In the space of one month, the following eight recalls were issued: 1) four varieties of children’s sweetened cereals for waxy taste and odor in the packaging, 2) fresh spinach for listeria, 3) decongestant nasal spray for possible wrong expiration dates, 4) a creme filling because it may contain products (pecans, milk and coconut) not on the label, 5) frozen lobster claws for possible listeria, 6) dog vitamins because of possible salmonella, 7) ice cream because of nuts not on the label, and 8) flexible IV bags of ondansetron and injections of ciprofloxacin and metronidazole due to particles floating in the solution and non-sterility of product.

The above list from the Food and Drug Administration is only a sample of the recalls. In some cases, the companies found the problems themselves. In other cases, the government’s testing turned up the issues.

Only a few of these recalls made it into the mainstream press, potentially leaving many thousands of people with the contaminated items on their shelves at home. In the last example, the tainted products are likely found on pharmacy and physician shelves, as one of the products is used to treat nausea in chemo patients.

You can safeguard yourself and your family by signing up for e-mail notices of recalls, market withdrawals and safety alerts by going to www.fda.gov and clicking on E-mail Updates and then on Subscribe to Recall and Alert Information.

If you have a special interest in drugs or medical equipment, go to the main site and scroll over the menu for more choices. Check the information on reporting problems, not only with food but cosmetics, medical products and more.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (www.usda.gov) also has recalls. Put “recalls” in the search box for a list of current and past recalls. Note that this list contains recalls that are not on the FDA list.

For example, the following items were recalled: chicken pizza due to foreign matter on the pizza, imported beef due to animal drugs, ground beef due to E. coli, chicken and rice frozen meals for salmonella, proscuitto for listeria, and more.

Sign up for recall e-mail alerts at the Food Safety and Inspection Site: www.fsis.usda.gov.

Click News & Events and enter your e-mail address in the box on the right. You’ll have a choice of which alerts to receive.

David Uffington regrets that he cannot personally answer reader questions, but will incorporate them into his column whenever possible. Write to him in care of King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475, or send e-mail to columnreply@gmail.com.

(c) 2010 King Features Synd., Inc.