Paula Deen® Cast Iron Cookware Sold by QVC Recalled

The following product safety recall was voluntarily conducted with the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Consumers should stop using the product immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Paula Deen® Hammered Cast Iron Cookware
Units: About 51,000

Retailer: QVC Inc., of West Chester, Pa.

Distributor: Meyer Trading Co. Ltd., of Hong Kong

Hazard: The recalled cookware can crack or shatter, posing burn and laceration hazards to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: QVC and Meyer Trading have received 79 reports of the cookware cracking or shattering while heated. One consumer reported a minor burn injury to an arm.

Description: This recall involves the Paula Deen® 11-inch cast iron grill pans and griddles. They were sold as QVC item numbers K14984, K11970 and K135024. The cookware is black and has the Paula Deen® logo and the product size engraved on the bottom. No other Paula Deen® cookware is involved in this recall.

Sold through: QVC’s televised shopping programs, its Web site www.qvc.com, and QVC retail and employee stores from October 2007 through July 2009 for between $35 and $55.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled cookware. Known purchasers were mailed instructions for obtaining a full refund. Consumers who purchased the cookware at a QVC store should return it to any QVC store for a full refund.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact QVC at (800) 367-9444 between 7 a.m. and 1 a.m. ET any day, or visit the company’s Web site at www.qvc.com.

The US bans candy cigarettes

Once a normal part of American childhood, the candy cigarette bites the dust.

"Almost 90 percent of adult smokers start smoking as teenagers. These flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers," said FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. "The FDA will utilize regulatory authority to reduce the burden of illness and death caused by tobacco products to enhance our Nation's public health."

Flavors make cigarettes and other tobacco products more appealing to youth. Studies have shown that 17 year old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over the age of 25.

"Flavored cigarettes attract and allure kids into lifetime addiction," said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Health Howard K. Koh, M.D., M.P.H. "FDA's ban on these cigarettes will break that cycle for the more than 3,600 young people who start smoking daily."

Read more here from the FDA's press release.