Not For Sale In The US

A recall was issued on July 28, 2022 by the Consumer Product Safety Commission for glass baby bottles. “First Choice Glass Baby Bottles Recalled by NUK Due to Violation of the Federal Lead Content Ban; Sold Exclusively on Amazon.com (Recall Alert)“.  You can read the recall notice HERE.

The reason for the recall is that the printing on the glass bottles “contain levels of lead that exceeds the federal lead content ban. Lead is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health issues.

Adverse health issues” might be a tad understated. Lead ingestion can cause brain damage. Lead has a sweet taste which is why children used to eat lead based paint.  Lead is used in printing ink to make colors more brilliant as well as making the ink more durable. I guess they want to make sure the infant can read the labels on the bottles. WTF?

Here’s what I find most astounding.

The bottles with the lead in the printing were knowingly manufactured for sale OUTSIDE of the US and Canada but were mistakenly sold in the US/Canadian markets. The German manufacturer makes baby bottles with lead printing and sells them to other countries, just not to US and Canada. Why would any manufacturer make baby bottles with lead as any component of the product, no matter what country it was to be sold in?  I would have initially guessed that the product was made in China, however the recall states that the bottles were manufactured in Germany.   “Deutschland Über Alles

Food Riots?

The Swiss-German newspaper Heute (“Today” in English) is reporting that the international grocery chain, Spar, has issued warnings to the people of Austria and to their employees regarding food shortages and possible LOOTING AND RIOTS in the near future.

Spar had said people should stock up on food for when the massive energy blackouts that may sweep across Europe, occur. They believe that food shortages will happen when the blackouts hit. To me is sounds as if Spar is expecting these blackouts to last NOT just a few hours, but for several day or perhaps weeks.

Spar has instructed their employees to sell food to people at discounted rates to ward off starvation and to move perishable goods. They have also instructed employees NOT to resist looters and rioters. Spar indicated that if any employee feels that they are in danger, they may abandon the store and will suffer no repercussions. Local managers have the discretion to close the markets as they see fit.

What the heck is going on? I thought Austria was a FIRST WORLD COUNTRY? Why is a grocery chain warning of massive power shortages?

The blackouts are not just a summer worry. It has been reported that small portable electric heaters are sold out in many parts of Europe. People are worried that they will not be able to heat their homes in the dead of winter due to a possible impending natural gas shortage. The problem will get worse as even a small electric heater consumes 2,000 watts of power. A small heater running for 1 hour consumes about what a household would use in a day if the house were heated with natural gas. Assuming that everyone ran a small heater for 10 hours per day that would increase the load on the national grid by 10 times. And where does the national electrical grid get its power?

Natural gas burning power plants.

And don’t forget, how will all the Greenies charge their electric cars to go and get groceries?

President Trump warned European leaders that they were going down this dangerous path by depending on Russia to supply their energy needs.  Perhaps more people should have taken the “Bad Orange Man” more seriously.

Ramblings of a maker