Canada has launched a recall Web site where Canadians can locate all recalled children's products and food products dating back to 1995, but Canadians still need to search other agency websites in order to find recall information on other products.
The website, healthycanadians.gc.ca/, is Canada's first attempt to funnel recall information into one web address.
The new Web site combines recall information from Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency databases, and allows Canadians to search by keyword, date, product or company name, or browse through product recalls dating back to 1995, according to a Health Canada press release.
The Web site also features photographs of the recalled children's products, to allow Canadians to more quickly recognize the products, the release said.
In an age of intense recall awareness in both the U.S. and Canada, and unprecedented imports, particularly from China, Canadians have been increasingly worried about the safety of their products and have complained about the lack of a centralized recall website, according to CTV, a Canadian TV news service.
But this new website may not assuage fears as thousands of product categories are not included.
This list of product recalls is not all inclusive, according to the new website. It includes mainly toys and other children's products plus other consumer products such as sports equipment, household items and cosmetics. It does not include recalls of vehicles and related equipment, electrical and gas products, pesticides or health products such as pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
Unlike Recalls.gov, a database which the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission launched with six other U.S. agencies on Nov. 25, 2003, Canadians still need to scour various agency websites to see if their products have been recalled.Recalls.gov includes recall press releases for all the 15,000 products recalled by the CPSC, food recalled by the Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture, motor vehicles recalled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, boats recalled by the Coast Guard, environmental products recalled by the Environmental Protection Agency and drugs and cosmetics recalled by the FDA.
Eleanor Friedland, vice president of the Consumer Council of Canada, a consumer advocacy nonprofit, said, "Any up-to-date recall information that goes out to Canadian consumers is good."
She said she is familiar with and likes recalls.gov and wishes Canada had a site like it.
"I personally would like it to be all-in-one. ... I am not the most computer literate person and sometimes have difficulty finding recall notices across the many Canadian agency websites."
Health Canada officials did not return calls seeking comment.
Since 1999, ConsumerAffairs.com has listed and organized recalls of cars, household items, children's products, sporting goods and food dating back to 1999, including many products sold in Canada.
