Total Recall: Porsches, Martha Stewart Casserole Dishes, More

With companies announcing a seemingly constant stream of new recalls, it can be a challenge for consumers to keep track of the latest products and food getting pulled off the shelves. To make life easier, DailyFinance will now collect them all in one place for you to check each week.

This is Total Recall.

That's What You Get for Having Fancy Electronic Rotating Seat Belts

An alert for the high rollers: On Friday, Porsche announced a recall of numerous model year cars because of a possible seat belt problem. Potentially affected vehicles include the 2012 911 Carrera, 2012 Boxster S and Boxster Spyder, 2011 911 Speedster, and 2012 Cayman.

Porsche's announcement explains that the mounting holes in the seat belt anchor plate might be too small; if so, the anchor plate could be unable to rotate about the fastening bolt, leaving the occupant insufficiently restrained in the event of a collision. Dealers will inspect anchor plates and fastening screws, and replace seat belts if necessary. For a full list of affected models, click here.


Some Consumers Unlucky to Be Martha Stewart Living

Also on Thursday, the CPSC announced that Macy's (M) would voluntarily recall 960,000 Martha Stewart Collection™ casserole dishes because of a laceration and burn hazard. Apparently, the enamel coating on the cast iron casseroles can crack or break during use, potentially causing the enamel to crack and fly off as a projectile. Two consumers have reported such harrowing incidents, although fortunately no one was injured in either.

The offending dishes come in 7, 5.5, and 2.75 quart sizes, and with exterior finishes of red, cobalt blue, sand, green, blue, white, mustard, brown and teal. They were sold at Macy's stores nationwide, and on macys.com, between June 2007 and June 2011 for $25 to $170. Like the Office Depot chairs, the casseroles were made in China (although the latter sound actually quite dangerous).

Customers are advised to return their dishes to Macy's for a full refund. The department store can be telephoned toll-free at (888) 257-5949.


Chair Bites Man

On Thursday, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada announced that Office Depot (ODP) will recall 34,000 desk chairs due to a "pinch hazard," discovered after one (1) man got his finger caught in an opening in the chair's tilt mechanism. The products in question, Realspace™ PRO 3000 Series Custom Fit desk chairs, were made in China by Huichang Furniture Co. Ltd. between March 2009 and May 2011; the manufacture date is printed in year/month/day format on a label affixed to the underside of the seat.

Consumers can contact Office Depot's recall hotline to request a complimentary repair kit which will cover the tilt mechanism's offending opening. The telephone number is (855) 259-5093. Photographs and more identifying details of the chairs can be found here.


Phil&teds Bogus Recall

In significantly more horrifying chair-related recall news, New Zealand-based stroller and baby paraphernalia manufacturer phil&teds recalled 54,000 clip-on chairs whose missing or worn vice clamp pads allowed them in some cases to detach from tabletops, potentially falling to the ground or crushing children's fingers. The CPSC issued a product safety alert about the Metoo Clip-on Chair on May 6, but phil&teds refused to cooperate in a nationwide recall on the agency's terms. The company finally came around by Wednesday.

Nineteen reports of chair-failure have been received, including five injuries ("crushed, lacerated, pinched or amputated" fingers). All Metoo Clip-on Chairs are implicated except those with black plastic spacers between the cross bar and the clamps. Consumers who purchased the chairs, which have been sold in stores and online since May 2006 for around $50, should stop using them and contact phil&teds for a free repair kit with instructions. Do this also if you received from the company a pair of rubber boots as a repair kit the first time you complained, which apparently happened to some people.

Consumers with questions -- such as "why did you initially refuse to cooperate in this recall when children's fingers were at stake, and why did you at first send a pair of rubber boots in lieu of a repair kit?" -- can call phil&teds USA at (855) 652-9019.

Because of Winn-Dixie, Individuals With Celiac Disease May Be at Risk

Also on Wednesday, southern grocer Winn-Dixie Stores (WINN) voluntarily recalled its "Winn-Dixie Choco Charm Chocolate Drink," sold at its in-store dairy departments, "because the product may be mislabeled and may contain the undeclared allergen of wheat," according to the Food and Drug Administration. The drink was sold in a one gallon clear plastic bottle with a yellow top, at Winn-Dixie and SaveRite stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

No reports of illness have been received. Wheat-protein can cause a moderate-acute allergic reaction in sensitive people; those who suffer from full-blown celiac disease can in some cases die from ingesting gluten.