Missouri

Missouris Weights, Measures and Consumer Protection Division issued a consumer alert in late May announcing it had prohibited the sale of five antifreeze products, nine ATFs and more than two dozen motor oils. The agencys tests revealed that the motor oils in question were labeled with misleading information. Some had less product than claimed, some advertised the wrong SAE viscosity grade and others contained used motor oil.

State inspectors ordered 17 retailers and two wholesalers in March to stop selling the 41 suspect products. In a May re-inspection, inspectors found five retailers were still selling products in violation of the stop-sale order, the attorney generals office said. In lawsuits filed in St. Louis City and County, Attorney General Chris Koster alleges the five retailers knowingly sold fraudulent products to consumers that could damage their cars. The five retailer locations include Shell, Phillips 66, Unique Mark, Kennys Discount and Quality Market stores.

Kosters lawsuits seek to permanently ban the retailers from selling any of the 41 products in the future and restitution for consumers who purchased the products after Missouris stop-sale order and for any resulting harm to the consumers cars. The lawsuits also seek civil penalties and the payment of costs associated with the investigation and prosecution of the cases.

Our investigation remains ongoing, particularly into the source of these products, Koster said in the news release. While we have removed deceptive products from these 17 stores, consumers should be aware that inspectors continue to check for these damaging products in other stores throughout the state.

Recent additional inspections found products included in the alert on shelves of five Kansas City-area stores and six additional St. Louis-area stores. Those stores have been issued stop-sale orders for the listed products.

These included motor oil that was unlabeled used oil and contained metallic sediment, motor oil that fell below minimum viscosity standards and in one case, a product that did not contain oil at all. Another problem found related to products advertised at a specific volume, such as one quart, that were under-volume. For example, the department said, one automatic transmission fluid product, sold under the Bullseye Type A name, was labeled as one quart but was actually only .77 quarts.

The full list, at http://agriculture.mo.gov/weights/fuel/consumeralert.php, includes several brands that the Petroleum Quality Institute of America previously warned consumers not to buy.

Its great to see Missouri is doing more than pushing a press release saying there is a stop sale. In addition, they are enforcing it by taking retail stores to court that continue to sell these products after a stop sale has been issued, Glenn said. PQIA applauds Missouri for taking such action to protect consumers.

Alabama

The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries Weights and Measures Division issued a no sale order on certain prepackaged motor oils offered for sale in Alabama, including three Bullseye products (20W-50, 10W-30 and 5W-30). Lube Report could not reach Bullseye for comment by deadline.

These products have failed to meet the minimum quality standards when analyzed at the departments petroleum lab, the agency said in its news release. Once this no sale order is issued, it is illegal to offer these products for sale in Alabama. It is recommended that retailers immediately remove these products from their shelves and contact their supplier.

The initial no sale order order included all Black Knight brand engine lubricating oils, which are manufactured by Smittys Supply. Smittys officials told Lube Report that when the company contacted the weights and measures director, Stacy Boshell, he informed them the Black Knight products labels – labeled 5-30, 10-30, 10-40 and 20-50 – were not in compliance with Alabamas regulations for viscosity labeling of motor oils. The director told Smittys that the test results of all Black Knight products analyzed were acceptable. Lube Report could not reach Boshell for comment by deadline.

The company said it was confident it corrected the labeling issue with a label change made Jan. 22 – which changed the labels to SAE 30, SAE 40, etc. – and that the products cited by the agencys order had the old labels.

As of late Tuesday, Smittys had submitted corrected labels to the agency in Alabama and was awaiting confirmation that the no sale order on the Black Knight products would be lifted. Smittys officials said the company planned to contact its customers in Alabama to return any product with the old labels.

The initial order also mistakenly included an Accel SAE 30 product by Warren Distribution and a Halco SAE 40 product made by Warren Oil. In each case, the agency later issued a release of stop sale order removing the product from the order and stating that the product was made up as required by law. Each company told Lube Report that its product was mistakenly included because of a density measurement, which isnt a part of engine oil specification testing.