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U.S. Food and Drug Administration
A package of recalled Kotex tampons is seen in an undated handout photo.
Kimberly-Clark is recalling about 1,400 cases of Kotex tampons because of plastic tubing that may be contaminated with bacteria that could cause dangerous infections, a spokesman for the Dallas-based firm said Monday.
The recall applies to limited lots of Kotex Natural Balance Security Unscented Tampons Regular Absorbency distributed to Walmart, Fry's and Smith's stores in eight states. They were sold in 18-count and 36-count boxes with SKU numbers of 15063 and 15068.
The tampons were recalled after company tests detected the bacterium Enterobacter sakazakii, which could cause health problems, including vaginal infections, urinary tract infections, pelvic inflammatory disease or other, potentially life-threatening infections. Women with existing health problems, including cancer, HIV or compromised immune systems, are at higher risk for infection.
Kimberly-Clark has received no reports of illness linked to the products, said Bob Brand, the company's spokesman.
A single plastic tube was found to be contaminated with the microbe, sparking the company's action, Brand told msnbc.com.
The plastic tubes supplied with the tampons were manufactured for Kimberly-Clark by a third party, which Brand declined to identify. "This is our responsiblity," he said.
Nearly all of the recalled product has been recovered and is off store shelves, Brand said. The products were shipped between Oct. 29 and Nov. 2. They went to Walmart stores in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas; to some Fry's stores in Arizona; and to some Smith's stores in Utah and Arizona.
For a list of specific lots recalled, click here.
Consumers who have the products should stop using them and contact Kimberly-Clark's consumer office at 1-800-335-6839. Anyone who has been using the products and experiences unusual vaginal discharge, headache, rash, fever, vomiting or abdominal pains, should contact a doctor.
No other Kotex products are affected by the recall and Natural Balance Security Tampons that don't contain the listed SKU numbers or lots are safe to use, the company said.
Leave a Comment:
Damn is nothing safe in this country any more.3rd party manufacturer i bet imported from china.Should have been MADE IN U.S.A. which still means something..For a few cents more at least it would give americans some jobs.When are people going to wise up and buy MADE IN THE U.S.A. products.If we keep shipping all these jobs to china soon there will be no U.S.A. So please buy MADE IN THE U.S.A
HKA: Nowhere, repeat nowhere in the story is China mentioned. Third party in this case is Georgia-Pacific. Owned by, get ready.....the Koch Brothers!
This country is "For Sell" to the highest bidder. They are outsourcing jobs, illegal immigrants are taking over, etc. etc.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! OOPS!
If made in China, were they slanted? Oh shut up!
What an idiot.
First, you made up the whole China angle.
Second, have you ever driven a GM vehicle? Made in USA does not necessarily mean quality.
Oh, Jasmine, I don't have time to check your reference right now, but if you are right I love you. LOL
HKA, I do have to say this, though. I went shopping today and bought about 40 pieces of clothing. Not one thing made in the USA. It's terrible.
I just bought a set of General tires "Made in America". Roughest riding set of tires I have ever owned. Made in America sometimes is not all it is hyped up to be.
First off...these were not made in China. The 3rd party, plastic injection molder, is Berry Plastics. Get your facts straight before you start assuming it's oversees production or made my immigrants.
jawzee
You can't use general tires they have a hole in them
NoneYa Bitness.
"First off...these were not made in China. [...]Get your facts straight before you start assuming it's oversees production or made my immigrants."
"Immigrants"? Where did that come from, and what are you implying? I don't like the tone of your comment.
There is one thing that confuses me about this company. Even though their products are always in the red and in the hole the company stock continues to do well.
Gee, what a bunch of cry babies, I remember not to long ago there was hardly any of you here but I've learned one thing you can till which political party these whiners are affiliated with REPUBLICANS, every cry baby that I've meet in my live is a GOP, Gee ....... wonder why ..... LMAO
Rick,
I can't TILL either...Have you got your GED???
I buy "Made in the USA" as much as I can, but the products are so few and far between, I say, good luck with that. The greedy manufacturers ship their businesses overseas and therefore put all of us in jeopardy, in this case, women. As if we don't have enough to worry about, now they're contaminating tampons. They all need to go to jail.
@HKA
you are blabbing about things made in China but Americans only point the fingers to china when things are defective when we all know that almost everything that we use here in the US is made in china. the things that we enjoy everyday like ipads and stuff are all made in china so we must stop to assume that only bad stuff are made in china. you are happy when you get cheap stuff right? well thank china for that. We are all complaining about jobs being outsourced their but if we were to manufacture those things here they will be more expensive so as long as you are enjoying buying cheap stuff, suck it up and shut up!
regardless of where the tampons were made the fact remains if we want to decrease the unemployment rate and improve the economy in this country, we must buy "made in the USA". US made is always my 1st choice. (unless it's leather - Italy or cars - Japan).
This story will be a gold mine for the late night comedians. But, it is very serious and KC did well to catch it early and yank the product.
It's gonna be a bloody mess before it's all over with..
LMFAO!!! Okay that's funny!! XD
I wonder if they had to "pull any strings" to get this recall done????
Kotex has vowed to plug any leaks that led to this report
Ok, those are just funny.
I hope they get this thing wrapped up and discarded quickly.
This is a "fishy" story.
I don't care who you are, those are funny LOL
ur some sick mother f*ckers! Grow the f*ck up! Nasty @sses
LMAO!!!!!
When i read this headline, i cam here to read the comments cause i need a good laugh.....roflmao
those are all so funny...hilarious...roflmao2
Tamp on it before it spreads
Pretty heavy flow of comments so far.
What's the big deal? Those bacterias will terminally be killed by existing ones upon insertion.
what? thats so not true. but thanks for stopping by.
hUH???
I would love to buy "Made in the USA" products and fully support my country. But even the products that say "Made in the USA" import parts. It is very deceiving.
I have always used Kotex Tampons, in Sept. I was treated for a bacterial vaginal infection. Now I know where it came from! I live in Indiana so I am calling KC and adding another state to their list.
Leeroy didn't have anything to do with it, did he, Cherokee?
They weren't shipped until the end of October. How did you use one in September??
Just an FYI... the tampons affected were not in stores in Sept... That, and being in a different state seems to indicate that you may have just gotten a bacterial infection...
Well must have been Leeroy then
ha ha ha lol ....oops
This stuff is funny! Crude but damn funny!
@cherkoee3,
Put Leeroy on time out....LOL
i dont use them so who cares
Apparently you do considering you took the time to put your useless comment up when all you had to do was move on to the next story. -_-
gary, you sound like an inconsiderate idi*t!
T momma, just like Obamaroid?
hey gary, unless your celebate, you're at risk. Bacterial infections can be contagious to partners.
your going to care when your penis is itchy and swollen...
Me neither, Gary. But I guess the "Third-Party supplier", has a real problem.. Wonder if the "Third-Party", is located in China or USA. If China, I understand the problem. If plant located in USA, THEN THEY ARE HIRING AND USING ---ILLEGAL ALIENS, to WORK IN THE USA PLANT!!
I guess PEDRO, is mad at American females.
Hey Bushey! Put a cork in it!
Hey My Oreos,
Are you speaking from experience???
Are you kidding me!!!!!! Is nothing sacred!!!!!!!? If there is one part of your body you would like to keep disease free from crappy products, its the vagina!!!!! Do some quality control BEFORE YOU PUT YOUR PRODUCT ON SHELVES TO BE PURCHASED!!!!!!!!!
Amen!
They found ONE contaminated item during testing and they have recalled everything that could be affected by it, but there have been NO reports of problems. This was not picked up by quality-control testing because it probably wasn't in the previously tested batches. Apparently their records are thorough enough to allow them to know when that shipment of plastic tubes was received and used, along with exactly where the tubes from that batch were shipped.
I certainly hope no one is affected, but this company making a major recall and accepting all responsibility; they would likely cover the medical expenses of any women affected.
Don't get me wrong, this is not acceptable and the possible infections could result in loss of fertility or worse, but the company acted quickly and is making every effort to resolve the problem ASAP.
Rene, thanks for your input. Too many on here hate any company, even the companies they work for because of their "greedy" profits. To them any profit is greed.
All businesses have to turn a profit; otherwise they would not exist. I think this incident just shows that they are truly concerned about their consumers. How many major companies would recall a product over a single contaminated component and take full responsibility?
So I wonder how many husbands were accused of things and how much marital discord was caused by this.....
Should women bring the used ones to the store manager to inspect if they break out with a strange itch or rash? I can't believe the clown car has issues now.
Women need to get back to nature. If elephants use sheep what could women use to be eco friendly
So my initial thought reading the story was, "Good thing I use Playtex... bullet dodged?"
....and then I started reading the comments... I tried not to laugh... Being a woman, I know I shouldn't laugh... but by the time I got down to this gem, there was no stopping it anymore. Thanks for the chuckles everyone.
Please explain HOW they got contaminated with this bacteria in the first place!!!? And how did they happen to discover it before any illnesses were reported...that's got to be BS. I've had a hysterectomy so I don't use any of the products anymore but I'd still be willing to kick some ass over this.
Kim, because they have quality control programs that enables them to know where their production goes, and can track it. Did you ever get a grasshopper in a can of green beans? The grasshopper was green. I did, and I did not sue every cannery in the US.
kim, didn't you hear? Leeroy & Pedro did it.
A single plastic tube was found to be contaminated with the microbe, sparking the company's action. I say bravo Kimberly Clark for not letting this turn into an outbreak.
Where is my lawyer, I am ready to Sue, Martha, Jasmine....? :-)
I agree with Terry. There have been no reports of infection and it is likely there will not be. That one plastic tube may have been the only contaminated item, but they recalled every single shipment that had even the slightest risk of contamination.
How many companies would initiate a recall on the basis of a single contaminated component, then accept all responsibility knowing the contamination did not originate in their factories, but in a third-party distributors?
These people are not idiots. They know that by not placing any blame on the distributors and accepting all of it, they are setting themselves up for a lot of lawsuits, legit or not. I wonder how long it will take for the first bogus lawsuit to show up?
Safe. I shop at Target where product and people are always cleaner. :)
duh! target is the BEST!
Except for the peeping toms in the bathrooms, oh wait, as long as they are clean, right.
Peeping Toms...Huh? Never heard about that. But , yes, I'm sure they are cleaner than at Wal-Mart.
Contamination was on the plastic applicator most likey plastic manufacturers faulty cleanroom procedures.
FRY's???? As in Fry's Electronics? I'm in Dallas, and the only FRY's I know of sells computers, electronics, etc.
What - pray tell- do tampons have to do with DVD's?
WTH?
Here's a mind-blowing idea, genius - There is another chain of stores named Fry's that sells groceries and pharmacy products. Wow, is the world really bigger than what exists in Dallas?!
I'll admit, I first thought the same thing, but honestly, it wouldn't have been the strangest thing I have seen at Fry's Electronics. >.<
Fry's Electronics www.frys.com 70 Google reviews 3035 W. Thunderbird Road Phoenix, AZ (602) 445-8800Fry's Food www.frysfood.com 8 Google reviews 4724 North 20th Street Phoenix, AZ (602) 263-0766
CHARGER 12: Back to "nature"? Seriously, you want women to go back to the 1800's where they made their own "monthly rags"?
O......K......
A wad of hay wrapped in burlap? Comfort was not a priority back then.
I have a realy slow crowd here elephant, sheep. Joke. Get it
Looked on Kotex web site. They are made in China and Mexico Just like the dog food bad things come from China
For some women, it doesn't take much to upset the delicate eco-world that exists down there, and this is not an okay forgivable mistake.....
Boycott. There are other brands that are better anyway.
good thing i dont use that brand!
Boycock, boycock , boycock, that will teach them. It's just a bloody mess I say.
Pads have always been much safer. I never used those things anyways.
I'm with you, girl. Tampons have always given me the willies.
That is right ladies, stick with the pads. My old boyfriend taught me about tampons a long time ago. His quote " why would you put something inside to catch what should be flowing out? that's not cleanliness. That is how the med folks keep vaginal infections going therefore more money for medicine comps and docs. LADIES USE PADS AND KEEP BACTERIA AWAY FROM "The Promise Land"!
Speaking of "willies", how about the brown tampon that Willie CLINTON USED, WONDER IT IT WAS EVER RECALLED?.
Exactly. Pads don't come with a Toxic Shock Syndrome warning, either.
Tampons, for me, are only for use when swimming during that time of the month, and that's rare.
I honestly cant stand having the blood sitting on my vajayjay in a pad, and so use tampons whenever possible. I dont think its very clean to get blood all over everything down there...
don't realy understand, i'm sure with the thousands of feminine products somthing on the shelve can cure this irritation.
Sure, a pink flamethrower :)
Generally what you buy OTC are anti-fungals, not antibiotics.