FDA Recalls Becoming Blasé?

Are FDA recalls becoming so common they don't make headlines anymore? In our fast-paced society, most people only scan the headlines or listen to soundbites from newscasters; neither of the FDA press releases below made it above my radar. Is it because there are so many that our attitude has become, "SS/DD"?

For Immediate Release: June 19, 2009 "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are warning consumers not to eat any varieties of prepackaged Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough due to the risk of contamination with E. coli O157:H7 (a bacterium that causes food borne illness).

The FDA advises that if consumers have any prepackaged, refrigerated Nestle Toll House cookie dough products in their home that they throw them away. Cooking the dough is not recommended because consumers might get the bacteria on their hands and on other cooking surfaces."

For Immediate Release: June 16, 2009 FDA Advises Consumers Not To Use Certain Zicam Cold Remedies Intranasal Zinc Product Linked to Loss of Sense of Smell

"The FDA has received more than 130 reports of loss of sense of smell associated with the use of these three Zicam products. In these reports, many people who experienced a loss of smell said the condition occurred with the first dose; others reported a loss of the sense of smell after multiple uses of the products."

Several people I know love to eat cookie dough; I wonder if they even heard of the recall?? Also, I happen to have anosmia (loss of the sense of smell mentioned in the full FDA statement) and have had it for years. The FDA warning causes me to wonder if mine was caused by some OTC drug that the FDA passed without adequate testing.