about how cautious you should be before making the purchase.

Tylenol Drugs

You might be already aware of the incident in 1982 when some residents of Chicago and its neighboring areas died on consuming pain killers of the Johnson and Johnson Tylenol category as the drugs contained potassium cyanide. The drug tampering was done at the store level while Johnson and Johnson was seen to be having its hands clean in the affair. Tylenol suffered the biggest negative propaganda in the product recall history. You can read more about this on Wikipedia.

Firestone Tyres

If you’ve used firestone tyres in 2000, I must say you’ve been lucky, if you haven’t suffered an accident due to frayed tires. Ford Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers have used the Firestone tyres that caused the death and injury of many of the vehicle users. Eventually the Ford CEO, Jacques Nasser had to resign due to this.

The Death Rope Yo Yo

If your kid is not swinging the YO YO ball, you’d better be thankful to God! This ball has a stretchy elastic rope that has been proved dangerous for children when it would get accidentally wound around their necks while playing. The kids lost consciousness due to strangulation. Canada and UK has recalled the YO YO after such an incident. You can look up Yahoo News and Consumer Reports blogs for more information on this.

Dell Notebook Batteries Produced By Sony

First reported by Gizmodo in June 2006, the Dell notebook batteries of the Latitude, Precision, Inspiron and XPS models exploded damaging the entire machine and posed a serious threat of a fire hazard. Sony recalled these flawed lithium ion batteries. Dell replaced the batteries in its sold laptops, supplying new gadgets itself in many cases. Read more about this on CPSC news.

Spicy Products Containing the Sudan 1 Dye

In 2005-2007, Worcestershire Sauce produced by Premium Foods was found to be contaminated with Sudan 1, a carcinogenic dye that was used to color chili powder. A lot of products suspected of contamination were recalled from the shelves causing huge business losses to the manufacturers. The money loss ran to the tunes of tens of millions. Food Navigator has reported on this.

Chocolates from Cadbury Schweppes

Remember in 2006 most of us restrained ourselves from the temptation of mouthing our dear delicious chocolates from Cadbury, a trusted brand for generations out of a fear of Salmonella contamination? The retarded pace of the company in informing the food authorities about this problem long after it was recognized along with the delay in recall were criticized well. Now, we all are having Cadbury chocolates once more.

The other products that were recalled were: peanut butter (2008)due to salmonella contamination apprehensions, Nestle Toll House Cookies (2008) due to E. Coli contamination apprehensions, Westland/Hallmark beef for not being inspected before being released into the market, Chinese  designer Chocolate for worm infestation fear, Mattel toys for lead poisoning apprehensions.