This month, the newly formed National School Safety Coalition convened by Consumer Reports, the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), and the National School Boards Association (NSBA) launched “Click, Check and Protect,” a website that distributes safety alerts and recall notices on children’s products including toys, food, medicines, and furniture. 

Coalition partners include the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, all agencies which relay important recall information.

With the launch of the project, which is aimed at helping parents receive meaningful recall information, Consumer Reports also released the results of a new survey. The report found that 20 percent of the population believe they have purchased a recalled product and of those nearly 40 percent believed that it was a food product.

The report also found that fewer than one quarter of Americans researched a product they purchased to see if it was recalled and that half of Americans were not confident that manufacturers and retailers shared safety information with government agencies.

“Time and time again we’ve seen incidents of recalled products including bassinets, window blind cords and toys, killing or injuring children,” said Jim Guest, President, Consumer Reports.  “That’s why the National School Safety Coalition was formed–to get key recall information in the hands of parents and educators to help prevent these tragedies.”

The Consumer Reports Product Recalls survey is based on a nationally representative sample of American adults.  A total of 2,005 telephone interviews were completed. The margin of error is +/- 2.6 points.