Dangerous Knock-Offs

Consumer Reports mulls counterfeit merchandise, now moved beyond the occasional knock-off purse or iPod into things that could actually harm you. And not because they're filled with lead or anything—because they may cause your car to go careening out of control.

Fakes include truly unsafe merchandise. Investigators have seized brake pads made of kitty litter, sawdust, and dried grass; power strips, extension cords, and smoke alarms with phony Underwriters Laboratories (UL) marks; medical test kits that give faulty readings; toothpaste made with a chemical found in antifreeze; and cell-phone batteries that could explode. Online drugstores claiming to operate from Canada but actually based in other countries have peddled "Lipitor" and "Celebrex" pills stored under uncontrolled conditions and containing the wrong active ingredients.

That's just for starters. Among the counterfeit merchandise is some you would suspect: handbags, clothes, watches, and amusingly renamed colognes such as Essey Miyami instead of Issey Miyake. But there are also surprising fakes: golf balls, oil filters, and baby formula, for example. With some, the low price is a giveaway (a $2,000 Prada purse for $35?). Others are priced close to retail to fool you.

I think most gadgets should be more expensive to better absorb the true cost of their global impact, yet also think people should stop buying brand-name products that don't offer any value beyond cachet. As always, I remain confused.

Real or fake? [ConsumerReports.org via Consumerist]