Category Archives: Public Service Announcements

PSA: Whole Foods brand eggs

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I’ve been buying Whole Foods brand cage-free eggs for some time now.  I’d say I don’t mind paying more for quality but that’s wrong on two counts:  1) I hate spending money and 2) I’m not paying more at Whole Foods!

My last shopping trip included the above-mentioned eggs, but for the first time I noticed that the shelf tags read vegetarian fed (both white & brown varieties) but the cartons had no mention of this.  I spoke with someone in dairy who was surprised and said that he was sure they were vegetarian fed and perhaps I should check online.  Which I did, but there was no mention of this at all.

So Tuesday afternoon I sent an email to WF corporate, listing my concerns and received a return phone call a short time ago.  Whole Foods contacted their distributor who checked with their supplier and the chickens are fed absolutely NO animal products at all.  And if you think that’s not important, you should read what animal by-products are fed to the cheap egg chickens…

I am not only pleased with this response, I am even more pleased with WF’s FAST response time.  A nice place to shop even if they didn’t have 157,000 food samples each week and great deals for couponers.

2nd Target email…oh, the drama

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Okay, my main peeve about this is that this is the second email in two days, yet they didn’t notify REDcard holders until the press started sniffing around.  And just wait until the first of the fraudulent online purchases comes to light.

Dear Target Guest,
As you have likely heard by now, Target experienced unauthorized access to payment card data from U.S. Target stores. We take this crime seriously. It was a crime against Target, our team members and most importantly you – our valued guest.
We understand that a situation like this creates stress and anxiety about the safety of your payment card data at Target. Our brand has been built on a 50-year foundation of trust with our guests, and we want to assure you that the cause of this issue has been addressed and you can shop with confidence at Target.
We want you to know a few important things:

  • The unauthorized access took place in U.S. Target stores between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15, 2013. Canadian stores and target.com were not affected.
  • Even if you shopped at Target during this time frame, it doesn’t mean you are a victim of fraud. In fact, in other similar situations, there are typically low levels of actual fraud.
  • There is no indication that PIN numbers have been compromised on affected bank issued PIN debit cards or Target debit cards. Someone cannot visit an ATM with a fraudulent debit card and withdraw cash.
  • You will not be responsible for fraudulent charges – either your bank or Target have that responsibility.
  • We’re working as fast as we can to get you the information you need. Our guests are always the first priority.
  • For extra assurance, we will offer free credit monitoring services for everyone impacted. We’ll be in touch with you soon on how and where to access the service.
Please read the full notice below. And over the coming days and weeks we will be relying oncorporate.target.com and our various social channels to answer questions and keep you up to date.
Thank you for your patience, understanding and loyalty to Target!

PSA: 2 million FB, Gmail, Twitter passwords stolen

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Story on CNN Money today:

Hackers have stolen usernames and passwords for nearly two million accounts at Facebook, Google, Twitter, Yahoo and others, according to a report released this week.

The massive data breach was a result of keylogging software maliciously installed on an untold number of computers around the world, researchers at cybersecurity firmTrustwave said. The virus was capturing log-in credentials for key websites over the past month and sending those usernames and passwords to a server controlled by the hackers.

Wanna read the rest?

PSA: Overprescribed antibiotics?

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Here’s an email from Consumer Report Advocacy.  Guidelines we’ve known for years and followed – which sucks ’cause then we miss out on all the great gift cards offer for Rx!  boo – trading gift cards for good health!

This holiday season, we can give thanks that antibiotics still work, for most of us, most of the time.

But now the CDC is sounding the alarm. The post-antibiotic era — when people contract infections that can’t be treated and die instead — is much closer than most of us have realized. For those who die each year, it’s already here.

When we expose bacteria to antibiotics, a few survive and resistance spreads. Antibiotic overuse in both our food and health systems, unchecked, will soon render antibiotics obsolete.

Demand national emergency action to preserve our nation’s antibiotics!

Consumer Reports has been sounding the alarm for years. In our tests of chicken, pork and turkey, we bought meat from supermarkets around the country, tested it and found antibiotic resistant strains. The American meat and chicken industry relies heavily on the overuse of antibiotics to speed growth and help animals survive filthy, crowded conditions. That must end.

Doctors and hospitals overprescribe too. According to the CDC, up to 50% of all the antibiotics prescribed for people are not needed or are not optimally effective as prescribed. Every time we take antibiotics we don’t need, we risk producing resistant strains with no benefit to our own health. Doctors know better, or they should.

Emergency action to stop overuse and save our nation’s antibiotics won’t take an act of Congress (maybe we can give thanks for that too)!

Tell the heads of USDA and our Health and Human Services system to take immediate action, using the powers they already have.

Then forward this email to friends and family so join our movement to save our nation’s antibiotics for human health.

PSA: sign up for twitter, people!

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So many deals are here and gone in a flash; it’s horrible to read about what you missed!  My first reaction to Twitter was “Just get over yourself!” I still feel that way about most tweets.

But deal blogging?  That’s what Twitter was made for!  I see a deal, test and post, then shoot it out to Twitter.  You get that one-line and decide if it’s a post you want to read or not.  Had you gotten today’s Staples/Swiffer tweet you could have printed the coupon and hit the stores running – – or not.  Same with the CVS/Garnier deal.  Reading this blog once or twice a day is fun and good enough for most deals…  sign up, already!

Reser’s recall widens to includes products containing…

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Tennessee and Maryland Firms Initiate Recall Based on Reser’s Fine Foods Recall.  This is a list of all stores carrying the affected products recalled; includes October dates.  So if you see a store running deli counter sales… To read the entire FDA post, click here.

STORE
ITEM DESCRIPTION
BEST IF USED BY DATE
PRODUCTION FACILITY
Price Chopper Broccoli Crunch Salad Kit (Sold at the Deli Counter) 10/31/13 TFMD
Trucchi’s Supermarkets Broccoli Crunch Salad Kit (Sold at the Deli Counter) 11/01/13 TFMD
Shaw’s Broccoli Crunch Salad Kit (Sold at the Deli Counter) 11/01/13 TFMD
Shoppers Food Broccoli Crunch Salad Kit (Sold at the Deli Counter) 11/01/13 TFMD
Mars Supermarkets Broccoli Crunch Salad Kit (Sold at the Deli Counter) 11/01/13 TFMD
Shoprite Broccoli Crunch Salad Kit (Sold at the Deli Counter) 11/01/13 TFMD
Acme Markets Broccoli Crunch Salad Kit (Sold at the Deli Counter) 11/01/13 TFMD
Stop & Shop Broccoli Crunch Salad Kit (Sold at the Deli Counter) 10/31/13, 11/01/13,
11/02/13		 TFMD
Giant of Maryland LLC Broccoli Crunch Salad Kit (Sold at the Deli Counter) 10/31/13  11/01/13 TFMD
Trucchi’s Supermarkets Broccoli Cheddar Salad Kit
(Sold at the Deli Counter)		  11/01/13 TFMD
Shoprite Broccoli Cheddar Salad Kit
(Sold at the Deli Counter)		  11/01/13 TFMD
Weis Markets Broccoli Cheddar Salad Kit
(Sold at the Deli Counter)		  10/31/13 TFMD
Winn Dixie Broccoli Crunch Kit
(Sold at the Deli Counter)		 10/30/13, 10/31/13, 11/3/13 TFTN
Meijer Broccoli Crunch Kit
(Sold at the Deli Counter)		 10/31/13, 11/1/13, 11/4/13 TFTN
Houchen’s Market Broccoli Crunch Kit
(Sold at the Deli Counter)		  10/31/13 TFTN
Cooke’s Food Store Broccoli Crunch Kit
(Sold at the Deli Counter)		 10/31/13, 11/1/13, 11/4/13 TFTN
Priceless Foods Broccoli Crunch Kit
(Sold at the Deli Counter)		 10/31/13, 11/1/13, 11/4/13 TFTN
Piggly Wiggly Broccoli Crunch Kit
(Sold at the Deli Counter)		 10/31/13, 11/1/13, 11/4/13 TFTN
Food World Broccoli Crunch Kit
(Sold at the Deli Counter)		 10/31/13, 11/1/13, 11/4/13 TFTN
Performance Food Group Broccoli Crunch Kit
(Sold at the Deli Counter)		 11/3/2013 TFTN
Sysco Broccoli Slaw Kit
(Sold at the Deli Counter)		 10/29/13, 10/30/13, 11/2/13 TFTN
US Foodservice Broccoli Slaw Kit
(Sold at the Deli Counter)		 10/29/13, 10/30/13 TFTN

Reser’s Fine Foods, Inc. Recalls Refrigerated Ready-to-Eat Products Due to Potential Health Risk

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Here’s a huge list of Reser’s products involved in their recall.  Funny, but I don’t recall seeing this on the news…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 22, 2013 – Reser’s Fine Foods of Beaverton, Oregon is recalling approximately 109,000 cases of refrigerated ready-to-eat products because it may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria is an organism which can cause serious and sometime fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and individuals with weakened immune systems. Healthy people may suffer only short term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant woman.

The recalled refrigerated ready-to-eat products were distributed nationwide and Canada.  Click here for the entire list, which also includes recently-expired products.

PSA: Recall of 2.2 million dehumidifiers

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Just what you like to read when you’re still dealing with a flood aftermath.  What is also very interesting is that all 2.2 million were manufactured by one Chinese company and sold under 12 different brands.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission today announced the recall of more than 2 million dehumidifiers involving 12 separate brands. The devices can overheat, smoke and catch fire, according to the CPSC, posing fire and burn hazards to consumers.

The recall involves 20-, 25-, 30-, 40-, 45-, 50-, 65- and 70-pint dehumidifiers with brand names Danby, De’Longhi, Fedders, Fellini, Frigidaire, Gree, Kenmore, Norpole, Premiere, Seabreeze, SoleusAir and SuperClima. The devices were all manufactured by Gree Electric Appliances, of China, according to a press release from the CPSC.

Read more on the ABC news site.

 

PSA: free fruit & bodacious dumpsters

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downloadYes, there is actually a website that identifies locations around the world where you can glean free fruits and vegetables:  fallingfruit.org – mapping the urban harvest!  It also identifies public water wells and – – trash bins and dumpsters with excess food waste.  alrightly then!

You click on the number and the map becomes more and more local – I did not know that there were black walnut trees in Downers Grove with nuts free for the taking!  Somebody figure out how to locate the best dumpsters, please.  This is intriguing!