Current Events in February 2013

While there has been progress in narrowing the gap between whites and blacks in the battle against cancer, it has been spotty.

The cancer death rate for men declined faster among African Americans than among whites in the latest time period, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society, narrowing the racial disparity in overall cancer death rates.

But while gaps are closing for some cancers -- such as lung and other smoking-related cancers and for prostate cancer -- the racial disparity has widened for colorectal cancer and female breast cancer, cancers that are most affected by screening and treatment.

The findings are published in Cancer Statistics for African Americans, 2013 which appears in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. The report and its consumer version, Cancer Facts & Figures for African Americans 2013-2014, provide current data on cancer incidence, mortality, survival, screening test use, and risk factors for African Americans.

Significant decline

The decrease in overall cancer death rates among African American males was the largest of any racial or ethnic group during the most recent time period. The reduction in overall cancer death rates since the early 1990s translates to the avoidance of nearly 200,000 deaths from cancer among African Americans.

Meanwhile, five-year relative survival rates are lower for African Americans than whites for most cancers at each stage of diagnosis. "These disparities largely reflect unequal access to health care and other socioeconomic factors," said Otis W. Brawley. M.D., American Cancer Society chief medical officer. "While cancer death rates among African American men have been declining rapidly, they remain 33 percent higher than those among white men, evidence that more can and should be done to accelerate this progress by making sure all Americans have equal access to cancer prevention, early detection, and state-of-the-art treatments."

The report finds that from 2000 to 2009, the overall cancer death rate declined faster among African American males than white males (2.4 percent vs. 1.7 percent per year), but similarly among females of both races (1.5 percent and 1.4 percent per year, respectively).

Other findings

About 176,620 new cancer cases and 64,880 cancer deaths are expected among African Americans in 2013.

• The most commonly diagnosed cancers among African American men are prostate (37 percent of all cancers), lung (14 percent), and colon and rectum (10 percent).
• Among African American women, the most common cancers are breast (33 percent of all cancers), lung (13 percent), and colon and rectum (11 percent).
• African American males have higher incidence rates than whites for all cancers combined (15 percent higher) and for the most common cancers (including prostate, lung, colorectal, kidney, and pancreas).
• African American females have lower overall incidence rates than whites for all cancers combined (6 percent lower) and for many cancers, including the two most common: breast and lung.
• Cancer death rates remain 33 percent higher among African American men than white men, despite the larger declines among African American men in the most recent time period.
• The cancer death rate among African American women is 16 percent higher than that among white women, despite a 6 percent lower cancer incidence rate.
• The higher overall cancer death rates among African Americans compared to whites is due largely to higher death rates for cancers of the breast and colorectum in women and for cancers of the prostate, lung and bronchus, and colorectum in men.
• The disparity in lung cancer death rates between African American and white men has been reduced by half overall (from an excess of 50 percent in 1990-1992 to 26 percent in 2005-2009) and has been eliminated in adults younger than age 40, likely reflecting faster declines in smoking prevalence among African Americans compared to whites.
• African American men have historically had higher smoking prevalence than white men, though in recent years the rates have converged. African American women have generally had slightly lower smoking prevalence than white women over the past two decades.
• Smoking prevalence among high school students is markedly lower among African Americans than whites. As of 2011, 14 percent of African American high school boys and 7 percent of African American girls smoked cigarettes, compared to 22 percent of white boys and 19 percent of white girls.
• Despite similar mammography screening rates, only about half (51 percent) of breast cancers diagnosed among African American women are diagnosed at a local stage, compared with 61 percent among white women. The difference has been largely attributed to a lower frequency of and longer intervals between mammograms, and a lack of timely follow-up of suspicious results.
• Incidence rates for colorectal cancer are 23 percent higher in African American men and 22 percent higher in African American women compared with white men and women, respectively, and death rates are 53 percent higher in African American men and 46 percent higher in African American women, reflecting differences in risk factors, screening, and treatment. In 2010, 56 percent of African Americans aged 50 and older were up to date on guideline-recommended colorectal screening compared with 62 percent of whites.
• Overweight and obesity are more common among African American women and girls than white women and girls, while there is less racial disparity among men and boys. Fifty-nine percent of African American women and 25 percent of African American girls are obese compared to 33 percent of white women and 15 percent of white girls.

Looking for a job and like the home improvements business? The Home Depot may have just what you're looking for.

The world's largest home improvement retailer says it has started filling more than 80,000 seasonal positions to assist customers during the company's busiest selling season. This year, the company is hiring ten thousand more spring associates than it did last year to support anticipated sales growth in the spring.

"Spring is always a special season for us, when we can offer employment opportunities for literally tens of thousands of Americans," said Tim Crow, executive vice president - Human Resources. "We find some of our best associates during our peak season, and many of them have built long, meaningful careers with us."

Variety of positions

Job opportunities range from part-time to full-time and are available on a market-by-market basis based

on individual store needs and geographical variance in climate. Job seekers can begin applying online now.

For those returning military and veterans who are interested in a position, The Home Depot recently launched its Online Military Skills Translator, a new tool designed to help translate and match an applicant's unique military skills with positions that might offer the best fit.

The firm has also partnered with military focused career fairs and will be participating in events throughout 2013. Both the skills translator and 2013 events calendar can be found here.

The company says it encourages technical school and college students, as well as retirees, to apply.

When it comes to preparing your own federal taxes, you have a fast, safe and free option. It’s called Free File, and is available here.

Free File offers brand-name tax software to anyone who earned $57,000 or less last year; that's 70 percent of all taxpayers. If you earned more, there are free online fillable forms. Both options allow you to file returns electronically and use direct deposit, which is the fastest way to get refunds.

Private-public partnership

The nation’s leading tax software companies have partnered with the IRS to make their products available for free. Each company sets its own eligibility criteria, generally based on income, state residency, age, military service or eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). There is also a software option that is available in Spanish for people who earned $30,000 or less.

Free File does the hard work for you. The software asks questions; you provide the answers. It picks the right forms, does the math and helps you find all the tax benefits for which you are eligible.

All participating Free File partners have been vetted and use the latest in security technology. Some Free File software providers also offer state tax returns for free or for a fee.

Free File fillable forms

Free File fillable forms is the electronic version of IRS paper forms. It’s best for people experienced and comfortable preparing their own returns on paper. It does not support state tax returns.

Some Free File software products also are available in select free tax preparation sites operated by Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE).

Taxpayers can use VITA or TCE computers to access Free File, prepare their own state and federal returns with a trained and certified volunteer on stand-by to help and e-file -- all for free.

There was a time when couples looked forward to some peace and quiet around the house, some time to themselves. The kids were grown and on their own. Their parents were financially and physically independent.

But increasingly, adults in their 40s and 50s find their financial and caregiving responsibilities haven't ended. A study by Pew Research Center finds 47 percent of adults in the 40s and 50s age bracket have a parent over age 65 and are either raising a young child or financially supporting a grown one.

About 15 percent find themselves in the so-called “sandwich generation,” financially supporting both an elderly parent and a child. The survey, however, finds most of the financial pressure is coming from adult children, who have been unable to find launch careers.

Sandwich generation

The survey found that the number of people in the “sandwich generation” has remained fairly constant in recent years, but the amount of money they are required to spend to support family members has gone up quickly.

In the category of adults in their 40s and 50s who have at least one child age 18 or older, 73% report providing at least some financial help in the past year to at least one child. Many of the children receiving support are still in school but others say they have been unable to find jobs that pay enough for them to support themselves.

The Pew researchers say the Great Recession and slow recovery have taken a disproportionate toll on young adults. In 2010, the number of young adults who had jobs was the lowest it had been since the government started collecting this data in 1948. Those who were employed from 2007 to 2011 saw their pay cut more than any other age group.

Plans on hold

All this means a lot of “empty nest” plans have to be put on hold, creating a mixed bag of emotions. On one hand, parents want to be helpful. On the other, there are feelings of uncertainty, frustration and sometimes exhaustion.

“We mostly found very positive feelings about adults helping their children in the emerging adulthood stage of life, from around ages 18 to 30,” said Karen Hooker, director of the Oregon State University (OSU) Center for Healthy Aging Research, who recently conducted a similar study. “Feelings about helping parents weren’t so much negative as just filled with more angst and uncertainty. As a society we still don’t socialize people to expect to be taking on a parent-caring role, even though most of us will at some point in our lives. The average middle-aged couple has more parents than children.”

Hooker and her team also conclude that an economic recession and tough job market have made it hard on young adults to start their careers and families. At the same time, many older people are living longer, which adds new and unanticipated needs that their children often must step up to assist with. The researchers found that, while many couples anticipated the need to assist their children, they were less prepared when their parents needed assistance.

Difficulties

Many middle-aged people told Hooker it was difficult to make any plans, due to disruptions and uncertainty about a parent’s health at any point in time. And most said they we’re willing to help their aging parents, but a sense of being time-starved was a frequent theme.

“It brings my heart joy to be able to provide for my mom this way,” one study participant said. “There are times when it’s a burden and I feel resentful.”

The dual demands of children still transitioning to independence, and aging parents who need increasing amounts of care is causing many of the study participants to re-evaluate their own lives. The experience has prompted some to reflect on their own futures.

“I don’t care if I get old,” a participant said. “I just don’t want to become debilitated. So I would rather have a shorter life and a healthy life than a long life like my mom, where she doesn’t have a life. She doesn’t have memories. Our memories are what make us who we are.”

I’m a 70s baby.

So that means when it came to television my eyes were glued to shows like “All in the Family,” “Good Times” and one of my all-time favorites, the “Brady Brunch.”  

One of my favorite episodes of the “Brady Bunch” is when the Brady family goes  to Hawaii and some of the characters experience bad luck for wearing a necklace with a small statue of a tiki dangling from it.

The episode is a three-parter and I remember as a kid nearly collapsing in disappointment when I saw those evil white letters spread across the screen that said “To be continued.”

And did I get to see the following episodes the next day or even later on that week?

Nope, just like everyone else I had to wait an entire week to see what would happen to Greg, Peter and Bobby when they went to that spooky burial ground to undo the curse of the tiki.

Being kept in suspense is the one thing that I really disliked about that episode.

No waiting

Well today, consumers can watch TV in an entirely different way and almost gone are the days when viewers have to wait an entire week to catch episodes of their favorite shows.

With services like On-Demand, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime and a bunch of other companies that offer streaming, people have nearly total control of what they watch and when they want to watch it.

How many times have you heard about a groundbreaking new show through the media or through your friends, but felt no sense of urgency to catch the series on the night it airs, because you know that you can watch it anytime you want.

So instead of adjusting your schedule to watch the HBO show “Girls” for example, you decide to stream the entire first season and watch it in one day, which is the way many folks view programs these days, and the trend isn’t likely to reverse itself anytime soon.

To take advantage of this new normal, streaming companies like Netflix have moved into the business of creating their own television shows and offering entire seasons for viewers to watch instead of rolling out episodes one at a time.

Original content

The company released its first original series “House of Cards” this past Friday at midnight, starring Kevin Spacey, and the company is choosing to offer all 13 episodes at once to viewers, which is a huge attempt to not only give many consumers what they want, but also to move Netflix from being just a distribution company to being a hub for original content.

The company says that giving consumers the ability to access entire seasons up front puts Netflix in a better position to compete with those cable networks that are also moving towards making streaming a bigger part of their business.

“Part of our goal is to become like HBO faster than HBO can become Netflix,” said the company’s CEO, Reed Hastings, in a published interview. “Perhaps people saw us in the past as a distributor or aggregator. We want to have an experience that cannot be replicated by our competitors.”

In a seperate interview with Bloomberg, Hastings said he believed that offering entire seasons to consumers right off the bat will be the complete norm in the next couple of years, and he says when people look back; they’ll ultimately recognize that Netflix was responsible for sparking the change.

On the cusp

“We’re on the cusp of something that will change television forever,” he said. “Our view is that over the next couple of years as Internet TV really grows, people will look back and say that this was the turning point.”

Also, to many fans' liking, Netflix will be re-releasing the comedy series “Arrested Development” starring Jason Bateman.

The show was a cult favorite for three years on the Fox Network from 2003 to 2006 and Hastings believes releasing new episodes is just the beginning of consumers choosing streaming companies over cable television.

However some may disagree with Hastings because networks like HBO and Showtime have a lot more muscle in terms of overall reputation and just being in the consciousness of consumers, but Hastings believes eventually Netflix will be able to compete neck and neck with the many cable giants and be able to offer consumers just as much original content.

“Relative to HBO, we’re much deeper on the tech side, and relative to Amazon, were much deeper on the creative side,” he said.

“We’re able to do more and more calculations and big-data statistics so that what we do is represent Netflix more and more as a place where you come for relaxation escape.”

Rerun city

Some might say that creating original content is exactly what’s needed for Netflix, as the company’s image has taken a few hits lately, namely because of its reputation for offering old movie selections in its streaming packages.

“We just upgraded to the Netflix instant streaming service,” she wrote in a ConsumerAffairs posting.

“Went through lots of technical hoops to make it happen (purchased a new Netflix ready Blu-ray player, etc.) We knew there were other ways of doing it.

"We were just trying to make our movie watching experience as easy as possible. We were so disappointed with the selection of old movies and TV shows available! These were not second run in our view, more like 4^th 5^th or worse," she wrote.

So it will be interesting to see how successful Netflix will be at re-strengthening its image among consumers and also how successful it will be in changing the way other companies and networks offer their programming.

Because a person should never have to wait an entire week to watch the conclusion of a multi-part episode, especially a little kid who just wanted to see how the Brady kids made out with the tiki necklace and that darn  ancient curse.

In its first action against a tax relief company, the Federal Trade Commission has won a settlement order that requires American Tax Relief and its founders to pay $15 million and to get out of the business of selling tax relief services.

Alexander Seung Hahn and his wife, Joo Hyun Park, and their company were charged in 2010 with bilking consumers out of more than $100 million by falsely claiming they could reduce their tax debts.

"I am very angry," said Bettie of Vanceboro, N.C., who wrote to ConsumerAffairs about her experience with the company. "They got $4,800.00 of my money and then would not answer the phone. I just settled with the IRS myself."

"They stole my $6000 and won't return it," said Rick of Fox Point, Wis. 

It was even worse for Abdul of Rio Rancho, N.M.: "I contacted American Tax Relief in 2004. I had $4,500.00 pulled out of my bank account in less than one hour. Within 24 hours they needed $4,500.00 more to send out the complete contract. Within 72 hours they had taken another $4,500.00 from my account without my knowledge and never heard from them again."

Assets frozen

A court subsequently halted the allegedly illegal practices, froze the defendants’ assets, and appointed a receiver to manage the company pending resolution of the case.

In August 2012, the court entered partial summary judgment in favor of the FTC, finding that the defendants falsely claimed they already had significantly reduced the tax debts of thousands of people and falsely told individual consumers they qualified for tax relief programs that would significantly reduce their tax debts.  The court found Hahn personally liable for the challenged practices.

When it comes to fast-food places, it’s a pretty big deal when a restaurant makes changes, because it seems that year after year consumers are stuck with the same old menu items, décor and level of food quality -- and the only thing that ever changes is the price.

So when restaurants finally get around to actually making a change, many consumers get a little excited and head to the nearest fast-food joint to see how good or bad the new menu item really is, and this year there are a few new items that a lot of folks will be eager to check out.

Take Pizza Hut, for example, that just announced its new “Pizza Sliders” right after the Super Bowl.

The rounded miniature slices appear to be about bagel size and purchasing a box gives all who are sharing the pizza the chance to have their pie personalized.

So instead of ordering a large pizza and having different toppings on either side to appease more than one person, each person can order their own and get the exact toppings they want.

Consumers can either choose from a $10 box containing nine sliders or from a box of 3 that costs $5.

Smaller and healthier

It seems like the pizza chain is responding to the new trend of making foods smaller with fewer calories, which is a complete turnaround from the traditional fast-food approach of giving customers a lot of food for a few bucks.

With many people trying to eat healthier but still unwilling to give up fast-food completely, many chains have decreased the size of some of their menu items and are choosing to offer lower calorie options.

Panera Bread is one of these places, as the sandwich chain announced its new “Hidden Menu,” which it tested in one of its New York locations towards the end of last year.

The hidden menu items, which won’t be on the overhead menu board, consists of healthier food choices like the Power Breakfast Egg White Bowl with Roasted Turkey, the Power Breakfast Egg Bowl with Steak, the Power Mediterranean Chicken Salad, the Power Mediterranean Roasted Turkey, the Power Chicken Hummas Bowl and the Power Steak Lettuce Wraps.

The company says customers will need to notify a restaurant associate if they’re interested in ordering from the Hidden Menu, and even though Panera is considered healthier than say McDonald’s or Wendy’s, it seems the chain wants to offer even healthier items that don't include bread.

Chicken nuggets

Another franchise offering a new menu item is Burger King, which seems to always be just a little bit behind McDonald’s when it comes to generating consumer excitement about its new foods, and with its new chicken nuggets  being released, Burger King hopes that people who love McDonald's McNuggets will give Burger King's a try. 

This isn’t the first time the Florida based chain attempted to rival McDonald’s chicken McNuggets, as Burger King ‘s first version of the miniature chicken bites were closer to chicken strips, and were called chicken tenders.

However, Burger King is now offering nuggets that closely resemble McDonald’s, so instead of the company trying to offer different menu items from Mickey D’s, its trying to beat the golden arches at their own game.

“As we move into 2013, we are focused on continuing to deliver best-in-class products to our guests,” said Flavia Faugeres, global chief marketing officer for Burger King. “Our new limited-time menu options give even more delicious reasons to visit Burger King restaurants in the New Year.”

But will Burger King’s nuggets be enough to get dissatisfied customers back in to its restaurants? A good portion of our readers have been pretty displeased with the chain, after all.

“I had ordered a Double Whopper and asked that it be made as it appears on the picture on the menu board,” wrote Kelly of Washington State in a ConsumerAffair posting. “I noticed on my receipt that I was charged an extra charge for lettuce, onion and tomato of $.50.”

“To me, this is clearly misrepresentation of what you claim your product is for the price you charge.”

“I think that the combination of the hot box burger patties which are all but cold and the less than acceptable garnishments, I am just about to the point of not going back again.”

Taco Doritos

Taco Bell is also offering a new menu item, but strangely the menu item won’t be in restaurants, it will be offered in other places like in 7-Elevens, delis and corner stores.

The snack food company Frito Lay will soon roll out its Taco Bell flavored Doritos, which the company hopes will catch on like Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Tacos, which was released almost a year ago.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Taco Bell has sold over 300 million of its Doritos Locos Tacos since its release, and Frito Lay which typically doesn’t release snack foods with fast-food chains on its packaging, hopes consumers will flock to the nacho flavored tortilla chips in the same way they flocked to the tacos.

Now whether these new food items will catch on remains to be seen, but it’s safe to say that curious consumers will be heading to some of these chains to see what all of the hub-bub is about.

Whether they'll like the new menu items is another story entirely. I guess we'll see.

Efforts by federal investigators to keep unsafe products from abroad out of the country are paying off.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says its people stopped nearly three million units of consumer products that violated U.S. safety rules from reaching consumers in the third quarter of fiscal year 2012. That's nearly three times the number of what are termed “violative units” stopped in the previous two quarters combined.

More than 5,700 different imported consumer products were screened in the third quarter, with 420 of them identified as failing to comply with CPSCs safety rules.

From October 2011 through June 2012, CPSC investigators and their U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) counterparts have prevented about four million units of violative and hazardous imported products from entering the U.S. and ending up on store shelves.

Thousands of kids products kept out

According to a joint release issued by CPSC and CBP, during the past four years, at least 2,400 different toys and children's products -- making up more than two million individual units -- have been stopped at the ports because of the presence of safety hazards or the failure to meet federal safety standards.

“Strong standards and vigilant port surveillance have advanced consumer safety by reducing the number of items needing to be recalled from the marketplace,” said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum.

Toys and children’s products continued to make up the bulk of products stopped by CPSC investigators and CBP officers in the third quarter. Products with levels of lead exceeding federal limits topped the group and were followed by those with phthalate levels in excess of federal limits. Toys and other articles with small parts that present a choking hazard for children younger than three years old rounded out the top three products stopped. A significant number of fireworks being shipped to the U.S. for Independence Day activities nationwide were fourth on the list of total products stopped in the third quarter.

In the first two quarters of fiscal year 2012, CPSC and CBP screened about 6,600 imported products at ports of entry, identified about 560 different consumer products that were in violation of U.S. safety rules or found to be hazardous, and prevented more than one million units of violative or dangerous products from reaching consumers.

CPSC has been screening products at ports since it began operating in 1973. The agency intensified its efforts in 2008 with the creation of an import surveillance division and again in 2011 with the creation of the Office of Import Surveillance.

If you're looking to sell your home, the times appear right.

Home prices nationwide -- including distressed sales -- shot up by 8.3 percent in December from the same month a year ago. The change in the CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI) represents the biggest increase since May 2006 and the 10^th consecutive monthly increase in home prices nationally.

On a month-over-month basis -- including distressed sales -- home prices increased by 0.4 percent in December 2012 from November. The HPI analysis shows that all but four states are experiencing year-over-year price gains.

Excluding distressed sales, home prices increased 7.5 percent in December from December 2011. On a month-over-month basis -- excluding distressed sales -- home prices inched up 0.9 percent in December from November 2012. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.

More increases ahead

The CoreLogic Pending HPI indicates that January 2013 home prices, including distressed sales, are expected to rise by 7.9 percent on a year-over-year basis from January 2012 and fall by one percent on a month-over-month basis from December 2012, reflecting a seasonal winter slowdown.

Excluding distressed sales, January 2013 house prices are poised to rise 8.6 percent year over year from January 2012 and by 0.7 percent month over month from December 2012.

“December marked 10 consecutive months of year-over-year home price improvements, and the strongest growth since the height of the last housing boom more than six years ago,” said Mark Feming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “We expect price growth to continue in January as our Pending HPI shows strong year-over-year appreciation.”

“We are heading into 2013 with home prices on the rebound,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “The upward trend in home prices in 2012 was broad based with 46 of 50 states registering gains for the year. All signals point to a continued improvement in the fundamentals underpinning the U.S. housing market recovery.”

Highlights as of December 2012

• Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were: Arizona (+20.2 percent), Nevada (+15.3 percent), Idaho (+14.6 percent), California (+12.6 percent) and Hawaii (+12.5 percent).
• Including distressed sales, this month only four states posted home price depreciation: Delaware (-3.4 percent), Illinois (-2.7 percent), New Jersey (-0.9 percent) and Pennsylvania (-0.5 percent).
• Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were: Arizona (+16.4 percent), Nevada (+14.7 percent), California (+12.8 percent), Hawaii (+11.7 percent) and North Dakota (+10.8 percent).
• Excluding distressed sales, this month only three states posted home price depreciation: Delaware (-1.9 percent), Alabama (-1.0 percent) and New Jersey (-0.5 percent).
• Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to December 2012) was -26.9 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -20.8 percent.
• The five states with the largest peak-to-current declines, including distressed transactions, were Nevada (-52.4 percent), Florida (-43.5 percent), Arizona (-39.8 percent), Michigan (-36.5 percent) and California (-35.4 percent).
• Of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population, only 16 are showing year-over-year declines in November -- two fewer than in November.

The CoreLogic Pending HPI is a proprietary and exclusive metric that provides the most current indication of trends in home prices. It is based on Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data that measure price changes for the most recent month.

You care about what your family eats, so you make it a practice when shopping to read the labels on food packages. And you have the right to expect that the information on the label -- including the ingredient list -- is accurate.

The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act -- which provides authority for Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) consumer-protection work -- requires that labels on packaged food products in interstate commerce not be false or misleading in any way.

To that end, FDA monitors food products to ensure that the labels are truthful and not misleading, says Michael W. Roosevelt, acting director of compliance at FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN). If a product is not labeled as required by law, the agency takes appropriate action.

FDA steps in

For example, when FDA received complaints from U.S. firms and attorneys claiming that imports of pomegranate juice concentrates were not -- as labeled --100 percent pomegranate, the agency took a closer look.

After conducting its own analyses, FDA found that some of the samples contained undeclared ingredients including artificial colors, sweeteners and less expensive fruit juices, such as black currant, apple, pear or cherry juices in place of pomegranate juice.

The agency issued an import alert for pomegranate juice exported by certain companies in Iran and Turkey, based on findings that the samples FDA analyzed were “not as they were represented to be on the labels and therefore adulterated and misbranded.”

An import alert allows FDA to detain -- without physical examination -- imported products that appear to violate the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. When a shipment is detained, the importer has a window of opportunity to introduce evidence to overcome the appearance of a violation, during which time the product cannot be distributed.

In other circumstances, when the agency identifies a food product with labeling that is false or misleading (misbranded), it may inform the manufacturer -- often in the form of a warning letter -- of the violation of law and ask the firm to correct the problem. Most firms contacted about a labeling violation voluntarily comply, Roosevelt says.

Those that do not can be subject to additional legal action to remove the misbranded products from commerce. Under such circumstances, these products cannot return to the market until the manufacturers take action to correct the violations.

“In the case of the pomegranate juice,” Roosevelt says, “the burden is on the importer to show that the product labeling is accurate.” “Otherwise, the juice is not going to make it into the U.S.”

Import alerts are listed here, and there are a number of different ways to search for firms and products. FDA also maintains an alphabetical list of warning letters by subject in which consumers can find previous examples of past warning letters citing misbranding or adulteration of food.

Regulations set standards

In addition, FDA regulations include formal standards of identity for many kinds of food, including milk and cream; cheese and related cheese products; frozen desserts; bakery products; cereal flours and related products; macaroni and noodle products; canned fruits; canned fruit juices; fruit butters, jellies, preserves and related products; fruit pies; canned vegetables; vegetable juices; frozen vegetables; eggs and egg products; fish and shellfish; cacao products, tree nut and peanut products; beverages; margarine; sweeteners and table syrups; and food dressings and flavorings.

These regulations help protect consumers against the intentional substitution of ingredients without declaring those ingredients in labeling (e.g. using an unlisted, less expensive ingredient to reduce the cost of manufacturing). The standards of identity require that products contain the ingredients required by the standard.

“In other words,” says Roosevelt, “the product is what the label says it is.”

What a consumer can do

FDA receives much of its information on possible product labeling violations from competitors in industry, at which point it often examines or tests the product to confirm or disprove the claims.

If consumers suspect a label is inaccurate, however, FDA welcomes information from them as well. Consumer complaint coordinators located in 19 FDA district offices throughout the United States and Puerto Rico will listen, document your complaint or concern, and determine the appropriate contact for follow-up. You can find the number of the complaint coordinator in your area here.

You can also report adverse events from foods, drugs and other FDA-regulated products through MedWatch.  

Kringle Toys and Gifts of American Fork, UT, is recalling about 4,200 Nanospheres magnetic desk toys.

If two or more magnets are swallowed, they can link together inside a child's intestines and clamp onto body tissues, causing intestinal obstructions, perforations, sepsis and death. Internal injury from magnets can pose serious lifelong health effects.

The firm has received no reports of incidents or injury. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has received 80 reports of incidents involving ingestion of other high powered magnets, resulting in 79 reports seeking medical intervention.

The products were sold for use as an adult novelty item or desk toy with appropriate hazard warnings, stating the intended age level as 14 years and older. Nanospheres is a mass of 231 small powerful magnets that are either silver, gold or black in color. Each magnet is about 5mm in diameter. The magnets come in a circular metal canister approximately 2.5 inches in diameter and 1.5 inches tall with a black and blue label displaying the product name “Nanospheres.”

The magnets, manufactured in China, were sold at Amazon.com from November 2010 through December 2011 for about $25 to $30.

Consumers should immediately stop using the product and contact the company to arrange for return and a full refund.

Consumers may contact Kringles toll-free at (888) 801-1649 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. MT Monday through Friday, or by e-mail at customerservice@kringlestoysandgifts.com.

AARP presents itself as an advocacy organization for seniors and no one would deny that it vigorously lobbies Congress on behalf of seniors. But in other areas, it's sometimes a little difficult to discern just how AARP puts its members' interests first.

Take life insurance, for example. Experts say many seniors really have little need for an expensive life insurance policy, yet AARP and its partner, New York Life, write millions of dollars per year worth of term life insurance for AARP members like Debi of Foley, Mo., who recently posted to ConsumerAffairs.

"We have had a life insurance policy on my husband for $8,000. The monthly amount was $84. Since 2008, I paid it monthly. Then without notification, they increased the insurance premium due to his age of 75 to $63.87 more a month," Debi said.

Chances are the policy on Debi's husband specified that the premium increases at age 75 and, quite likely, at other pre-determined ages. This is normal for term insurance, even though Debi may have overlooked it when taking out the policy.  

"Consumers think of these products as legacy products when they're really short-term security products," said Doug Heller, senior consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog. "A lot of senior citizens don't appreciate that they are likely to be left with nothing as a result of these sales. Insurance is complicated. So when AARP gives it their stamp of approval, it just feels right. And it's often not right."

Leaving aside for a minute the question of whether Debi's husband should be paying for life insurance in the first place, let's look at that $147 rate. Is it competitive?

We went to TermForSale.com and requested a quote for a 10-year term policy for a 75-year-old non-smoker. Genworth, a highly-rated company, offered a $50,000 policy for $1,162 per year -- $113 per month -- for a preferred (meaning a non-smoker with no major health issues) policy, quite a bit less than Debi was paying.

Independent insurance agent Ed Hinerman tried a similar test. He's 58 years old and was quoted $211 per month by New York Life for an AARP plan. Using his own portfolio of companies, he found an $84 per month plan from Protective Life.

"If you’re healthy you could be paying as little as 1/3 of what New York Life wants," says Hinerman. "But our beloved AARP preys on us old folks and our parents and makes us believe that they are there for us. What a crock!"

Of course, all kinds of variables apply here. Many companies require medical testing before issuing a firm quote. New York Life doesn't require an exam for its AARP plan but it does require the applicant to provide medical information, which can affect the premium and can lead to payment disputes when the policyholder dies.

AARP did not respond to requests for comment on this article, blaming travel schedules of key staff members.

Built-in conflict

Insurance experts will tell you there is a built-in conflict when trusted non-profits get into selling insurance, travel packages and other services. 

"The problem with affinity groups like AARP is that a lot of times the group is held in great trust and esteem and when the group is selling something, there's a potential conflict," said J. Robert Hunter, Director of Insurance for the Consumer Federation of America, former Texas Insurance Commissioner and former head of the national flood insurance program.

"My wife's college sent her a low-cost group life insurance plan. I went to the website and found out that if you bought it online not using the affinity, it cost less, so there was a kickback to the college," Hunter said. "These groups tend to be making significant money off these products."

Consumer Watchdog's Heller concurs: "The way insurance companies rip people off is by credentialing their product in ways that overcome the product's failing and AARP is one of the most respected marketing tools that the industry has come up with. AARP's honorable brand is really sullied by these dishonorable products."

If you have a legitimate need for a term policy, Hunter recommends shopping online, saying it's "better than having an agent in your kitchen" but stresses that most insurance comparison sites get a kickback from the policies they list. TermForSale.com is one of the few comparison sites that lists all companies, even those that don't kick back a portion of the premium, he said.

Why have it?

But the larger question is why a 75-year-old man is paying for a term life insurance policy at all.

The purpose of life insurance, after all, is to provide a certain measure of security if a family's breadwinner dies prematurely. Term insurance is often ideal for younger people of working age, during the time that they are raising children and acting as the family's primary provider. 

Term insurance can be quite affordable for younger people for the simple reason that they are less likely to die, but the premiums for older people are much higher, causing many seniors to abandon their policies.

"The insurance industry knows a lot more about when you're going to die than you do," Heller said. "They price these in such a way that they get you off the policy right before you die. They know how to get you out of these policies, how to make them unsustainable."

That, in a nutshell, is why people like Debi's husband encounter drastic premium increases when they hit significant birthdays.

Besides, if one is lucky enough to make it to 75, it's likely the children are grown, the house is paid for and that the senior is collecting Social Security and perhaps pension payments that include survivor's benefits for those left behind. Rather than buying expensive insurance, personal savings can be used to cover what are euphemistically called "final" expenses -- meaning burial.

Earlier generations sometimes regarded life insurance as just that -- burial insurance. But term insurance purchased late in life is much too expensive to be used in this manner and simply amounts to, at best, a bad investment, most financial planners agree. If Debi's husband, for example, had been paying $84 per month for 10 years, he would have paid more than $10,000 for an $8,000 policy. If he died after letting the policy lapse, he would have lost that $10,000. If he died while the policy was still in force, he would have paid $2,000 more than his estate received from the insurance company.

Back in the day, there was something called an insurance "route man." This was an agent who sold relatively valueless life insurance policies to working families, then went around in person to collect the premium monthly or weekly, using the "get out there and sell something" philosophy outlined back in 1909 in the Life Insurance Independent, an insurance industry trade magazine.

Hucksters vs. professionals

This huckster's approach to the insurance business got short shrift in many industry publications in earlier times. No less a figure than the late Dr. Solomon Stephen Huebner, Emeritus Professor of Insurance at the Wharton School, wrote extensively about ethical issues in the life insurance industry.

Huebner led a movement to "professionalize" insurance sales, insisting that life insurance agents needed to view their mission as similar to that of  doctors, CPAs and lawyers.

"The professional must always be aware of and protect the client’s best interests," Huebner wrote, insisting that "the practitioner should abandon the strictly selfish commercial view and ever keep in mind the advantage of the client."

AARP seems to have rejected this philosophy, using advertising to urge life insurance onto its elderly members who, in most cases, would be better off putting the money into a savings account or mutual fund or simply spending it on themselves.

This is something a reputable insurance agent would have explained to Ellen of Jackson, Mich., who posted this in June 2012:

AARP Term Life Policy - I want to cancel my policy and get the $14,000.00 that was supposed to be paid to my benefactors, who told me to cash it as they do not need the money and I needed the money. I have had this policy since 1996, paying a premium of $97.31 monthly. I was told I cannot cash this in and get my money. They want me to go to a permanent life policy of which I was told would start at payout of $2,000.00. I have paid in more than $14,000.00 over the years. So as far as I am concerned, I am out all my money. This is a scam type of insurance.

Term is temporary

Ellen obviously did not understand what she was buying back in 1996 when she apparently signed up for a $14,000 term policy that has so far cost her -- if her figures are correct -- nearly $20,000. 

What Dr. Huebner would have explained to her is that a term policy is temporary -- good only for a certain term. If it's a 10-year policy, it covers you for the 10 years it's in force. If you die during that 10 years, your heirs "win" and collect the money. If you survive, you win but your heirs don't get any money, unless you renew for another 10 years -- at a higher premium -- and die before the end of that or a subsequent term.

Premiums, not surprisingly, go up sharply as you get older. A term policy that offers a "guaranteed" premium most likely does so only for the duration of the term. In most cases, it doesn't guarantee that you can renew at that rate, or at any other rate, at the end of the term. Only by reading the policy carefully -- or finding an ethical insurance agent -- can the consumer know for sure.

No residual value

So, what many consumers miss -- and what AARP and New York Life didn't bother to explain to Ellen -- is that there is no residual value in a term life policy. When the term expires, that's it. The money paid as premiums is gone. Term insurance is not a savings account, it's insurance -- and temporary insurance at that.

"Whole life," on the other hand, is insurance that has some residual value. In some cases, after you pay premiums for a defined period -- 20 or 30 years, perhaps -- the policy is paid up and you are covered for the rest of your life. Of course, you may have paid $100,000 for $50,000 worth of coverage but that's another story.

Very few reputable agents or financial advisors recommend whole life policies anymore. They are generally regarded as being not very good insurance -- and not much of an investment either. And there is no policy -- term or whole life -- that is going to be an economical purchase for someone in the 70-and-up age range. 

Consumers hoping to shield their families from having to shell out thousands of dollars in funeral expenses need to plan ahead. A modest investment portfolio started in middle age and allowed to grow over time will likely provide a higher "final" payment at much lower cost than a term policy. On the cost side, arranging for a simple funeral service and perhaps donating one's body to the nearest medical school can hold down final expenses. 

High hopes

Susan of Portsmouth, Va., is another consumer who had excessively high hopes for her term life policy:

My husband and I have had this insurance for five years and this is the second time the rates have gone up - this time, a whole $15.00. I suppose they will keep raising it until we can't afford it anymore and then we will cancel it. They know all about fixed incomes. If we cancel the insurance, we have nothing and will lose all the money we have put into it. They spend a ton of money on political issues. Why can't they afford to pay their claims and stop picking on seniors?

Well, we don't like to tell Susan this but unless she dies before the end of her term, she will "lose all the money" she has put into the insurance anyway. Insurance isn't savings and thinking of it that way leads consumers into making bad purchasing decisions.

If Susan's financial situation is so bleak that a $15 a month increase causes her pain, most financial advisors would say she should cancel the insurance and keep the money she is now paying for premiums. It would at least improve her standard of living a little and might enable her to save a few dollars for unforeseen expenses.

The sad truth is that many consumers of limited means will never benefit from the term insurance that they buy through organizations like AARP, simply because they are not likely to be able to afford the ever-rising premiums as they slip further into old age.

"What makes this story more interesting than your run-of-the-mill story of problematic issues of agents selling junk policies is that this is being done under the auspices of a credible organization that has earned the trust of people who, as a result, let their guard down," Doug Heller said. "Hey, it's AARP -- why would they steer me wrong?"

Good question. 

AARP responds

Who doesn’t want to live as long as they can? Because most people enjoy life, right?

Isn’t that what all of the proper eating and going to the gym is for? Isn’t that why we pay attention to the medical findings, frequent our doctors for checkups and take our vitamins every day?

Living a long life is what many people want, but they also want to live it healthfully, so in order to do that some people follow a long list of regimens and medical suggestions that oftentimes entail a major life change or some sort of difficult upheaval.   

But not everything you need to do in order to live longer requires a drastic change.

You don’t always have to search for the newest vitamin supplement or switch your daily routine to include a new workout to live longer, because there are many things you can do that require either no change or very little of it, say experts, and getting just a little bit more sleep is one of those things.

Enough sleep

Researchers at Pennsylvania University College of Medicine say that getting eight hours of sleep is a must for proper health and has a direct impact on living longer. This was discovered after scientists observed two groups of participants. One group slept for six hours or more most nights and the other group slept for less than six hours.

Researchers first followed up with the women of both groups after a 10-year period and then with the men after 14 years, and it was discovered that the women who got more hours of sleep or didn’t have issues with insomnia had a lower mortality rate.

And men who battled chronic insomnia or slept for under eight hours for a number of years had a significant risk of dying earlier compared to those who got the correct amount of sleep.

In a separate study conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 40 million working Americans get less than six hours of sleep, which is 30 percent of the workforce, which suggests that many of us may be robbing ourselves of days here on earth, simply by not getting to bed early enough.

Stand more, sit less

Another way to add days to your life, say experts,  is by standing more and sitting less, as numerous studies have shown that sitting down for extended periods of time on a continuous basis — which most of us do — can shorten your life significantly.

In a report released by the American Heart Association and conducted by researchers from the University of California, San Diego, it was learned that too much sitting can add an increasing amount of unhealthy fat around the heart.

“We wanted to see if sitting was related to the distribution of fat, because different types of fat are worse than others,” said lead study of the author Britta Larsen in a statement.

After studying more than 500 participants in the 65-year-old range, Larsen said that even if you do get enough exercise, but sit for long periods of time each day, you could be undoing a big portion of the health benefits associated with exercising, so people should really be conscious of coupling their workouts with standing more during the course of the day.

“In order to really be healthy you need to focus on both. Get enough exercise but also not sit for 10 hours per day like most of us do,” said Larsen. “Sitting really is bad for your heart, so we are hoping that the workplace, especially, becomes more standup-friendly.”

Which means it might be a good idea to look into in some standup work stations for your home office or workplace if you can.

Dental destiny

Very few people look forward to visiting the dentist and most times it has everything to do with a fear of pain, which is rarely as bad as most people anticipate, but avoiding the dentist, not flossing, and not brushing your teeth regularly, could lead to a bunch of potential health problems like heart disease and diabetes, a study shows.

Choosing not to stay on top of your dental hygiene can cause bacteria build-up that could eventually spill into the blood stream, said Walter Bretz, an oral microbiologist in an interview with Live Science.

“Certain bacteria present in the mouth may be related to clogging up the arteries by contributing to the plaque that builds on the walls of the arteries,” he said.

Internist Dr. Michael F. Roizen, who authored several books including Real Age: Are You as Young as You Can Be? Says having the proper periodontal treatment is important to living a longer and healthier life.

“These studies show that the presence of periodontal diseases, diseases most common in people with tooth loss, actually affects longevity,” he wrote.

“The best of these studies done at Emory University with the Centers for Disease Control, indicated that people with gingivitis and periodontitis have a mortality rate that is 23 percent to 46 percent higher than those who don’t, why? They are linked to increased rates of cardiovascular disease and stroke, as well as to an increase in mortality from other causes, such as infections,” he said.

Get out and about

Another way to add days to your life, that shouldn’t shake up your world too much, is by volunteering and helping out a particular social cause or project.

In a recent study published by Health Psychology, researchers said it’s not only volunteering that adds days to your life, it’s the reason why you volunteer that does the trick, meaning if your volunteer efforts come from a place of sincerity as opposed to coming from a place of “Hey, look at me I’m a person of the people,” it could allow for a longer life.

Researchers reported these findings after studying a group of participants since their high school graduation year of 1957, and in 2004 they questioned the study group about how much they’ve volunteered since that time.

After taking into account other lifestyle factors, the researchers found 4.3 percent of those who didn't volunteer died within four years of 2004, compared to 1.6 percent of those people who died who did volunteer.

Among other factors, the study authors contributed volunteering to living longer, especially the reasons why people volunteered.

“It is reasonable for people to volunteer in part because of benefits to the self; however, our research implies that, ironically, should these benefits to the self become the main motive for volunteering, they may not see those benefits," said Andrea Fuhrel-Forbis, one of the study authors.

So when it comes adding days to your life, there are definitely some things you can do that will be harder for you to start than others, but fortunately, by just tweaking a few of your ways and sticking to those tweaks, you can increase the chances of sticking around a little longer, because healthy living doesn’t always require a total life shift and monk-like discipline, which is good because if it did a lot of us would be in a lot of trouble.

Many seniors take calcium supplements hoping to help their bones withstand the wear and tear of aging. But a new, large-scale study finds that men may be paying a high price for any benefits they derive from the supplements.

The study found that a high intake of supplemental calcium appears to be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) death in men but not in women. The study looked at more than 388,000 participants between the ages of 50 and 71 years, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

Calcium supplements are known to be beneficial in preventing and treating osteoporosis -- a disorder much more common in women than men -- but the researchers noted that other than that, the health effect of calcium supplements remains largely unknown and has become “increasingly contentious.”

The researchers -- Qian Xiao, Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Md., and colleagues -- studied 388,229 men and women ages 50 to 71 years from the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study in six states and two metropolitan areas from 1995 through 1996. 

“In this large, prospective study we found that supplemental but not dietary calcium intake was associated with an increased CVD mortality in men but not in women,” the authors conclude.

“Whether there is a sex difference in the cardiovascular effect of calcium supplement warrants further investigation. Given the extensive use of calcium supplement in the population, it is of great importance to assess the effect of supplemental calcium use beyond bone health,” the authors said.

During an average 12 years of follow-up, 7,904 CVD deaths in men and 3,874 CVD deaths in women were identified and supplements containing calcium were used by 51 percent of men and 70 percent of women. Compared with non-supplement users, men with an intake of supplemental calcium of more than 1,000 mg/day had an increased risk of total CVD death, more specifically with heart disease, but not significantly with cerebrovascular disease death.

For women, supplemental calcium intake was not associated with CVD death, heart disease death or cerebrovascular disease death. Dietary calcium intake also was not associated with CVD death in men or women.

Alternatives for consumers

While the jury is still out on the relative safety of calcium supplements, scientists stressed that consuming calcium-rich foods -- rather than pills -- is a safer way to get bone-building calcium.

“[A] safe alternative to calcium supplements is to consume calcium-rich foods, such as low-fat dairy foods, beans and green leafy vegetables, which contain not only calcium but also a cocktail of essential minerals and vitamins,” said Susanna C. Larsson, Ph.D., of the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, in a commentary that accompanied the study.

“These non-dairy food sources of calcium have the added health benefits and have recently been reported to improve glycemic control in persons with diabetes. The paradigm ‘the more the better’ is invalid for calcium supplementation.”

When vacationing, is it better to travel alone or in a group?

It’s a question that a lot of travelers mentally toss back and forth, because traveling in a group certainly has its benefits whether you do it abroad or domestically, but so does traveling alone.

Although traveling in large numbers seems to be safer and extremely fun to do, it can also be quite exasperating, especially when people in your travel group share different interests and like to do different things.

At times, trying to figure out where to go, what to eat and what time to start the day can turn into an annoying game of people-pleasing. And most know that trying to appease everyone in a group is a task they'll never be able to pull off succesfully.

So to avoid these kinds of travel headaches, a good number of people choose to go on their journey unaccompanied and figure they can either meet people on the road or visit people they know in the towns they’re going to.

Also, history buffs, those who like to learn about different cultures and those into photography seem to like traveling alone more than others, as being able to carve out your own agenda is a crucial part of feeding an interest.

Dangers lurk

But it’s important for lone travelers to be aware of how to stay safe, especially on the heels of a 33-year old mother from Staten Island, NY., who was tragically killed after going to Istanbul, Turkey on a lone photography trip.

The details of how the victim, Sarai Sierra, was killed are still fuzzy, say police, and detectives are still working the case, but the tragic incident will more than likely put the issue of travel safety on a lot of consumers’ minds, especially those who may already be planning a trip by themselves.

According to some safety tips released by the U.S. State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs, one of the first things a person should do before traveling is research, learn and remember all of the cultural differences of a foreign country and also be knowledgeable of the political happenings to determine the level of safety.

The department advises travelers to use the website www.travel.state.gov to keep abreast of any news that may be developing in a country that you’re traveling into.

Consular Affairs released these safety instructions mainly for women travelers, but the tips really apply to both genders and should be followed regardless of whether one’s a seasoned traveler or if they’re heading out of the country alone for the first time.

Your itinerary

The government agency also says it’s important to give someone a copy of your travel itinerary and let them know where you will go, what cities you will visit and what hotels and hostels you’ll be staying in. If your plans change, let someone know. There have been many reports of lone travelers going missing without a trace once they deviated from their pre-planned itinerary and never told anyone.

People traveling alone should also schedule days to check-in with a friend or family member, so others know your current location and that you’re doing okay. However, Consular Affairs also says if you take this particular safety measure, its important you don’t miss a check-in appointment, since missing one will most likely spark immediate worry.

It’s also key to remember to be mindful of how you dress when traveling, say experts, and be sure you’re not wearing expensive looking jewelry or clothes that make you stand out. This is especially important for Americans to remember, as in many countries Americans are stereotyped to be well off with loads of credit cards, money and electronic gadgets on them.

Also, women in particular should be hyper aware of dressing in a way that doesn’t  make them stand out, as certain outfits could offend someone of a different culture, who may do more than just roll their eyes.

Experts also say women travelers should be especially aware of local customs when traveling abroad, as there have been reports of lone female travelers getting harassed, groped and even worse for merely speaking to a man directly and looking him in the eye. In some places this can be a sign of being flirtatious or disrespectful, experts say.

Backpacking

And when it comes to backpacking, a lot of people like to do it in a foreign country and by themselves, since much of the fun of backpacking is trekking through a beautiful location that you wouldn’t normally have access to while getting to know the locals.

And a lot of times hiking alone sounds wonderful because of the romanticized images many people have about being adventure-seeking explorers, but experts say it’s always best to backpack with at least one other person, especially in a foreign location since many criminals expect hikers to be traveling alone and decide to target them for wrong doing.

It’s also known that many backpackers have full backpacks that contain a lot of valuable items that they'll use during their travels, so for a criminal, a backpacker can be a one-stop shopping opportunity, so travelers should really be on alert.

The Bureau of Consular Affairs also says you should never announce to others that you’re traveling alone.

Of course this is against the new norm of people letting everyone know what their travel plans are through social media, and whether this practice has to do with excitement or a desire to make folks a little envious, it’s never a good idea to document where you’ll be and how many people you’ll be traveling with.

So keep these safety tips in mind if you’re traveling alone in the future, or you can travel with your friends or family members, which is great too. 

Because you might not be able to move around as fast as you like by traveling in a group, but at least you’ll have others along with you who can hopefully watch your back.

There are many good reasons to stay away from cocaine, starting with the fact that it's addictive, expensive and illegal. But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is sounding the alarm about another good reason.

Drug dealers increasingly use a veterinary de-worming agent, levamisole, to cut both cocaine and heroin. In a study based on U.S. emergency room reports, CDC says levamisole-contaminated cocaine is "an important emerging public health concern" in view of the nearly two million cocaine users in the U.S.

The drug, also used in the past as a cancer treatment, has caused infectious diseases and skin lesions among cocaine users. In fact, the effects of the drug have, in some cases, caused large patches of flesh to die.

Keeping ERs busy

"Not only is the cocaine causing harm, but the levamisole in it is causing health problems serious enough to bring people to the ER," said the CDC's Sara J. Vagi. "Nearly half of the patients in our case series were admitted to the hospital from the emergency department. There was one death."

Dermatologists were the first to call attention to the problem. Over the last several years they have been called upon to treat gruesome wounds in patients that all reported cocaine use.

The levamisole in the cocaine attacks the blood vessels running through the skin. Without blood, the skin dies. The condition is called necrotising vasculiti, meaning an interruption of blood flow to critical cells.

Used to cut cocaine since 2003

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Levamisole has been identified as a cocaine adulterant in the U.S. since 2003. It's not clear why dealers have chosen that drug as a diluting agent but health officials say it creates a similar effect to cocaine. Rather than cut the cocaine with harmless banking powder, they choose to add a substance that leads the purchaser to believer the cocaine is more pure.

By 2009, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) estimated that 69% of the cocaine seized contained levamisole. The current estimates of U.S. cocaine containing the drug are as high as 80 percent.

CDC researchers worked with local poison control centers and state health departments to compile case reports of emergency patients with neutropenia who admitted to cocaine or heroin use within a month of their visit to a healthcare facility. Of the 23 cases, more than half were from Michigan, 10 were from New Mexico and one was from Minnesota.

Nineteen of the 23 cases of levamisole-induced neutropenia and skin necrosis were reported from emergency rooms. More than half had infectious illnesses and nearly half reported active skin lesions. Other health problems included fever, sore throat, body aches, abscesses and chest pain.

On the front lines

"The serious health effects associated with levamisole, the substantial associated health care costs and the large number of people using cocaine in the United States put emergency physicians on the front line of this public health problem," Vagi said. "Our small sample size is likely an underestimation of the problem, given reports from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration showing that more than two-thirds of cocaine seized before arriving in the U.S. is laced with this dangerous contaminant."

The effects vary depending one the user's immune system and how much of the drug is consumed. Wounds caused by the drug do not heal, leaving a shiny scar. In some cases, large patches of the nose and earlobe may turn brown and die.