Tuesday morning, Kellogg (K) announced that its third-quarter net income dropped 6% thanks to slumping cereal sales. In addition to the weakening cereal sales, Kellogg saw competition strengthen and continuing impact from a cereal recall.

First things first, the cereal king reported earnings of 90 cents per share ($338 million), which came in lower than last year's earnings of 94 cents per share ($361 million).

Reportedly, Nissan (NSANY) is recalling roughly 46,000 of its 2009 - 2010 Cubes in the United States because of non-compliance with federal motor vehicle safety standards. According to the automaker, a fuel leak developed during crash tests. This leak could result in a fire, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Nissan said that when "the vehicle was rotated following a rear moving barrier crash test as required, the amount of fuel leakage exceeded the allowable limits."

Chrysler Group announced that it has issued a recall for 600,000 vehicles today for a range of safety concerns.

The company announced that the recall was in light of concerns including faulty brakes, sticky accelerators, and electrical fires. Today's reports come as drivers are already dealing with safety concerns stemming from the massive recalls Toyota has been forced to issue over the past year.

Earlier this week Toyota Motor Corporation (TM) took another hit to its public relations when Consumer Reports hit one of its new SUV models, the Lexus GX 460, with a 'Don't Buy' rating. Toyota announced today that in light of the concerns over the Lexus SUV it would be running safety tests on all of its SUVs to reassure Toyota drivers that their vehicles are indeed safe.

The concern comes from tests that Consumer Reports ran on the Lexus GX 460 that showed the SUV was a rollover risk. The electronic stabilizer that was supposed to correct the SUV from spinning out was not kicking in as quickly as it should be.

It was not that long ago that Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) was known for the safety of its vehicles, but the past year has been a nightmare for the Japanese automaker. And things took a turn for the worse Tuesday when it was forced to suspend sales of its Lexus GX 460.

The decision to suspend sales of the Lexus SUV came after Consumer Reports hit the model with a rare "Don't Buy" rating due to rollover concerns.

With so much uncertainty surrounding the recent recalls by Toyota Motor Company (TM), the House committee that is investigating the recalls has asked the company's President to come and testify before it.

Over the past several weeks there have been more reported deaths resulting from sudden acceleration in Toyota vehicles, and the House committee's chairman announced his desire to have Toyota's president, Akio Toyoda, to come in for testimony.

I couldn't make this stuff up, and I'm not sure that many people could have or would have. That said, Starbucks (SBUX) announced a recall of its glass water bottles on Thursday.

The glass bottles were not recalled because of some harmful substance that started to seep into the water from the glass, or because the water in the glass bottles was contaminated. No folks, the glass bottles were recalled because (wait for it) the glass bottles could shatter, causing lacerations to the hands.

Remember the Eggo waffle shortage in November that had everyone up in arms? Well, we could all be facing a similar crisis soon with a treat that's even more sinful: cookie dough.

Now, we all know we are supposed to cut and bake that tube of raw cookie dough, but how many of us haven't opted, instead, to grab a spoon and dig in? It's not the healthiest practice to begin with, for sure, but it becomes a bit more dodgy if harmful bacteria is involved.

The world's largest auto maker, Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) announced Tuesday that is was about to issue the biggest recall in the company's history, as problems with some floor mats has led to numerous accidents and at least five deaths.

The recall involves eight different models of Toyota and Lexus vehicles manufactured and sold in the U.S. over the past six years, and include the popular Prius hybrid. Apparently, there is a problem with the driver side floor mats that result in the mats coming loose and jamming down the accelerator.

When we first noted a small-ish recall which were recalled yesterday and, at first blush, the alert looks as if it could be as widespread and enormous as the peanut butter recall (mollified a little by the fact peanuts are far more ubiquitous than pistachios). recall of canned pistachios early yesterday, it was limited to Kroger (NYSE: KR) and, frankly, made little in the way of waves. Later, the news began to hearken to the beginning of the peanut recall, in which I wondered how many foods could be impacted (oh, I had no idea!). The pistachio nuts' originator, Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Calif., decided to recall its 2008 crop after Kraft (NYSE: KFT) tested some of its pistachio-containing products and found "several types of salmonella." Where the possibly tainted pistachios ended up isn't clear, but Kraft pulled a trail mix with pistachios.

The nuts were sent in 1,000-pound and 2000-pound bags to wholesalers, who then parceled the pistachios further to redistribute them among retailers and manufacturers. As I wrote on DailyFinance, this is yet another example of a food industry that is built on logistics, not food; quality ingredients are marketing, not reality. Neither Kroger nor Kraft nor even (to point a finger at random) Unilever's Haagen-Dazs ice cream can trace to the individual farm the origin of all of their ingredients, no matter how many times the packaging mentions it.

It's further proof that food safety is not truly possible in the industry as it currently stands.

Mattel (NYSE: MAT) had trouble with its stock price when lead was found in some of its toys. Now Kellogg (NYSE: K) may have a similar problem. Some of its peanut-based products may be a cause of the spread of a dangerous salmonella. The trouble has been traced to Peanut Corp. of America, a wholesaler and supplier to Kellogg.

Are Kellogg products among those tainted? It is too early to tell, but the fact that it is pulling 16 products off of grocery store shelves may spook shareholders.

Often shareholders consider selling stocks for reasons that are not rational. Since Kellogg is on a list of firms that may have dangerous products, people holding the stock may think it's an unnecessary risk. In the AP story on the deadly outbreak, Kellogg is the only public company mentioned.

The most visible link at the Kellogg website today says "Austin, Famous Amos & Keebler Product Recall."

Fair or not, reasonable or not, Kellogg opens down at the open on Tuesday.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

When I wrote yesterday about the recall of peanut butter due to salmonella poisoning (which is now considered possibly responsible for five adults' deaths), I worried that the "complex" and "widespread" description of the outbreak by the CDC could mean that, not only was the institutional peanut butter spread to thousands of school and corporate cafeterias, but also, the peanut butter might be in other products. Today's move by Kellogg (NYSE: K) to voluntarily pull Keebler and Austin peanut butter crackers off retailers' shelves says to me that we could have no idea how "complex" and "widespread" this disease might be. Kellogg will be investigating to see if its products include tainted peanut butter.

Kellogg products included in the investigation include peanut butter sandwich crackers, peanut butter and jelly sandwich crackers, cheese and peanut butter sandwich crackers, and peanut butter-chocolate sandwich crackers. Kellogg stock was down about 60 cents on the news, to $42.07 as of 1 p.m.

'Green' moms are calling the move by Kellogg a good one; but, as it's only removing items from shelves and not a recall (and is only one company when it could be many more which are affected by the tainted peanut butter), perhaps it doesn't go far enough. Part of the complication: Austin peanut butter crackers are sold in vending machines and small, independent convenience stores, among other places, making their removal fraught with mechanical and communication problems. And my money says more companies will soon follow suit and pull peanut butter off the market.

Worried about the honesty and effectiveness of the toy-screening conducted by major toy manufacturers and retailers? Zap 'em yourself with a Niton X-ray fluorescence analyzer, or XRF gun. That's what many consumer groups, including the Center for Environmental Health and HealthyToys.org, do in the continuing struggle to keep dangerous toys off retailer's shelves. The handheld guns go for $25,000 and emit mini x-rays which strike the toy; the "elements in that sample emit return rays with frequencies that indicate which elements are present and in what amounts."

Retailers and manufacturers are not pleased, contending that such guerilla testing is a poor manner of assessing a toy's safety. But the XRF gun is what the CPSC itself uses to test toys, which consumer groups point to as evidence that the technology is appropriate. (The CPSC goes on to send toys that read hot to a third-party laboratory for verification.) And anyway: this manner of testing actually uncovers toys which are toxic, much better than the CPSC's old strategy: go to stores, and look for the ones with bright colors (more likely to be tainted with lead). A comparison of the two strategies showed the XRF gun screening to have a far higher discovery rate, though of course many items that had high readings on the XRF gun were shown to be safe after further lab testing.

But who wants consumer advocacy groups out looking for bad toys? Certainly not the toy companies, who can only stand to be hurt by the increased scrutiny and "fear-mongering." In a column published earlier today I wrote about my concern over the fate of small toymakers given the impending effective date of the CPSIA. I can't exactly shed big tears, then, for the bigger manufacturers and importers who might be hurt by the discovery of toxins (even if the alarm bells ring a bit too loudly and too soon). The two manners of dealing with the toxic toy issue -- attacking it in the streets with ray guns, or clamping a shackle of expensive testing around each toy before it hits the market -- both seem wrong-headed, one too reactive, the other too proactive. Isn't there a better middle ground?

If one is honest with oneself, she will recognize that the most exotic ingredients in her Italian-themed frozen foods are likely the plastic trays they're packaged in. A new recall for Lean Cuisine frozen chicken meals ("approximately" 879,565 pounds of them) offers the addition of one more exotic ingredient: "foreign matter," namely bits of hard plastic of unknown origin that caused at least one injury.

The company which packaged the products, Nestle Prepared Foods Company of Springville, Utah, is voluntarily recalling the products after several consumer complaints and the lone injury. The three meals that are part of the recall are the 10.5-ounce "chicken mediterranean" pictured here; 9.5-ounce "pesto chicken with bow-tie pasta" and 12.5-ounce "chicken tuscan." Further information about specific bar codes and sell-by dates can be found at the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service.

While this is in no way a serious health risk, the enormous size of the recall and the timing -- coming in an environment in which budget-conscious consumers are beginning to question the true "convenience," nutritional value and safety of packaged food -- will be somewhat harmful for the convenience food industry as a whole. As someone who is taking a more cautious eye toward the food she is feeding her family, I have been asking questions such as, "if pieces of hard plastic weren't even recognized until consumers complained, what invisible ingredients have been slipping through without reparation or admittance?" In food, that what you can't see; and don't recognize for many years; is the most harmful of all.

This post is part of a feature on companies and products that our bloggers think are in need of a makeover. See all 26.

Founded in 1945 in a garage workshop in southern California, Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT) is now the world's biggest toy maker, with a market cap of about $5.2 billion. Number two Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS) has a market cap of about $4.2 billion. Mattel produces from everything Barbie and American Girl, to Hot Wheels, Fisher Price toys, Scrabble, and the Magic 8 Ball, as well as tie-ins with Pixar, the Dark Knight, Harry Potter, and Nickelodeon. However, in 2002 Mattel shut its last factory in the United States, and since then most of its products have been produced in China.

That decision came back to bite Mattel when, beginning in the summer of 2007, it was forced to issue a series of recalls of Chinese-made toys that contained lead paint. The company is still reeling from that PR disaster, which for some reason included an apology from Mattel to the Chinese people. The situation prompted BloggingStocks contributor Tom Barlow a year ago to suggest (tongue in cheek) that Mattel merge with Waste Management Inc. (NYSE: WMI) so that toxic toys could go directly where they belonged, bypassing the middleman (i.e., the children). That would be one way to make over the company, I guess.

As Christmas of 2007 approached, it looked like the worst might be behind Mattel. The year-end numbers were respectable, and some investors were beginning to eye Mattel again. But first quarter 2008 results were disappointing, and by mid year, expectations were very low. The share price has continued to slide since the recalls, reaching a multi-year low recently. While there was a copyright infringement lawsuit settled in Mattel's favor (though they didn't get as much out of it as they wanted), and they are no doubt hoping for the Dark Knight and other tie-in merchandise to help boost what otherwise looks like it could be dismal holiday season for retailers, the newest thing Mattel has to contend with is claims by some parents that one of its dolls secretly promotes Islam, which Mattel denies.