Top 30 Most EXPENSIVE Product Recalls Ever

Top 30 Most Expensive Product Recalls in History

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for product recalls that cost the companies behind the products lots and lots and lots of money.

#30: Simplicity Cribs
Sometimes it’s an awful incident that leads to a product recall. And with Simplicity Cribs that was unfortunately the case. In 2008 a young boy suffocated when he, according to the 2010 US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recall notice, “became entrapped between the crib mattress and the crib frame.” What makes that incident even more heartbreaking is that the cribs had been linked to 13 other injuries in the years prior. And in 2009 there was another death reported. As far as cost goes, well, it cost the company everything - they went out of business soon after the recall.

#29: Cadbury Schweppes
People love lots of different things in their chocolate: nuts, candy, sea salt, mint, cookie dough - and the list goes on. But you know one thing that no one likes with their chocolate? Salmonella. Which is what the Cadbury Schweppes company added to some of its chocolate products, albeit unintentionally, back in 2006. Some reports said that the recall in the UK and Irish markets was precautionary, from the company itself. However, following a guilty plea in the courts, Cadbury’s released a statement admitting that at the time, they, “did not believe that there was a threat to health and thus any requirement to report the incident to the authorities”. The recall cost the company about 20 million pounds plus a drop in sales for the year.

#28: Keurig Mini Plus Brewing Systems
While getting sprayed with burning hot water would certainly be one way to wake up in the morning, we much prefer a simple cup of coffee. Unfortunately, for about 90 Keurig customers who owned a specific Keurig Mini Plus Brewing System manufactured between 2009 and 2014, coffee wasn’t all they got. According to reports these brewing systems had a defect that could cause them to overheat and even spray water. And at least 90 people suffered burn-related injuries from their Mini Pluses. According to Keurig, the recall cost the company about $10 million to remedy. Plus there was a civil penalty settlement of $5.8 Million resulting from claims that they knew of the defect for a while before reporting it.

#27: Menu Foods Pet Food
Menu Foods was a Canadian pet food maker that produced foods sold under a number of different brand names. In 2007, the company issued a huge recall of 60 million food containers after hundreds of reports of animals vomiting and suffering from kidney failure. It turns out that wheat gluten imported from China contained traces of the chemical melamine. Over 100 animals died from eating the tainted food and the cost to the company was massive. While the recall itself cost them at least $42 million, they also lost a large number of customers. They were bought out three years later.

#26: Sara Lee Deli Products
In 1998, a series of deaths, miscarriages, and over 100 cases of illness were all linked back to one manufacturer: the Bill Mar Foods plant in Zeeland, Michigan. The plant produced hot dogs and various deli meats for the Sara Lee company. The culprit was determined to be a rare strain of Listeria and forced Sara Lee to recall between 15 to 35 million pounds of their meat products. It’s been reported that the recall cost the company up around $76 million. And that doesn’t include the $25 million it spent to renovate the production plant that was ground zero for the outbreak. There was also a $4.4 million settlement stemming from charges brought by the United States attorney for Western Michigan.

#25: Peter Pan Peanut Butter
In 2016, a criminal fine of $11.2 million was levied on ConAgra - the makers of Peter Pan peanut butter. If there’s anything extra you’d want to find in your Peter Pan peanut butter, it would probably be a little Tinkerbell pixie dust. But instead, between 2004-07 Peter Pan peanut butter came with salmonella. And rather than make people fly - it made over 600 people sick. What makes us sick is the fact that the company kept shipping the peanut butter after multiple tests at the plant came back positive for salmonella. Add that $11.2 million to the $78 million the company spent on finally recalling the product and the $15 million or more in plant renovations and we’re at over 100 million bucks.

#24: Various Able Laboratories Products
Able Laboratories was a New Jersey pharmaceutical company that produced generic drugs. In 2005 the FDA sent the company a lengthy warning outlining serious issues related to their quality assurance standards. In response, Able Laboratories had to recall ALL of their products from the market, and attempted to cut a deal with the courts that would allow them to settle the issue without admitting guilt. The FDA balked at the request and the whole thing was estimated to have cost Able Labs $103 million. They would end up filing for bankruptcy soon after and eventually sell the company rather than try and make a comeback.

#23: Jack in the Box
Jack in the Box is a fast food restaurant chain that seems to be doing well these days, with over 2200 locations. However, that success was nearly derailed back in the 90s after an E. coli outbreak almost forced them into bankruptcy. The outbreak occurred at Jack in the Box locations in the Pacific Northwest and were linked to undercooked hamburgers contaminated with fecal matter. The burgers made hundreds of people sick and led to the deaths of four children. Besides the cost of settling multiple lawsuits, the outbreak - and the subsequent recall - cost the chain upwards of $160 million in sales and almost one-third of its stock market value.

#22: Spinach
We’ve always been told to eat our vegetables. However, back in 2006 the FDA told Americans to stop eating spinach. You see, while spinach is really, really good for you, spinach with E. coli isn’t. They never figured out exactly how the E. coli got on the leafy greens, but the recall by the Natural Selection Foods company ended up dealing the U.S. spinach industry losses in the $350 million range. Then, just a couple years later, the tomato industry was hit with a salmonella outbreak and a massive recall costing them $250 million (including lost sales). However, unlike the spinach, it turns out the tomatoes weren’t the culprits. But investigators figured that out too late.

#21: Posicor
On June 20, 1997, the Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Posicor by Roche Laboratories. The drug was approved to treat high blood pressure and angina and it may have been good at it. But it wasn’t good at interacting with other drugs. In fact, there were 26 other drugs that would cause a toxic reaction from Posicor. However, it took months for warnings about the drug interactions to go out, and an article in the LA Times from 2000 brought to light FDA records reporting “Posicor as a suspect in the deaths of 100 patients.” Within a year of approval, Roche was recalling Posicor leading to an estimated $2.9 billion in losses.


#20: Infantino SlingRider Baby Slings
In 2010, over one million sling-style Infantino brand baby carriers were recalled from the market. The Consumer Product Safety Commission determined there was a risk of asphyxiation for those being carried. After three infant deaths occurred, an investigation was launched, which revealed sling-style carriers could fatally block air passages. The risk was especially great for those under the age of four months. In March 2010, the CPSC issued a report linking 14 deaths to the product, dating back as far as 1990, and just weeks later the recall was issued.

#19: Roman Blinds
The exact number of deaths and injuries due to this product can be debated, as use of roman blinds is so widespread; but what cannot be argued is the fact that in 2009 all Roman style blinds were recalled from the market. What does “all” constitute? Well, around 50 million units. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission pulled Roman style blinds when several children became entangled in the shades’ exposed inner cord. Ultimately, the report recommended consumers stop using Roman style shades altogether if they were not equipped with updated safety precautions.

#18: Easy-Bake Ovens
Introduced in 1963, the Easy-Bake Oven was immediately appealing. Kids getting to make tasty treats - what’s not to like? In 2007, however, Hasbro recalled its latest model of the toy after they received numerous, substantial complaints of children getting their fingers stuck in the oven’s door. Hasbro issued a voluntary recall and made available a free U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission-approved guard for all who still wanted to keep the oven… except it didn’t work. The CPSC report revealed approximately 250 more cases of fingers getting caught in the door, and nearly 80 cases of burns. This brought on another recall. In the end, the recall affected nearly one million Easy-Bake Ovens.

#17: Mattel Toys
Fears over the lead content of Chinese-manufactured Fisher-Price toys led to a huge recall in 2007. Mattel, owner of Fisher-Price, was found to be selling toys covered in paint with the harmful element. Lead poisoning can cause multiple symptoms and be fatal, particularly for younger people. In the US alone, roughly 9 million lead-coated products were involved in the recall. The recall itself cost Mattel around $30 million. The company was also fined more than $2 million for selling the products in the first place. Three years later, a similar scandal struck

#16: McDonald’s Shrek Glasses
Trace amounts of the toxic metal cadmium were found in some limited-edition McDonald’s glasses back in 2010. The items were part of a promotion for “Shrek Forever After” and featured everyone’s favorite “Shrek” characters painted on them – along with the threat of ingesting an illness-inducing toxin. McDonald’s tried to defend this by saying the glasses didn’t actually contain that much cadmium. But we argue that any amount of a dangerous carcinogen is definitely too much, especially where children’s drinkware is concerned. McDonald’s offered customers a refund of $3 per glass. Considering it initially charged $2 and 12 million glasses were recalled, that put the company at least $12 million in the red.

#15: Ford Pintos
In action movies, it’s not uncommon to see a car explode after even the smallest impact. Starting as early as 1973, there were cases stating that the Ford Pinto might be volatile. It wasn’t until 1974 that something official came about, with a petition put forth by the Center for Auto Safety to recall the car make. Apparently, the Ford Pinto’s gas tank was poorly positioned between the rear axle and bumper, and it tended to catch fire when it touched the shock absorber in the back of the car, and thus would frequently explode in rear-end collisions. Ford faced a slew of legal battles and accusations criticizing its decision-making both before and during the scandal. Ultimately, Ford issued a massive recall and in 1980, they stopped producing the Pinto altogether.

#14: Westland / Hallmark Meats
In 2008, the largest meat recall in American history took place when California’s Westland/Hallmark Meat Company was caught up in an enormous scandal. Undercover footage from animal rights groups revealed workers were mistreating certain cows that were part of their beef production. Those heinous actions are strictly against the law in the United States. The ensuing recall resulted in a final judgement of almost half a billion dollars for the company. This was thanks in part to the fact that the company provided meat to the US’s school lunch program. The company’s connection to education put even more attention on the scandal. Ultimately, Westland/Hallmark’s meat went bankrupt because nobody wanted to touch their products after such horrendous behavior.

#13: Sony Batteries
Major laptop manufacturer Dell issued a recall for notebook laptops back in 2006 because of the batteries inside. These Sony-made batteries carried a major flaw: they were a huge fire hazard. Multiple stories broke about people’s laptops burning during use and reports of laptop owners getting injured. Luckily, no one seemed to suffer any severe damage. But it seemed that Sony didn’t completely fix the problem in the aftermath of the incident. Around two years later, another recall of laptops containing Sony batteries was issued. This time it wasn’t just Dell, but also Toshiba and HP. And in the worst consumer hat trick ever, Dell recalled over 4 million computers due to batteries in 2011. Sony lost hundreds of millions of dollars for these missteps.

#12: Scarlet Red Dye
For years, an illegal red food dye has been causing mass recalls in the United Kingdom and Europe. The specific dye in question, bright-red Sudan I dye, was banned by the EU in 2003 because it was found to be a carcinogen. That’s definitely not the kind of thing you wanted adding to almost everything red you can buy in a store. Since it was found in chili and curry powders, chicken tikka, and pesto, it was a pretty tricky thing to avoid at the time. The earliest recalls started in the mid-2000s. And after many warnings from the British Food Standards Agency to the companies in question, the recalls spread across the entirety of the European bloc.

#11: Tylenol
This pain reliever was pulled from the market in October 1982 after it was linked to seven fatalities. Reports determined Tylenol in Chicago and its surrounding areas had been tampered with and laced with potassium cyanide. Johnson & Johnson, Tylenol’s parent company, promptly issued warnings, suspended production, and set in motion a full, nationwide recall. In total, Tylenol pulled nearly $100 million worth of product from the market, and the entire pharmaceutical industry developed special packaging to prevent tampering. Interestingly, no culprits in this case were ever caught, but in the wake of the crisis, the public was scared by several copycat offenses. The company faced yet another recall in 2010, but this time initiated due to mildew in its products.

#10: Peanut Corporation of America’s Peanut Products
Remember that salmonella outbreak in 2008? If you don’t, you should. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported nine deaths and over 700 cases of food poisoning as a result of negligence. After an extensive, collaborative investigation between the CDC and the FDA, the outbreak was traced back to a Peanut Corporation of America plant in Georgia. Reports on that facility, as well as the one in Texas, revealed unsanitary conditions such as dead animals and moldy ceilings. Reports also accused the plant and company CEO of approving the sale of products that had already tested positive for salmonella. The scandal’s recall was the largest pertaining to food in U.S. history, and it forced the Peanut Corporation to bankruptcy.

#9: Toyota Accelerator Pedals
Between 2009 and 2011, millions of vehicles from many of Toyota’s brands, including Lexus, had to be recalled because of a life-threatening fault with the accelerator pedals. This recall affected Toyota cars around the planet, with more than 14 million vehicles caught up in proceedings. Close to forty people may have lost their lives as a result of the faulty pedals preventing cars from decelelarating. An entire family tragically lost their lives in a Lexus in 2009. Repairing the catastrophic fault cost Toyota over $1 billion.

#8: Bextra
It’s always frightening to think that a drug could make it to market that carries untold risks to anybody who needs to take it. That’s why a lawsuit that cost American pharmaceutical company Pfizer over $2 billion was so significant. In 2005, an anti-inflammatory drug Bextra that was made and marketed by Pfizer was taken off shelves by the FDA. It was shown to increase the risks of a heart attack significantly. Pfizer was then caught up in numerous lawsuits about Bextra for defrauding the patients it intended to help, which was largely people suffering from arthritis. Luckily, plenty of safer alternative medications without adverse effects exist to help those who were using Bextra.

#7: GM’s Faulty Ignition Switches
It was reported that over 100 people lost their lives due to faulty ignition switches in a wide range of General Motors vehicles. This led to a massive recall and costly lawsuits in 2014. Billions of dollars were spent recalling the faulty vehicles that could crash when their engines would cut out without warning. To make matters worse, no engines meant no airbags. But the situation got worse for the company and far more concerning for consumers. It eventually came out that GM had known the switches didn’t work for close to ten years. After the lawsuits started piling up, GM actually decided to do something about it, to the tune of $3 billion.

#6: Ford Explorer’s Firestone Tires
In 2000, after a warning from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Ford launched an investigation into the quality of the Firestone tires that it used on its vehicles. They determined that several Firestone models failed far more often than what’s considered normal, and after more tests found that Explorers fitted with these tires tended to rollover when they failed. One possible reason for these problems? Before the Explorer was first put on the market, they discovered it was inclined to rollover in accidents. Instead of a complete redesign, they opted to reduce air pressure in the tires. However, low tire pressure can lead to accelerated deterioration of the rubber. Reports vary, but these Firestone tire failures are thought to have caused hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries. The recall ultimately pulled over 14.4 million tires.

#5: Galaxy Note 7
You may remember a large number of viral videos after the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 that showed the cell phone spontaneously combusting. Design and manufacturing defects with the type of batteries used in the phones led to overheating. This flaw subsequently led to the device catching fire in far too many cases. To make matters even more embarrassing for Samsung, they made a big mistake when trying to fix the issue. After changing to another battery supplier and issuing replacements, the new phones also ended up catching fire. It was a cell phone that certainly had potential. All in all, Samsung lost between $5 and $17 billion from the fiasco.

#4: Vioxx
Approved by the FDA in 1999, Vioxx was yet another drug that was the subject of a recall, this time in 2004. Almost $9 billion went into recalling it after it was found to greatly increase the risk of heart attacks. And there was a horrible reason why Vioxx was allowed to stay on the market for so long. Merck & Company, who produced Vioxx, didn’t report all of the data linking the drug to increased risk of strokes and heart attacks. If the company had done due diligence, they would’ve potentially spread medical evidence that Vioxx seemed to be responsible for illness and fatal consequences years earlier than they did. Merck & Company’s serious lack of oversight was linked to over 140,000 separate cases, and a $4.85 billion mass tort settlement between them and the lawyers of thousands of lawsuits.

#3: Chinese Milk
Back in 2008, China recalled approximately 9,000 tons of powdered baby formula. It was revealed that China’s largest producer of the stuff had issued products cut with melamine, a dangerous chemical used for plastic that can also be used to falsely indicate high protein levels when added to milk. According to reports, it was this misleading nutritional information that led to at least six deaths from complications with their kidneys. Ultimately, the scandal affected 300,000 victims. Two men were sentenced to death by Shijiazhuang’s Intermediate People’s Court for their role in selling the contaminated powder.

#2: Volkswagen
Back in 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency charged Volkswagen with breaching the Clean Air Act, a 1963 law that tries to ensure exactly what its name implies. The investigation revealed that 11 million Volkswagen vehicles that had turbocharged direct injection diesel engines were programmed using defeat devices to keep emissions at approved levels during testing periods, but would forgo those controls afterwards, thereby releasing unapproved levels of Nitrogen Oxide into the air. As a result, Volkswagen made plans to invest over 18 billion dollars to refit affected models across the globe and reduce their emissions. As you can imagine, their reputation also took a bit of a hit.

#1: Takata Airbags
Chances aren’t bad that you’ve sat in a car with Takata Corporation airbags, given that they’ve been manufactured since 1988, and cover 20% of the airbag market. However, in 2013, complaints against the company came pouring in, citing issues that may’ve spanned the previous ten years. Honda asserted that their product caused eight deaths and approximately one hundred injuries, claiming that, even in minor collisions, Takata airbags propelled deadly shrapnel upon deployment. An investigation revealed it was a Takata production plant in Mexico that had inappropriately assembled the less stable parts of the airbags. Over the course of the controversy, several recalls were issued, necessitating the recall of millions of vehicles from various brands, including Ford, Toyota, Chrysler and BMW.

Have you ever had a product you own recalled? Let us know in the comments.