Maclaren USA, Inc. and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission have announced the recall of about one million Maclaren strollers because the 'stroller's hinge mechanism poses a fingertip amputation and laceration hazard to the child when the consumer is unfolding/opening the stroller.'

There are reports of at least twelve fingertip amputations in these Maclaren single and double umbrella strollers that were sold nationwide from 1999 through November 2009 for between $100 and $360. Strollers involved in the Maclaren stroller recall have the word 'Maclaren' printed on the stroller, including the Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, TechnoXLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno and Easy Traveller Maclaren strollers.

Consumers should stop using the recalled Maclaren strollers until they can fix them with a free repair kit.

Related:
CPSC Alert:Maclaren USA Recalls to Repair Strollers Following Fingertip Amputations
Recent Recalls and Alerts
Baby Product Recalls
Strollers

Fairbank Farms has voluntarily recalled about 545,699 pounds of fresh ground beef because it may be contaminated with the E.coli O157:H7 bacteria.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the CDC discovered the possible link while investigating a small cluster of E. coli infections which may have already sickened 28 people and caused at least one death.

Recalled ground beef was sold at grocery stores in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, New York, and Vermont, with a sell-by date from September 19 through 28, 2009. Although already past their expiration dates, consumers who have the recalled ground beef in their freezer should not eat it and can return it for a refund. Recalled ground beef products include those sold by ACME, BJ's, Ford Brothers, Giant Food Stores, Lancaster and Wild Harvest, Price Chopper, Shaw's, and Trader Joe's.

Parents should keep in mind that in addition to people with weak immune systems, the very young can be very susceptible to food poisoning, including E. coli infections, which makes it very important that they watch for these types of recalls.

Related:
USDA: Fairbanks Farms Ground Beef Recall
Food Poisoning Symptoms
Preventing Food Poisoning
Food Storage and Food Safety
E . Coli Symptoms

In addition to turning your clocks back one hour last night, some good things to do when daylight saving time changes can include:

• changing the batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors
• in addition to replacing the batteries, you should consider replacing smoke alarms that are more than ten years old and carbon monoxide detectors that are more than five years old
• cleaning out your medicine cabinet to get rid of expired and unused medicines

And this can be a good time to make sure your kids are getting enough sleep, as the changes during daylight saving time can sometimes interfere with their sleep routines.

Halloween is always a fun holiday for kids. I still remember the year that I had to miss Halloween because I was sick with chickenpox, but hopefully too many kids don't miss out on the fun because of swine flu fears.

Of course, kids who are actually sick with swine flu should stay home on Halloween so that they don't get other kids sick. Most others should be able to enjoy Halloween and trick-or-treating though.

Keep these Halloween safety tips in mind, including that your kids:

• wear a safe costume
• go trick-or-treating with supervision in safe neighborhoods
• only eat Halloween candy that has been inspected by an adult to make sure it is safe
• don't overdo it with Halloween candy

Related:
Safety on Halloween
Halloween Costume Safety
Halloween Candy
Leftover Halloween Candy