Are you in the US? Because in Europe all electrical products are certified under strict EU directives, and (at least in my country) there are routine inspections to ensure that all products for sale comply. You can walk into just about any supermarket and get a pretty trustworthy power strip, electrical appliance, or what have you.
Most devices in the US are UL listed, but I believe this mostly means they meet UL's in-house guidelines of safety rather than certifying all of the manufacturer claims. (It's possible I'm misunderstanding though--I'd love to hear from an expert.)
