Consumers have complained of bits of blue hard plastic in Lean Cuisine chicken meals, so the Utah-based company, Nestlé Prepared Foods Company, is recalling approximately 879,565 pounds worth of frozen meals. The action extends to the following food packages:

• 9.5-ounce packages of "LEAN CUISINE PESTO CHICKEN WITH BOW TIE PASTA" brand frozen meals. Printed on each side of each package is a production code of "8280595912" as well as a use-by date of "Best Before MAY 2010."
• 10.5-ounce packages of "LEAN CUISINE CHICKEN MEDITERRANEAN" brand frozen meals. Printed on the side of each package is a production code of "8231595912" or "8241595912" as well as a use-by date of "Best before SEP 2010"; a production code of "8263595912," "8269595911" or "8274595912," as well as a use-by date of "Best before OCT 2010"; or, a production code of "8291595912" or "8301595912" as well as a use-by date of "Best before NOV 2010."
• 12.5-ounce packages of "LEAN CUISINE CHICKEN TUSCAN" brand frozen meals. Printed on the side of each package is a production code of "8234595911" and a use-by date of "Best before SEP 2009"; a production code of "8253595911" or "8269595912" as well as a use-by date of "Best before OCT 2009"; or, a production code of "8292595911" or "8296595911" as well as a use-by date of "Best before NOV 2009."

Additional information about the recall can be found by calling the Nestlé Consumer Service Center hot line at (800) 227-6188.

This month is the 25th anniversary of Baby Safety Month, and after a quiet run on the recall front (tomatoes/jalepenos notwithstanding), there's a new set of deadly concerns for caregivers. China is in a crisis over baby formula tainted with melamine that has killed several children and sickened scores more. A set of bassinets by Simplicity was recalled at the end of August because of infant deaths. And now there is a recall of a soccer net that can cause strangulation in young children.

The soccer net death story that NPR tells is extremely scary and gets more personal than most recall stories out there, which tend to be publicized through wonky recall reports from the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CSPC). This isn't a story full of statistics or warnings, but the cautionary tale of a mother who lost her son in a horrible way when he got his head stuck in one of these nets (made by Regent Sports Corp.) The nets are made in China, but the defect seems to be that the grid on the net is in a 5-inch pattern, allowing for a small head to poke through, while nets with 4-inch openings are not in question.

Was your dog one of the many around the country that ate the tainted pet food last year? You've got until November 24 to file a claim. According to USAToday, only 6,000 pet owners have filed so far, though many times that had dogs that potentially ate the food and got sick. We still don't know how many animals died from the poisoning.

Today (September 12th) is the last day you can file an objection to the $24 million settlement, an amount that upset many dog parents as being far too small.

As you'll recall dogs started getting sick from Menu Food products in February, 2007 and eventually the crisis engulfed 90 pet food brands. After weeks scientists figured out that Chinese manufacturers were substituting the plastic ingredient melamine to boost protein readings.

The settlement money is for "documented, reasonable economic damages" the settlement document says -- for anyone who bought the food. In other words, they're treating pets like just things and not acknowledging how much they hurt both animals and people. The settlement specifically includes "veterinary treatment costs, death-related expenses, deceased pet purchase price or fair market value, whichever is higher, or new pet cost, property damages and other economic costs." They'll give $900 for a claim without documentation.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued a safety alert for the Simplicity 3-in-1 and the Simplicity 4-in-1 convertible "close-sleeper" bassinets. If you're a parent and have a baby sleeping in one of these, you should stop using it immediately.

The problem? In the last six months, two babies have died in them. The bassinets are made so that the parent can put the bassinet next to their bed, and then fold down the fabric, off of one of the metal supports in the mini-crib. That allows the mom or dad to see the baby. But since there's a gap between the metal and the mattress, a baby's chest or head can get stuck. There's there's no good way to describe what can happen next. The Chicago Tribune put it in a lengthy story on the matter, describes it this way; "Trapped, they hang to death."

It happened to a six-month-old girl in Shawnee, Kansas, a little over a week ago in a Simplicity bassinet. In the aftermath of their initial grief, the devastated family, thinking that they might have missed a recall, did some research online and discovered that something similar happened to a four-month-old girl in Noel, Missouri, last September--and yet there had been no recall at the time, although last year, the same Simplicity Inc. was the subject of a recall of over one million cribs.

The CPSC told the Tribune that the bassinet hadn't been recalled yet because the investigation is still open. And so, thanks to the urging of the family of Kennedy Brotherton Jones, the CPSC has just issued a safety alert, which they can do, much faster than start a recall.

So if you know a parent with a baby, you might want to suggest that they check the brand name of their bassinet, if they have one. You can also find more information, like a list of the model numbers that are in question, at the CPSC web site.

And it should be noted that some major retailers have stopped selling these bassinets and will offer a refund for anyone who returns them, and that includes: Wal-Mart, Toys "R" Us, Kmart, Big Lots!, J.C. Penney, and Target.

Over 200,000 pounds of Nestlé's favorite food of the single tween, Hot Pockets, have been recalled, according to the USDA. According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, pieces of plastic from a device used to test metal-detection equipment at the Mount Sterling, KY plant found their way into the Hot Pockets. The recall is limited to Hot Pockets Pepperoni Pizza in cartons printed with "8157544614D" and "EST 7721A" and "Best Before Jan2010."

Personally, I find most Hot Pockets taste like plastic, with cardboard overtones. I was also struck by the "Best Before" date. The Hot Pockets in question were made on June 5th. Is it possible to make delicious food that can remain on the shelves without diminishing in flavor for over a year and a half? Perhaps only if the flavor is cloying to begin with. I'd suggest anyone who cares about what they put into their body might think twice about any product with a such shelf life.

If you have questions, you can reach the Nestlé Consumer Services Center at 1-800-350-5016.

Both Hasbro and Mattel are involved in high-profile lawsuits at the moment, which makes me scratch my head and wonder about the other news coming out about these companies during corporate earnings season.

Hasbro, which is taking on the makers of the Facebook application Scrabulous over copyright issues, just announced that it is raising its prices for the second time this year because of higher production and shipping costs. And legal costs? Surely, the cost of doing this kind of business doesn't need to be passed along to the consumer. Hasbro's profits are actually up for the year, and the stock has gone up 46% in 2008. Iron Man toys are selling briskly, as well as items from the Indiana Jones and Incredible Hulk sequels.

It's likely that Mattel will follow suit, no pun intended. The rival toy company is also tied up in a tricky copyright suit at the moment over the origin of the Bratz doll line. In a weird twist of the case, the proceedings were suspended on Friday because a juror made an ethnic slur against the CEO of the company suing Mattel -- he's an Iranian Jew. Now there may be a mistrial, which is expensive bad news for Mattel, because they had been winning pretty significantly.

As a consumer -- and mom of two who frequently purchases toys -- I would understand more if price increases came because toy companies were putting extra measures in place to insure toy safety. I regularly pay more for toys that are made in the U.S., and I shelled out $85 for a home lead-test kit last summer and test all the toys I buy before I let my kids play with them. If I had any guarantees from Hasbro and Mattel that there would be no more trouble with lead paint and other hazards, I'd happily shell out a little more.

But to pay to keep lawyers and lobbyists on the payroll to sort out who gets the biggest share of profits? That's not on my agenda as a consumer.

We're used to hearing about national recalls. Lead-infested toys from China. Tomatoes that make you rethink the BLT you ordered last night. Baby cribs that might break. It happens all the time.

But, heck, it's not supposed to happen to me. It's supposed to be the other guy.

This morning, I had the queasy sensation of learning what it's like to finally have purchased a product that has been recalled. I felt something in my pocket and fished out a grocery store receipt, and glanced down and saw the words "Important Recall Notice."

Yawning (it was early), I kept reading: "Valued customer: You may have purchased the product listed below which has now been recalled." There was more, but I skipped it, looking at the words:

DO NOT CONSUME

LEAN POCKETS SPINACH ARTICHOKE CHICKEN 9 oz.

Now, if you're like me, and you've eaten some of these lately, and you haven't heard about the recall, you're probably right now thinking, "What the heck?"

So I read a little further, and there was the explanation: Product may contain pieces of plastic.

Lovely. Suddenly, I didn't need my morning jolt of caffeine. It had been provided for me.

The receipt explained how I could return the product for a full refund at my Kroger store, or people can call Nestle at 1-800-350-5016. In my case, however, I was slightly horrified for a few seconds because I've purchased at least three boxes of the "spinach artichoke chicken," and they're long gone.

Dog owners are facing yet another pet food scare. This one seems so far to be smaller in scale, but six dogs are dead and others sick after eating Nutro, according to this investigation by Consumer Affairs. There isn't a recall. Nutro says there isn't even a problem in this special web page it set up to address the issue.

If you're a dog owner you may not have even heard about the latest scare. It hasn't really been in the news. I only found out when a friend at the dog run starting worrying about her dog after seeing the story in an online newsgroup.

Two Italian Greyhounds from Indiana became dizzy, vomited, urinated incessantly and had a peculiar smell, said their owner, identified only as Theresa C. from Indianapolis in the Consumer Affairs story. Both were euthanized after kidney failure. The vet suspected antifreeze poisoning.

Last year, investigators eventually found that dogs were poisoned because Chinese manufacturers had added melamine, a component of antifreeze, to boost protein readings. The Food and Drug Administration analyzed their Nutro food, looking for melamine and similar chemicals as well as other common food poisoning agents like salmonella. The FDA found nothing wrong with the Nutro food.

"I wonder if there's something in the food they're not testing for," Theresa C. told Consumer Affairs -- echoing the concern of dog owners everywhere.

I was eating out yesterday when a big fat tomato slice arrived on my plate. My husband and I both looked at it like it was rotten. In my head I know that kitchen managers are professionals and food safety experts. Surely they must have chosen the right ones since the FDA warned everyone off raw red Roma, red plum or red round tomatoes (despite the confusing nature of the report).

We gingerly put the offending tomato off to the side, now wary of anything it touched. Unless a restaurant makes specific mention of what they're doing about the tomato situation, I don't want to see one in my meal. And if it is there, I want to be able to pick it off without contaminating any other food. Seems like a waste for restaurateurs, who are being stretched thin, to bother paying the current high tomato prices if the food goes to waste because they don't explain what they've bought.

Back when the FDA made its announcement 145 people had gotten sick. Now the total is 228. Certainly some tomato buyers are not absorbing the information.

What's your American Dream? Seems today is a good day for thinking about the big picture of your place in the economy. Because if your version of living the high life is driving around in a big car, then your life is getting more expensive every day as the average price of gas hits $4 for the first time. USA Today's special on the American Dream getting squeezed finds people dealing with the painful effects of a bad economy in new ways every day. How have you fared? Are you better off now than five years ago?

Other news nuggets you need to know today:

McDonald's Pulls Tomatoes After 23 Sick
Apple Expected to Unveil New iPhone
IRS Battles with Billionaire Anschutz
Amazon Goes Down for About 2 Hours
Corn Soars to Record High, Set to Go Higher
Goody's Files for Chapter 11

Elsewhere on the Web:

Family Businesses Lead to Family Drama
Souring Economy Puts the Bite on Pet Owners
Beer Makers Turn Increasingly to Viral Ads
Boeing's 787 Dreamliner First Flight is on Schedule
Companies Offering Free Gas to Attract Business
Lenders Slash Prices to Dump Foreclosures
Hard to Find a Job, But not an Internship
Visa, Mastercard See Gold in Prepaid Cards

The movement to convince Microsoft to continue XP past this June, when it was supposed to fade away as Vista became supreme, just became a lot more real to me. I bought a new Gateway with Vista with my tax rebate money. I was never that thrilled with XP, but after six days on Vista I am running back.

I turned to this story from InfoWorld in January, which outlines how businesses are begging Microsoft to keep XP. They've even started a petition to send to Microsoft. I quickly signed it.

Over the last few days we've seen the Blue Screen of Death five times. Vista, it turns out, doesn't like Dreamweaver. Vista also rejects my new Canon All-in-One out of hand. It's not just that this program or printer doesn't work. Vista collapses at the mere thought of them on the same computer. Needless to say, Canon's excellent photo-editing software is out of the question. Remarkably, so is have a picture in an email signature -- something XP handled with no problem.

There's nothing like finding something new to worry about. This week, it's bisphenol A.

If you haven't heard, it's a chemical used in plastics, and as the Washington Post recently reported, the U.S. National Toxicology Program recently wondered in a draft report if baby bottles made with bisphenol A might cause behaviorial changes in infants and children and trigger the early onset of puberty in females. The report also said that more studies should be done, but no matter: Wal-Mart's halting the sales of baby bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers, food containers and water bottles made with bisphenol A in its Canadian stores -- and will stop selling baby bottles with BPA in American stores early next year. Meanwhile, stores like Target and Babies R Us are offering alternative products not made with BPA.

Phew, sounds like we're all going to be okay. Why am I worried? Besides, my kids are past the age of baby bottles and pacfiiers, and they seem no worse for the wear.

But then I read that BPA is also used as a protective spray on metal -- to keep foods in cans from tasting metallic, for instance. It also is used on the inside of soda cans.

Just in case you were thinking about stuffing your mouth with anything Chinese that isn't General Tso's chicken -- Don't! Funtastic, a Texas-based novelty company, might have to re-brand itself under the name "Leadtastic," after it began to recall 26,000 fake hillbilly teeth that were manufactured in China.

I love how the packaging to the right works as both a sales pitch and a warning. Luckily these teeth are easily identifiable, just look for brown gums, yellow-colored teeth and a packaging number of 2657. Sorry, I don't think you can turn in Uncle Bubba's teeth as part of the recall effort.

I'm sure you have seen loads of darling children running around with a gob of misshapen plastic teeth in their mouths acting out scenes from Deliverance, but the fun has to end now. It seems lead in toys is an issue mainly because children might put them in their mouths and suffer from lead poisoning. You could argue that some items such as board games and piggy banks can contain as much lead as low-cost producers see fit since kids aren't likely to shove those items into their mouths. (Not that they won't try anyway). Somehow Funtastic missed this memo and for the last three years has been shipping lead-filled toys which are meant to be jammed into your kid's mouth.

You can get a refund on your lead dentures by contacting Leadtastic Funtastic.

Just in time for Easter, new toy recalls have popped up, sufficiently scaring both parents and the Easter Bunny. I spoke with the Easter Bunny earlier today and he said he's really exasperated with the situation. After all the publicity about unsafe toys containing lead and detachable parts, he's confused about why toy companies aren't being more careful.

A group of college chemistry students in Ohio examined 45 toys, and found that lead paint was present on 13 of those toys. (That's almost one-third of them!) Obviously, the risk with these toys is that the lead paint could chip off and be ingested by kids.

The Toy Industry Association's board of directors is beginning to take steps to aggressively address toy safety issues, which were all too common in 2007. According to press accounts, there were 61 toy related product recalls last year, representing an increase of approximately 50% above the total toy safety issues reported for 2006.
With leadership assistance solicited from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), a proposed plan of action has been drafted for the Toy Industry Association in an effort to more clearly define the product safety responsibilities of toy manufacturers and to more closely monitor toy manufacturing operations. The full program description will be published by ANSI for public review and comment on Feb. 22.

Daniel Grossman, Chairman of the Board of the Toy Industry Association is quoted on the TIA website as stating: "Once again, our industry has responded quickly and effectively when toy safety issues have been identified." The Toy Industry Association represents more than 500 manufacturers, and its members import or produce some 85% of toys distributed in North America, according to the website. Naturally this group has a strong interest in at least trying to keep on top of safety issues.

Nancy Nord, acting chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has taken a justifiably hard line when it comes to toy industry foibles. Associated Press quoted her as stating: "I will not tolerate this industry ... not complying with our regulations." The CPSC is helping by providing additional guidance in the efforts to develop a toy manufacturer standards program and the agency is making it clear that they're not playing around.