The Danger of Laundry Detergent Pods

According to a recent study published in Pediatrics, exposure to laundry and dishwasher detergent pods increased 17% and 14%, respectively, among children under age six from 2013 to 2014, with most exposures (85%) occurring through ingestion.  Researchers reported these findings after analyzing data from the National Poison Data System on reported exposures to packet and non-packet laundry and dishwasher detergents. The researchers identified 62,254 cases of pediatric exposures to these detergents, with exposure to laundry detergent pods accounting for 35.4% of these cases.

Researchers found that children exposed to laundry detergent pods were 3.9 to 8.2 times more likely to experience clinical effects, most commonly vomiting, than children exposed to any other detergent type or form.  They found that children under age 3 were at the highest risk of exposure due to the large amount of time they spend in the home, their newfound mobility, and their curiosity leading to exploratory and mouthing behavior.  Exposure to laundry pods was linked to coma, respiratory arrest, pulmonary edema, and the deaths of two children. 

A CNN article discussing the study explains that laundry pods were introduced in the United States in 2012 as a less messy alternative to detergent powder.  They are typically colorful and have strong fragrances, characteristics that are thought to attract children.  Researchers recommend storing the pods out of sight in a locked cabinet and that the parents of children under age six use traditional laundry detergent rather than pods. 

Should I Throw Out This “Expired” Food Product?

As explained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), different date labels appear on food products.

• A “sell-by” date tells a store how long to display a product for sale.
• A “best if used by” date is recommended for best quality.
• A “use by date” is the last date recommended to use a product at its best quality.

And many products just have calendar dates, often referred to as “open dating,” that tells a seller on how long to display a product or a purchaser how long it will be at best quality. Calendar dates should be accompanied with a phrase indicating the meaning of the date, such as “sell-by” or “use before.” These are not safety dates.

FSIS instructs consumers to follow “use-by” dates on food products. It encourages them to purchase products before any listed date expires. It also advises them to take perishable foods home immediately and to refrigerated and use within a certain number of days, depending on the product. (FSIS provides charts with the number of days certain products can be stored safely in refrigerated conditions.) If a food product cannot be used within the recommended timeframe, FSIS advises consumers to freeze it. It also advises consumers not to use such products that have developed an odor, flavor, or appearance from spoilage bacteria.

 

Hyperlinks

USDA FSIS website (already hyperlinked above): http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/food-labeling/food-product-dating/food-product-dating

The Sale That Isn’t…

Consumer Reports recently published advice about the meaning of store discounts and how consumers should be on the lookout for retailers that are offering goods at a discount that were never sold at a higher price.  The article cites several high-profile retailers that have been accused of misleading customers by such things as using price tags with false “suggested retail prices” or basing discounts on made-up list prices.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, which the article quotes, before a store sells a good on sale, the good should be available at a list price for a “reasonably substantial period of time.” The article encourages consumers to not be swayed by retailers’ claims of big sales – look for deceptive store tags or advertisements. It also provides links to four online pricing-comparison tools for consumers to see how much other retailers charge for the same product.

By the way, have you ever wondered why the cars in Consumer Reports have Connecticut license plates?  It’s because the magazine’s auto test track is located in Colchester, CT!

Connecticut Better Business Bureau's (BBB) Tips for Buying Prom and Graduation Apparel

The Connecticut BBB is warning students and parents to be cautious when shopping for prom and graduation apparel online.  BBB warns that unethical sellers will switch stock garments' labels with designer labels; sell cheaply-manufactured, low-quality merchandise that looks different than the online advertisement; and ship merchandise late or not at all.

Online shoppers should take the following precautions.

1. Check the website's reputation.  BBB business reviews contain information about the quality of the seller's products and services as well as a record of complaints and government actions against the seller.
2. Look for hidden costs and policies.  Keep shipping and handling fees in mind and ask whether you can return the garment for a full refund.
3. Stick with a safe payment method.  Credit cards and online payment processing services (such as PayPal) protect consumers when there is a dispute over unauthorized charges.  Debit cards do not offer the same protection.  Do not trust websites that require payment by wire transfer or prepaid gift card.
4. Make sure you can find the seller.  The seller's website should list a physical location and a working phone number.
5. Look for HTTPS:// along with a padlock icon in your browser's address bar.  This tells you that the website is taking precautions with its payment processing system.

Consumers who encounter a problem with an unethical seller can file a complaint with the Connecticut BBB, Federal Trade Commission, or FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. 

DCP Warns Consumers and Resellers about Potentially Fatal Cedar Chest Models

The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection’s (DCP) October 2015 press release warns consumers and resellers to immediately disable “Lane” and “Virginia Maid” brand cedar chests with lids.  The warning came in the wake of the 2014 deaths of a brother and sister who suffocated in a chest after the lid closed and automatically latched shut.    

The Lane Furniture Company, in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), initially recalled 12 million chests in 1996, with subsequent recalls in 2000 and 2014.  To avoid further tragedies, DCP and CPSC conducted over 50 compliance checks at second hand stores and educated businesses on how to identify the recalled items before consumers purchase them. 

Lane recalled 12 million chests since 1996 with latches that automatically lock with the lid is closed, the article states. The company continues to offer new latches for these chests without charge. Despite past recalls, press releases, and replacement offers, approximately six million locks still need replacements according to Lane’s product safety webpage. 

More information can be found on the Department of Consumer Protection’s website.

Surge in Fentanyl-Related Deaths

According to a recent Governing article, the number of reported deaths linked to fentanyl has increased dramatically. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, in 2014 there were at least 28,000 deaths related to opioid overdoses, of which 5,554 involved fentanyl, a 79% increase from 2013. Additionally, unpublished data for the first half of 2015 indicates an even steeper increase in fentanyl-related deaths.

Fentanyl is a legal pharmaceutical used to treat severe pain. It is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.  Fentanyl is relatively cheap to produce illegally and is often mixed with heroin. Users may be unaware they are taking the drug.

A fentanyl overdose can shut down the lungs within two or three minutes. Therefore, victims are less likely to be rescued than those who overdose on other opioids. As a result of the drug’s potency, overdose victims often need multiple doses of naloxone to be revived and need immediate follow-up treatment.

Drug Enforcement Administration data has shown a twelvefold increase in law enforcement seizures of fentanyl since June 2013.

Is there a “pink tax”?

flickr.com

A recent CNNmoney article highlights the findings of a study by New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) on gender pricing differences for similar products. The article refers to these differences as “the pink tax.”

DCA’s study, entitled From Cradle to Cane: The Cost of Being a Female Consumer, compared 794 products with similar male and female versions sold online and in New York City stores. Products in the study had similar branding, ingredients, appearance, textiles, and construction, attempting to minimize the differences between men’s and women’s products. The industries compared in the study included (1) toys and accessories, (2) children’s clothing, (3) adult clothing, (4) personal care products, and (5) senior home health care products.

The study found that, on average, women’s products cost seven percent more than similar male products. The greatest deviation was in haircare products, where women’s products cost, on average, 48% more. In general, women’s products cost more than similar men’s products 42% of the time, whereas men’s products cost more 18% of the time.

According to the study, its findings suggest that women are paying, over a lifetime, thousands of dollars more than men to purchase similar items. It conceded that there may be legitimate reasons for some of the price differences, but it stated that paying higher prices is often unavoidable for women because they do not choose what textiles or ingredients are used in products marketed to them.

Congress Repeals Country of Origin Meat Labeling Law

In December, Congress repealed a labeling law that required retailers to include where the beef or pork was born, raised, and slaughtered.  According to the Associated Press, the meat industry had been fighting against the law in court and Congress since the early 2000s.

US lawmakers stated that they repealed the law after the World Trade Organization (WTO) repeatedly ruled against them.  The WTO recently ruled in favor of Canada and Mexico and authorized them to begin more than $1 billion in economic retaliation against the United States for this particular labeling practice.

Consumer groups say that labels help people make more informed decisions and encourage purchases of American meat.

Deck Your Halls Safely

Each year the federal Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) seeks to educate consumers about decorating for the holidays in a safe manner.

According to a recent CPSC blog post, lacerations were a commonly reported decoration-related injury last year and more than a third of decorating injuries involved falls. Fires related to holiday lights caused 10 deaths last year.

To help the public, CPSC publishes Holiday Decoration Safety Tips with advice for using candles, lights, trees, trimmings, and artificial snow. The guide encourages, as a general rule, planning for safety – identifying and eliminating potential danger spots.

Jepsen Calls for Expedited Implementation of Chip and PIN Credit Cards

Attorney General George Jepsen, along with eight other attorneys general, are urging the nation’s large credit card issuers (e.g., Visa, MasterCard, American Express) to voluntarily speed up implementation of chip and PIN technology. This technology is largely considered to be a more secure way of processing credit cards.

These credit card issuers have collectively begun to implement a new chip-and-signature system. But the attorneys general feel that the system that requires a signature rather than PIN identification as a secondary form of verification still leaves citizens more vulnerable to data breaches.

The Connecticut Attorney General’s office received approximately 515 data breach notifications from FY 2014 to 2015. 

More information can be found on the Attorney General's website.

Cooking Fires Triple on Thanksgiving Day

In anticipation of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) are cautioning consumers about the threat of home cooking fires, and specifically the dangers associated with deep frying turkeys.

The threat of kitchen fires triples on Thanksgiving Day, according to CPSC. From 2009 to 2011, an average of about 1,300 cooking fires occurred on Thanksgiving, compared to about 400 on an average day. According to USFA, two-thirds of home cooking fires start with the ignition of food or other cooking materials. 

CPSC provides guidance on safely handling and using turkey fryers. It notes that fryers should (1) only be used outside and away from your home, including away from garages or porches; (2) not be overfilled with oil; and (3) be attended at all times.

USFA’s website provides a video of a turkey fryer fire, which shows how quickly the fires can escalate.

Do Payment Text Reminders Help People Improve their Credit?

Yes, but only for people with low credit scores, according to a new working paper from the Boston Federal Reserve.  After conducting a field experiment during the 2013 tax season on approximately 1,000 low- to middle-income tax payers, the study’s authors found that monthly text reminders:

• improved credit scores by 23-24 points for people who began with low scores (below 584),
• had no effect on those with scores between 584 and 671, and
• decreased credit scores by 17 to 18 points for people with high scores above 672.

For people with low scores, the authors found that the text reminders helped reduce their debt and improve their payment patterns.  Those in the middles level had improved payment patterns but no effect on their credit scores, possibly because it takes longer for a positive payment pattern to affect a score than a negative one.  For people with high credit scores, the authors state that the reminders may have led them to slacken their financial self-discipline.
 
Click here to read the full paper.

A REVIEW OF STATE FLAGSHIP UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONS IN COMPARISON TO UCONN’S FOUNDATION

OLR Report 2015-R-0073 provides the (1) Freedom of Information (FOI) requirements, (2) fundraising duties, and (3) total fundraising revenue secured in the past three to five years, of four university foundations in comparison to UConn’s foundation. The foundations include the University of Florida Foundation, the University of Georgia Foundation, the Iowa State University Foundation, and the Ohio State University Foundation. 

While Connecticut law specifically exempts public university foundations from the state’s FOI laws, the other states provide broad to limited exemptions. Generally, the exemptions cover donors’ and prospective donors’ identities and personal financial records, but the laws vary in terms of which specific records they exempt from disclosure.

Each foundation serves as its related institution’s primary fundraising arm.  Managing university endowments; overseeing private gifts and grants from alumni, partnerships, corporations, and trusts; and providing fundraising services are some of the main responsibilities of these foundations.

According to foundation audit reports, financial statements, and official websites, the average contribution secured by each foundation in the past three to five fiscal years ranges from $37.5 million to $160 million. 

Extended Hours for Alcohol Sales

PA 15-244, § 82, beginning July 1, 2015, allows package stores and grocery stores, among others, to sell alcohol for off-premises consumption for an additional hour each day (until 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and until 6 p.m. on Sunday).

Additionally in the same act, package store owners will be able to own four stores on July 1, 2015 and then five on July 1, 2016, rather than three as under prior law.

Read the full CT Post article here.

Report on Injuries and Deaths Related to Inflatable Amusements

This past May, a Florida waterspout-turned-tornado made national news carrying an inflatable bounce house into the air with children inside. Three children were injured.


The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) collects data on injuries and fatalities from inflatable amusements and its most recent report, dated February 2015, summarizes this data from 2003-2013.


According to the report, during the 10-year period, there were an estimated 113,272 emergency department-treated injuries with over 90% associated with bounce houses. Most of the injuries were to limbs, such as fractures, strains, sprains, or dislocations. There were also 12 fatalities related to inflatable amusements in this timeframe. The report states that there was a “statistically significant increasing linear trend of yearly estimates for emergency department-treated injuries.”

Advice for Solar Energy Installation Consumers

The Department of Consumer Protection (DCP), attorney general, and Connecticut Green Bank issued a press release on Earth Day with advice for consumers who want to lease or buy solar power. Among other things, they advise consumer to:

1. obtain several itemized quotes from licensed or registered contractors,
2. expect realistic savings,
3. understand applicable tax credits and rebates, and
4. research home insurance coverage.

The press release also encourages consumers to visit DCP’s website for information on choosing and working with contractors.

Click here to read more and find links to other resources.

New Report: Home Improvement Guaranty Fund

OLR Report 2015-R-0099 provides an overview of the Home Improvement Guaranty Fund, including fund-related statistics. 


The Home Improvement Guaranty Fund was established in 1988 to reimburse consumers (up to $15,000 per claim) unable to recover losses suffered because the registered contractor failed to fulfill a contract valued over $200 (CGS § 20-432).


According to the Department of Consumer Protection, in the last five fiscal years, the guaranty fund was used to pay restitutions totaling $10,196,669.21 (1,297 consumer claims averaging approximately $7,900 each).


Click here to read the full report.

Top 10 Consumer Complaints for 2014

The Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) recently issued its annual “Top Ten” list of consumer complaints.


The complaints in the following 10 categories accounted for 54% of the written complaints DCP received in 2014.

1. Telecommunications (26.8% of all complaints), primarily involving billing and service issues related to broadband Internet services.
2. Telemarketing (8.2% of all complaints), often about entities not currently covered by the “Do Not Call” law.
3. Home improvement and new home builders (6.5% of all complaints), involving issues such as unfinished work, improper contracts, damage to home or property, shoddy materials, or not returning deposits.
4. Motor Fuel (3.4% of all complaints), including gas pump malfunctions, unclear signs, and bad gas.
5. General Retail (2% of all complaints), generally involving problems with refunds, exchanges, lost deposits, warranties, rebates, advertising, or services.
6. Internet Sales (2% of all complaints), including non-delivery, overcharges, or duplicate billing.
7. Auto Dealers (1.8% of all complaints), including non-delivery of ordered vehicles, overcharges, warranty or rebate disputes, advertising complaints, or aggressive sales tactics.
8. Electrical trades (1% of all complaints), involving work performed by electrical workers.
9. Heating and cooling trades (1% of all complaints), involving work performed by heating and cooling workers.
10. Mail order sales (1% of all complaints), including non-delivery, overcharges, incomplete orders, receiving wrong merchandise, and not receiving refunds for returned items.

Click here to read more.

 

Tax Debt Relief Companies May Not Provide Relief

The state Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) is warning residents to avoid doing business with companies offering to settle tax debt or avoid tax liens. According to a recent DCP press release, the agency is investigating several debt relief companies for deceptive and fraudulent practices. There is concern about the (1) misleading nature of the companies’ ads and (2) companies’ failure to live up to their claims.


The DCP press release states that these companies hold no licenses in Connecticut. The agency suggests that people seeking debt relief work with state licensed and registered accountants or attorneys.

States Consider Banning Powdered Alcohol

States are attempting to ban powdered alcohol (palcohol) before the product reaches stores.  Lawmakers cite public health concerns for such a ban, stating the product would increase alcohol abuse, particularly among teenagers.

Legislators in Colorado, Nebraska, and Utah want to join legislators in Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, and Vermont in prohibiting palcohol.

The powder comes in a sealable pouch with different flavors and dissolves in water.  One serving fills about a third of a standard glass tumbler and has the same amount of alcohol as a shot.

The federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau granted approval to product labels last April, but subsequently declared that the approval was in error.  The palcohol manufacturer states that the company voluntarily surrendered approval because of a mistake on the proposed label.

Read more about palcohol in Governing magazine.