iPhone Android + Facebook App Delivers Automatic Customized Product Recall Alerts to Busy Families

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When it comes to choosing and using all the equipment, food and supplies that it takes to raise a child today in the U.S., safety is typically among the top concerns for parents and other caregivers. With so much to think about, it's easy to get a little overwhelmed. This is no truer than with babies and young children who we need to watch intensely to help them steer clear of unnecessary injuries, illness and possibly worse caused by faulty or dangerous products.

4 babies in a year required multiple safety gates and toys

Luckily, there's a new free app called Recalls Plus that was first mentioned on MBE last month. Available for Facebook, iPhone and Android this no-cost service is helping to keep the public armed with all the information needed to be informed quickly in the event of new product recalls.

I don't have young children anymore as my triplets plus one more all born within a year are now teenagers. But reflecting on all the scares and major recalls about baby strollers, cribs and car seats in the late 1990s, I think having had access to a resource like this would have eliminated a lot of the worry and undue stress I endured whenever I read or heard about an item that suddenly was taken off the store shelves because of safety issues.

Seems like yesterday my triplets were all in high chairs

It's easy to use the "Add Stuff" tab in this app to either tap into the preset product list or to create your own customized recall watch list by inputting data about products that you own or are thinking of buying. All you do is fill in a handful of fields for each product like brand, category, model, and store and purchase price if applicable. Then Recalls Plus automatically starts monitoring the major consumer safety reporting agencies for relevant breaking news about recalls that affect you directly. 

By downloading the app myself and trying it out, I also realized that this isn't just helpful if you are buying baby or children's products. You can actually use it to track things like food and medications safety bulletins for the entire family. 

For example, I found under the food and drug and allergen category that Recalls Plus posted an alert about a specific cupcake sold in Northern California Whole Foods Market stores. The advisory said the product has been recalled because some contained undeclared walnuts, posing a possible health threat to those with sensitivities towards nuts. In fact, the alert also indicated the product concerned had already made at least one person ill.

Just a fraction of the food we always had on hand for our babies

All the basic information is listed about the potential problem in the update you see on your device. In the case of the Whole Foods recall, a URL linking to the FDA.gov site for further reference and more details was included. What's more is there's an email button at the bottom of each recall alert screen so you can easily and quickly forward the information to your own desktop computer or share it with family members, friends or anyone else who might benefit from the knowledge.

More information on the Recalls Plus app, developed by SAP, and the free download for Facebook, iPhone, and Android are available here.

FTC Disclosure: I was selected to write this compensated blog post about Recalls Plus via a SheSpeaks blogging program. The opinions and ideas expressed here are my own. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.