The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
With garage sale season upon us, Health Canada is reminding consumers to put safety ahead of savings, and exercise caution when buying second-hand items at garage sales, flea markets, on-line sites, and second-hand stores. In Canada, it is the responsibility of the seller to ensure that the products they sell meet current Canadian safety guidelines. The buyer must decide if the savings on second-hand goods are worth the potential risk of buying an item that could be unsafe. Do not consider buying items that have damaged, cracked, missing or loose parts, items that are missing instructions, or items that have been banned or recalled because they pose a risk to consumer health or safety, or because they do not fulfill Canadian health and safety requirements and regulations. To find out if the product you are interested in has been recalled by the manufacturer, and for help in determining if the problem has been corrected, contact the manufacturer or check the list of consumer product recalls. If you have a product that has been recalled and the problem has not been corrected, destroy the item to prevent its use by someone else, and throw it away.
