Current Events in October 2013

Sunny Pine Farm of Twisp, Wash., is recalling Organic Chevre, Organic Parsley Chive Chevre and Organic Honey Lavender Chevre due to possible improper pasteurization.

Pasteurization heats milk to eliminate all illness-causing bacteria such as Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella. The company says it knows of no illness or complaints associated with the recalled Chevre cheese.

The recalled cheeses were sold in plastic 6-oz tubs in the Twisp-Winthrop area in Washington state through community supported agriculture (CSA) and retail outlets and have an expiration date of 10/16/2013 on a sticker located on the bottom of the container.

Chevre cheese products sold at Methow Valley Farmers Market (aka Twisp Farmers Market) between 7/27/13 and 10/12/13 are also recalled, but are not labeled with an expiration date.

Consumers who have purchased these products should not consume them and are urged to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund or replacement.

Consumers with questions may contact the company at 509-997-4812 between 8AM and 6PM PST.

The Internet has been buzzing in the last week with angry Yahoo Mail users, who discovered the email service they have been using has changed, adopting a look and feel similar to that of Google's Gmail. Many have taken to the Internet to vent their frustration.

“The first time I saw this I thought I had some kind of virus,” reports Lucille, of Heathsville, Va. It looked completely different. New emails with the same subject line as an old email doesn't show up on a new line, but rather is connected to the old emails. It's easy to miss something.”

That's something Gmail users have always had to deal with. And indeed, the Yahoo Mail program now looks a lot like Gmail, which might not be surprising since CEO Marissa Mayer came over from Google.

Petition

Yahoo Mail user Jan Hyatt, of Severna Park, Md., says she chose Yahoo for her email because she didn't like Gmail. Angered by the change, Hyatt has submitted a petition for Change.org, calling on the company to go back to the old interface.

“Many of us have used Yahoo mail for over a decade,” the petition reads. “It's been reliable, functional and served the needs of a wide variety of people - for personal and business use. Yahoo has changed it, taking away the ability to organize emails, switch from writing to reading emails without losing work, incorporating ads into the inbox (that, if clicked on by mistake, lead to spam websites) and hiding essential functions, like printing.”

Hyatt says, under the new system, years of emails are disappearing, contact lists are being deleted, orders are disappearing before they can be filled and, in at least one case, a flight squadron couldn't get flight plans.

"Yahoo Mail no longer works," Hyatt said in an email to ConsumerAffairs. "I hear from users who have already moved to other providers or front-ends, and from many others who are looking at options to move as well."

'Almost worthless'

Donald, a ConsumerAffairs reader, insists the change has made Yahoo Mail “almost worthless.”

“Compared to Classic or even the previous version, it it dysfunctional,” he writes. “You might say it is 'void and without form.' It is like stepping back into the stone age.”

Upset Yahoo Mail users quickly found a home on Facebook, setting up a group called Yahoo's New Mail Fail – Open letter to Marissa Mayer.

“They made a grave mistake alienating their customer base - we should be their best marketing tool, but now the word-of-mouth is their worst,” wrote one member, identified as Tina Vozick.

While the vast majority of Yahoo Mail users pay nothing, Vozick said she is a paying customer, getting certain added features on her Yahoo Mail account.

“I will leave when I can figure out how to get my message history,” Vozick writes. “It's business, Marissa - you should understand that.”

Company response

Despite the heated criticism, Yahoo said there are plenty of users who like the new interface. It says the changes were designed to provide users with a more modern and personalized experience.

"As with any significant product change, it is typical to see varied reaction, particularly in the beginning and with products that have a large user base,” a Yahoo spokesperson said in an email to ConsumerAffairs. “The level of response we are seeing is in line with previous releases and we've heard from many users that they are enjoying the new experience. For users who need help navigating the new Yahoo Mail, we have a dedicated customer care team in place, as well as help pages that provide details on specific features.”

Even so, the spokesperson added that user feedback is extremely important and “we are actively listening to our users and will continue to iterate on our products to provide the best user experience possible."

Alternatives

By Monday the Facebook page was offering members advice on switching to another email provider. A member identified as David Borgioli said he has been using Mail.com and GMX.com for about a week, which is not enough time, he says, to tell which is superior. The major task, he writes, is transferring all those Yahoo emails to the new service.

“To get my mail from the folders, I created duplicate folders in both Mail.com and GMX.com,” he writes. “I also created a folder in each called Inbox Two. I moved all mail from the inbox to Inbox Two in Yahoo, Mail, and GMX. Then I move everything from one folder to Inbox. After a few minutes the mails will start to come into Mail and GMX. I found it helps, in Mail and GMX, to move the incoming mails to the corresponding folder after I get between fifty and two or three hundred. Once I confirm that all e-mails have been imported, I go back to Yahoo and move the e-mails back to the appropriate folder. Yes, this is a bit of a pain in the neck.”

Though there is no way to tell for sure, many of the complaints about the change suggest they come from business users. The petition calling on Yahoo to change back to the old interface reinforces that perception.

“This debacle is a disaster for business,” the petition reads. “We understand Yahoo is targeting the mobile market, and while we love mobile, we DON'T use mobile for business!”

Hyatt predicts Yahoo users will leave the service in droves if the issue isn't addressed. Yahoo doesn't think that's the case. Time will tell.

Everyone has a pet theory or two about what is making America's dogs and cats sick after they eat jerky treats but no one has managed to conclusively prove any of those theories.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration admits it is stumped and is asking for help from pet owners. It already has reports of jerky treat-related illnesses involving 3,600 dogs and 10 cats in the U.S. since 2007. At least 580 of them died.

Now the FDA says it would like to hear from any pet owner whose animal became sick or died after eating jerky treats.

"This is one of the most elusive and mysterious outbreaks we've encountered," says CVM Director Bernadette Dunham, DVM, Ph.D. "Our beloved four-legged companions deserve our best effort, and we are giving it." Dunham says the FDA has conducted more than 1,200 tests, visited pet treat manufacturers in China and talked with experts of all kinds without nailing down the source of the problem. 

"Our fervent hope as animal lovers," says Dunham, "is that we will soon find the cause of—and put a stop to—these illnesses."

Made in China

Most of the jerky treats implicated in the illnesses have been made in China and the FDA notes that by law, manufacturers of pet foods are not required to state the country of origin for each ingredient in their products.

A number of jerky pet treat products were removed from the market in January 2013 after a New York State lab reported finding evidence of up to six drugs in certain jerky pet treats made in China. The FDA says the drug levels were very low and claims it's unlikely that they caused the illnesses, but the agency concedes that it noted a decrease in reports of jerky-suspected illnesses after the products were removed from the market. FDA believes that the number of reports may have declined simply because fewer jerky treats were available.

What to do

The agency is publishing a fact sheet that it will send to veterinarians, asking them to use it to alert consumers to the problem and to provide instructions on reporting pet illnesses. 

The fact sheet also points out that the treats are not essential to a balanced diet.  Many pet owners bake their own treats. Others use pieces of the pet's regular kibble as a treat. If you do provide jerky treats and your pet becomes sick, stop the treats immediately, consider seeing your veterinarian, and save any remaining treats and the packaging for possible testing.

Be careful handling the treats. Humans are also susceptible to some of the conditions transmitted by pet food.

What next?

More than 1,200 jerky pet treat samples have been tested since 2011 for a variety of chemical and microbiological contaminants, from antibiotics to metals, pesticides and Salmonella. DNA testing has also been conducted, along with tests for nutritional composition, the FDA said.

In addition to continuing to test jerky pet treat samples within FDA labs, the agency is working with the Veterinary Laboratory Investigation and Response Network (Vet-LIRN), an FDA-coordinated network of government and veterinary diagnostic laboratories across the U.S. and Canada. (A summary of the tests is available on Vet-LIRN's webpage.)

Inspections of the facilities in China that manufacture jerky products associated with some of the highest numbers of pet illness reports did not identify the cause of illness. However, they did identify additional paths of investigation, such as the supply chain of some ingredients in the treats.

Although FDA inspectors have found no evidence identifying the cause of the spate of illnesses, they did find that one firm used falsified receiving documents for glycerin, a jerky ingredient. Chinese authorities informed FDA that they had seized products at the firm and suspended its exports.

To identify the root cause of this problem, FDA is meeting regularly with regulators in China to share findings. The agency also plans to host Chinese scientists at its veterinary research facility to increase scientific cooperation.

We read with interest Jennifer Abel's story about "dinner kits" a few days ago. A dinner kit, it turns out, is sort of like a paint-by-numbers set for those whose mothers never taught them to open a can.

It's a prefabricated dinner that is delivered to your home in a box. Sort of like Meals on Wheels except that you still have to cook it. 

The sales pitch for this latest supposed innovation is that it makes it possible for busy professionals to eat dinner without going out to a restaurant. Quite an accomplishment, you must admit.

But after marveling at this latest triumph of marketing, the smoke cleared and we were unable to resist shouting a rude epithet at the computer screen. 

"There's something wrong with the world when people think they're so busy they can't open a box of rice and carve up a chicken breast," we exclaimed. It takes about 15 minutes for even the klutziest of us to prepare an edible dinner, not counting cooking time and it certainly doesn't take much in the way of brainpower. Talk to any short-order cook if you don't believe it.

But let's assume for a minute that these urban professionals truly are so busy that by the time they rush home to their loft-style Hoboken digs they are so stressed out from a day of dreaming up advertising slogans and analyzing all the marketing, business and development plans that occupy what would otherwise be idle hands, they could not possibly be troubled to throw a pot of water on the stove and empty a box of pasta into it. 

Retroactive analysis

Turning to anthropology for an answer to this dilemma, we conducted a retroactive analysis of cooking patterns in pre-Millennial times and found that previous generations of Americans had used slow-cookers, a/k/a Crockpots, to prepare hearty and healthy meals that simmered away during the workday and were ready to be devoured by famished urban professionals upon their return to their domiciles.

We assumed that these had passed into extinction but mounted an expedition to Walmart just to be sure, assuming that if the species survived anywhere on Earth, it would be at Walmart

Sure enough, there on Aisle 3,241 we found a Hamilton-Beach slow-cooker for $14. We made a quick detour through the canned goods section on the way out, grabbing a couple of cans of Bush's Vegetarian Baked Beans and two cans of creamed corn, as called for in a soup recipe we had found earlier at About.com. 

The beans cost about $6 and the corn about $2. We already had everything else the recipe called for. As habitual cooks will tell you, this is one big advantage of cooking on a regular basis: you build up a selection of dill, garlic, pepper and other commodities, so you don't need to have someone send you a single day's supply every time you feel like eating.

Upon returning home, we unpacked the cooker, opened a few cans, diced up some celery and threw everything into the cooker. Then we turned it on. All of this activity was concluded by about 10:30 this morning and took about an hour from start to finish, most of that time taken up by the trip to Walmart.

A few hours later, expending no further energy, we had a large vat full of very tasty corn chowder. We wolfed down a bowl with some rice crackers and judged it a reasonably satisfying lunch. Still in the cooker was enough soup for five or six more lunches or dinners. Later today, we'll freeze a bunch of individual portions and that will be, as they say, that.

Incredible savings vs. incredible recipes

For comparison's sake, we checked Blue Apron, one of the boxed-meal purveyors featured in Jennifer's piece. While Blue Apron modestly describes its recipes as "incredible," we'd have to say that description also applies to their prices: $9.99 per person per meal, according to their website.

This sounds pretty reasonable but consider your typical dual-wage-earning duo of busy professionals. Assuming each of them eats, Blue Apron is into them for $20 a day or $140 per week -- just for dinner. The USDA reports that most consumers spend less than that for a full week's worth of food -- breakfast, lunch and dinner -- for their families. OK, maybe they don't have frisee and farro salads (whatever they may be) but they may have a few bucks left over at the end of the week.

Let's look a little more closely at this: the beans and creamed corn cost us $8. If we assign a value to the pepper, celery and other stuff we had lying around, maybe it was worth 50 cents. Assuming we get eight bowls of soup, that's a little over $1 each. Add some rice crackers or -- hey, let's go wild for a minute -- a few slices of bread and the total cost per meal might be $1.20.

That's a lot less than $9.99 and if you want to be health-conscious, cooking at home lets you control sodium, fat and all that kind of stuff. You can go vegan, be lactose-free and banish gluten forever with very little extra trouble and expense.  

Who cares?

Why does all this matter? Who cares about a few hundred bucks? Well, not to preach but the Census Bureau reports that median household net worth in the U.S. decreased 35% from 2005 to 2010, when it hit $66,740 (and the 35-to-44-year age group has seen the biggest decline, down 58%). That's the median, mind you, not the average. The average is hovering somewhere in the single digits.

Families and individuals with no net worth to speak of are the ones who suffer most when they lose their job or, attention federal workers, are furloughed for a few weeks. They're also the ones who arrive at old age with nothing to live on except meager government "entitlements," possibly explaining the alarming rise in the suicide rate among aging Baby Boomers the last few years. 

Gee, all this fuss over a boxed dinner. Just saying -- part of being a wise consumer is controlling spending and building net worth. In the long run, it's a lot more important than having the latest smartphone, tablet computer, safari tickets or dinner box collection. 

A federal judge has given final approval to the settlement of a class action suit against L.A. Fitness, charging that it overcharges members who cancel their contracts.

The case was filed by Sophia Martina who -- unlike many consumer who don't follow the contract provisions when trying to cancel their membership --  actually did everything right and was still charged a $40 fee.

Martina had paid about $288 to joint an L.A. Fitness club in New Jersey in February 2008. She paid about $288, covering her first and last month's membership dues. When she notified the club she wanted to end her membership a few months later, it charged her for an extra month, her lawsuit contends, Courthouse News Service reported.

Martina said she mailed her notice 30 days in advance, as required by the contract, but the club claimed it didn't get the letter for a month or so and charged her a $40 wait-time fee.

Under the settlement agreement, L.A. Fitness has agreed to pay up to 46,000 class members an aggregate amount of $3.8 million, plus attorneys' fees and more than $11,000 to resolve Martina's credit card charges.

Senior U.S. District Judge William Walls approved the settlement but did so reluctantly, noting that L.A. Fitness' actual exposure is "nowhere near" $3.8 million, since few class members have come forward to claim their share.

Free pass

Under the settlement, consumers who qualify will get a 45-day access coupon and possible reimbursement for one-third of a month's dues. Those who had personal trainers may get two free training sessions or a $100 credit towards a new membership.

Judge Walls noted that the out-of-pocket cost to L.A. Fitness is minimal and he noted that the class members are "not enthusiastic" about the settlement. 

"Though the parties' claimed value for the settlement of $3.8 million is inflated and misleading - based, as it is, on a faulty assumption that 100 percent of class members will claim their relief - the settlement is fair enough, especially given the risks of litigation," Walls wrote.

When Hurricane Sandy slammed into the Northeast last year, it caused widespread property damage. Less reported in the wake of the disaster was the loss of vital documents from people's homes.

As they went about trying to put a roof back over their head thousands of consumers also had the task of trying to locate, and replicate, their vital documents. On its website Ocean County, New Jersey still offers help to residents trying to put their paper lives back together. 

There is help for replacing birth, marriage and death certificates; drivers licenses and tax returns; insurance policies, mortgage papers, wills and property deeds. The list goes on and on.

Get organized

Financial advisor Michell Perry Higgins, a principal with California Financial Advisors, in San Ramon, Calif., has seen this happen all too often. And not just in the case of a disaster or fire that destroys important documents. All too often people can't put their hands on important documents when they need them.

“It started years ago when my clients would come through the door and we would create these beautiful financial plans and I would ask them, 'where is the rest of your documentation,' and I would get the deer-in-the-headlights look,” Higgins said. “I would say, 'where do you store all your secure passwords, where do you store your estate information and your personal affairs' and I would find clients had information everywhere.”

Then a client would die. For a son or daughter the emotional task of wrapping up a parent's estate was usually more complicated than it needed to be.

“It has taken the heirs countless hours to dig through Mom and Dad's office to try and find paperwork that matters,” Higgins said.

A place to put everything

Higgins has responded by creating what she calls The Everything Binder. As the name implies, it is an actual binder with 17 tabs, all related to important documentary topics for an individual or family. For example, there are places to store insurance papers, passwords, brokerage statements, retirement investments, information about pets, and estate planning documents, among others.

“That's the beauty of The Everything Binder, it puts all of your personal affairs, all your estate and financial information in one location,” Higgins said.

Naturally, the binder itself needs to be in a secure location. Higgins said she urges her clients to keep it in either a safe or a safe deposit box at a bank. It not only will save time for them, in case of a disaster, it can also be a real gift to their heirs.

“For that individual who passes away and doesn't have their personal and financial life documented properly, they're adding countless hours and even dollars to the loved one,” she said. “I estimate it would, in many cases, take 20 to 40 hours to recompile this information.”

Electronic back-up

It's also a good idea to make electronic copies of your important documents and store them in the cloud, or provide copies to loved ones. A number of inexpensive scanners have been designed for this purpose, allowing users to capture documents and store them in a searchable database.

What documents are important to keep? USA.gov, the U.S. government's official web portal, lists a number of documents you should have in your safe file. A good system, the agency says, will help prevent chaos after a major life event. 

Tech and consumer journalists could save a lot of time if they’d program their work computers so that pressing a single key made the sentence “Apple’s releasing some new products” instantly appear on their screen.

Anyway, Apple’s releasing some new products. Specifically, updated iPads and a new operating system called OS X Mavericks, which will add an extra hour and a half to the battery life of a MacBook Pro, according to Apple’s software engineering chief Craig Federighi.

The Washington Post tech blog reported the upcoming Apple unveilings as part of a larger piece discussing the current market for tablets.

“While Apple continues its reign on top of the tablet world, analysts say the company is beginning to see some of the same competitive pressures it faced in the smartphone market. It once dominated that market, but has recently been unseated by smartphones running the Android operating system.”

Of course, the Post also quoted Apple executives insisting they’re not remotely worried about competitors in the tablet market; as Apple chief executive Tim Cook said, “Our competition is confused … We have a very clear direction and a very ambitious goal. We still believe deeply in this category, and we’re not slowing down in our innovation.”

Which is why we said tech journalists could save a lot of time, if they’d program their work computers so that pressing a single key made the sentence “Apple’s releasing some new products” instantly appear on their screen.

The first definitive, large-scale clinical trial to investigate if a vitamin D supplement helps prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in adults who have prediabetes is underway.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is taking place at about 20 study sites across the United States, involving adults who are at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

The multiyear Vitamin D and Type 2 Diabetes (D2d) study will include about 2,500 people. The goal is to learn if vitamin D -- specifically D3 (cholecalciferol) -- will prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in adults aged 30 or older with prediabetes. People with prediabetes have blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not high enough to be called diabetes.

“This study aims to definitively answer the question: Can vitamin D reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes?” said Myrlene Staten, M.D., D2d project officer at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of NIH. “Vitamin D use has risen sharply in the U.S. in the last 15 years, since it has been suggested as a remedy for a variety of conditions, including prevention of type 2 diabetes. But we need rigorous testing to determine if vitamin D will help prevent diabetes. That’s what D2d will do.”

“Past observational studies have suggested that higher levels of vitamin D may be beneficial in preventing type 2 diabetes,” said Anastassios G. Pittas, M.D., the study’s principal investigator at Tufts Medical Center, Boston, “but until this large, randomized and controlled clinical trial is complete, we won’t know if taking vitamin D supplements lowers the risk of diabetes.”

First of its kind

D2d is the first study to directly examine if a daily dose of 4,000 International Units (IUs) of vitamin D -- greater than a typical adult intake of 600-800 IUs a day, but within limits deemed appropriate for clinical research by the Institute of Medicine -- helps keep people with prediabetes from getting type 2 diabetes. Based on observations from earlier studies, researchers speculate that vitamin D could reduce the diabetes risk by 25%. The study will also examine if sex, age or race affect the potential of vitamin D to reduce diabetes risk.

“An estimated 79 million Americans have prediabetes, and nearly 26 million more have diabetes,” said NIDDK Director Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D. “With D2d, we seek evidence for an affordable and accessible way to help prevent or delay type 2 diabetes.”

Researchers are recruiting volunteers to take part in D2d. Half of the participants will receive vitamin D. The other half will receive a placebo -- a pill that has no drug effect. Participants will have check-ups for the study twice a year, and will receive regular health care through their own health care providers.

In the dark

The study will be double-blinded, so neither participants nor the study’s clinical staff will know who is receiving vitamin D and who is receiving placebo. The study will continue until enough people have developed type 2 diabetes to be able to make a scientifically valid comparison between diabetes development in the two groups, likely about four years.

There have been other NIH-funded studies of methods to delay or prevent type 2 diabetes, including the Diabetes Prevention Program, which showed that -- separately -- lifestyle changes to lose a modest amount of weight and the drug metformin are both effective in slowing development of type 2 diabetes in people with prediabetes. However, additional safe and effective preventative strategies are needed to stem the increasing numbers of people developing type 2 diabetes.

New jobs found their way into the economy in September, but the total fell short of forecasts and the number of positions created the month before.

Releasing a report that was delayed by the shutdown, the government said nonfarm payroll employment rose by 148,000 in September, led by increases in construction, wholesale trade, and transportation and warehousing. Analysts surveyed by Briefing.com had called for 183,000 new jobs and ADP's expectation was for 166,000 jobs. In August, the economy created 193,000 jobs

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, edged down -- 0.1% to 7.2%, but has dropped by 0.4% since June. This time, though, the decline was due to more workers finding jobs as opposed to the statistical aberrations that occurred in the past when the unemployment rate declined from a drop in the labor force. The number of people still without work was little changed at 11.3 million, although joblessness has decreased by 522,000 since June.

Who's not working

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (7.1%), adult women (6.2%), teenagers (21.4%), whites (6.3%), blacks (12.9%), Hispanics (9.0%) and Asians (5.3%) were little changed from.

In September, the number of long-term unemployed -- those out of work for 27 weeks or more -- was little changed at 4.1 million. They account for 36.9% of the unemployed. The number of long-term unemployed has declined by 725,000 over the past year.

Areas of employment growth

Employment in construction rose by 20,000 in September, after showing little change over the prior 6 months. There were 16,000 new jobs in wholesale trade in September and 23,000 in transportation and warehousing..

Expansion in professional and business services continued with the addition of 32,000 positions while employment in temporary help services rose by 20,000. Within retail trade, there were 5,000 jobs gained in building material and garden supply stores and 4,000 in automobile dealerships.

In the financial activities industry, employment in credit intermediation and related activities dropped by 8,000, while employment in food services and drinking places was down by 7,000.

Health care added 7,000 jobs in September and has added an average of 19,000 jobs per month so far this year well short of 2012's average monthly increase of 27,000.

The full September employment report is available on the Labor Department website.

Mother's milk is about as safe as food can be. Unless it's not from your mother. And surprisingly, a growing number of mothers are getting breast milk online from complete strangers and feeding it to their babies, a practice that a new study warns may be hazardous to the baby's health.

The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, found that breast milk from two popular sites was often contaminated with high levels of bacteria, including salmonella.

Researchers said 72% of the samples purchased online were infected with bacteria and 21% had potentially harmful viruses.

Some of the websites that make a market in mother's milk are reminiscent of inner-city blood banks, luring women who "over-produce" with promises of easy money. Onlythebreast.com charges $5 for a 15-day "premium" listing, telling women they can "get noticed and sell more breast milk with featured ads."   

After the study was released, the site said it would stop facilitating person-to-person sales and instead help link donors to breast milk banks that have stricter safety standards. 

FDA warnings

The study echoes warnings from the Food and Drug Administration, which has warned for years that casual milk sharing can be dangerous. 

"FDA recommends against feeding your baby breast milk acquired directly from individuals or through the Internet," the agency said in a 2010 advisory. "When human milk is obtained directly from individuals or through the Internet, the donor is unlikely to have been adequately screened for infectious disease or contamination risk.  In addition, it is not likely that the human milk has been collected, processed, tested or stored in a way that reduces possible safety risks to the baby."

For years, doctors have recommended that mothers breast-feed their infants whenever possible, based on research that finds breast milk protects babies against infections and other maladies but most doctors likely didn't imagine their patients would get their breast milk from the Internet, not exactly the world's safest neighborhood.

Some women are driven to seek additional milk because they can't produce enough milk on their own. Some are not able to nurse because of illness or a busy work and travel schedule. This has sparked a growth industry in websites that collect and sell or donate breast milk.  

What to do

Parents who are considering using donated milk should first consult their pediatrician, the FDA advises. 

The next step is to find a human milk bank that screens donors and takes steps to process and store the milk safely. A few states regulate these banks but there are no federal standards. The Human Milk Bank Association sets voluntary standards and has a nationwide directory of milk banks on its website.

Nobody’s perfect, and neither is any company; even the best-run business is bound to goof up on occasion. So if we only get one or two reader complaints about a given company, this could merely indicate a good company having a bad day. But when a company inspires a near-constant deluge of similar-sounding reader complaints, we’re more likely to suspect a trend.

Magicjack appears to be one of those companies inspiring a steady stream of complaints every month—indeed, every week. And when we limit ourselves to only the past fortnight’s worth of Magicjack letters, we see two consistent trends: complaints about the quality of the service itself, and either difficulties or “hidden” charges involved in porting phone numbers to or from Magicjack.

In fairness, though, we must point out that the charge to transfer numbers to Magicjack is not “hidden.” Magicjack’s website does say “Additional fees apply to transfer a number.” Granted, it says this in extremely tiny print at the very bottom of the webpage—but consider this the n-millionth piece of evidence in support of the theory, “You need to read all the fine print before you sign a contract.”

Service expiring

Rich M. of Marlton, New Jersey told us he ported his home phone number to Magicjack for a one-year subscription. Everything went fine until about five weeks before that subscription was set to expire, and then: “Every time I pick up the phone to make a call, [I] get a warning that the number is about to expire and the call I dialed does not go through. The support folks are no help at all, telling you to renew or just suffer the messages until you do. After I had the Magicjack for awhile they removed the ability to forward the number without notice also. They just do not seem to be very customer-friendly.”

Rich is the only reader to post a recent complaint about those bizarre subscription-renewal messages – but the calls not going through at all is a constant refrain. Ira I. from Speedwell, Tenn., summarizes his Magicjack experience as “Missed calls, unrepaired problems, and nickel/dime you to death .... Been told by bank, school, health department, and doctor's offices that they have tried calling but couldn't get through. Basically any place with a multi-line switchboard cannot call through.”

Luis C. of Miami said that when he bought Magicjack, “the unit only worked three days and went off. The help could not solve the problems and I asked to cancel my services and de-port my number to my previous carrier. After 3 weeks trying to get attention to my request I have not being able to get it back, always a delay and an excuse. Awful service.”

Jaeho L. of Rockville, Maryland also had problems right out of the gate. “I used this service and soon I realized: it's not working properly. When I pressed the button, it did not recognize it at all. I wasted my time so much to resolve this issue by chatting with their serviceman (they do not have a service phone number, even).” Jaeho returned his Magicjack soon enough to get his purchase costs refunded, but was told “they cannot refund for my phone number transfer fee ($19.99) and ask money ($32.34) for port out service if I want to keep the previous phone number, which is free in most companies.”

George S. of Calgary, Alberta said he couldn’t get his Magicjack to work at all, though in his case it’s possible the problems stemmed from his international status: “I bought a new MJ plus in Canada and came to Mexico. I registered it and before I could finish registration it stopped. I tried for days to get it going with their help desks but it won’t even show on my computer …. I reported it to the Better Business Bureau of Florida but they just keep replying to me: it’s working, you just have that to plug it in and register it.”

Repairs don't last

Another common refrain is repairs lasting only a short while before old problems returned. Ronald H, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, “found that the sound quality was so bad that I couldn't talk on the phone. I contacted customer service numerous times and each time they would have me plug the magic jack into the computer for an update. It would work a little better for a short time, and then the sound quality would be just as bad.”

John D. of Long Pond, Pennsylvania told us, “Magicjacks are basically a scam, any way you put it. So many problems to mention …. it also seems that every time Magicjack comes out with a newer version, older ones malfunction, forcing us to buy the latest Magicjack.”

Joseph F. of Monroeville, Alabama, had similar complaints and concluded “It is ... a waste of money and time. I lost my [phone] number and important calls.”

If you have a complaint about your Magicjack service, many web postings suggest you can try emailing dan@magicjack, though John D. from Long Pond told us that it “didn't help to e-mail dan@magicjack.com. Someone will reply, quote, “Dan asked me to help you, what can I do for you?”

A new trend in e-food shopping caters to hungry people with more money than time: “dinner kits,” uncooked meals ordered by subscription and delivered straight to your door. The dinner kits feature fresh or raw food, rather than the precooked, frozen heat-n-serve meals available in grocery stores.

The Dallas Morning News shares the story of Sarah Michaelson, a prototypical customer of meal-delivery company Blue Apron:

Michaelson and her husband, Phil, pay $59.94 a week to have six uncooked meals sent to their home every week. Blue Apron’s kits are filled with everything needed to whip up a meal, from the raw meat and fish to spices and vegetables. Recipes, with step-by-step instructions and pictures, are included.

“It saves us a lot of money,” says Michaelson, a marketing manager at Betterment.com, an online investment management company …. The kits make cooking at home easier. Since all the ingredients are included and measured, you don’t have to buy six onions when all you need is one or a bottle of a spice you’ll only use a sprinkle of.

We’ve never heard of a store that only sells onions in six-packs, and we’re pretty sure that a bottle of spice can be used to flavor more than one meal, but the point presumably still stands. And home-dinner delivery kits do indeed save money compared to the cost of eating the same meal in a restaurant, though it’s far more expensive that making the same meal out of ingredients bought at a supermarket. But making these meals from scratch requires both cooking skills and the time to use them, and busy professionals don’t always have these.

Thus far, the burgeoning dinner-delivery market is dominated by three startup companies: Blue Apron, HelloFresh and Plated. Blue Apron is the largest, offering subscriptions in 38 states and the District of Columbia; Plated is only available in 18 states plus the District.

What's almost as good as a great bargain on merchandise? A lot of people would say “free shipping,” and it shouldn't be hard to find this Christmas shopping season.

Shop.org’s eHoliday survey, conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, finds 16.3% of retailers will offer their first holiday free shipping offer by the week of October 28. More than one-third (34.9%) say they already offer year-round free shipping, versus to 23.1% last year. Additionally, more than half (51.2%) of online retailers surveyed plan to start their online holiday marketing promotions by Halloween.

And this isn't a spur-of-the-moment thing. When Shop.org asked online retailers when they have or will start planning for the 2013 holiday season, more than three-quarters (74.4%) said they had started planning by July.

“Retailers have been preparing for holiday for months, smartly investing in what’s important to online shoppers: value, free shipping, a user-friendly site, and flexible returns, among other features,” said Shop.org Executive Director Vicki Cantrell. “Retailers understand that holiday shoppers also look for merchandise selection and quality, and have boosted inventory to offer ample selection and exclusive products to help customers find just the right gift for everyone on their list.”

Ready for digital shopping

Knowing that consumers increasingly use their smartphones and tablets to research and purchase products, retailers have prepared accordingly. More than half (57.4%) have invested in optimizing their mobile websites, nearly four in 10 (38.3%) have invested heavily in the smartphone user experience, and one-quarter (25.5%) say they invested in mobile commerce apps for smartphones.

Retailers will also tap specific mobile marketing tools to attract holiday shoppers this year. At the top of the list of mobile tactics for over half (55.3%) of retailers: mobile email optimization. Additionally, 44.7% will use smartphone paid search campaigns, two in five (21.3%) will use SMS campaigns, and 17.0% will use QR codes or other barcode scanning promotions.

Online retailers also were asked about their budgets for holiday marketing and promotions. According to the survey, 68.8% of online retailers say that at least 20% of their total 2013 online marketing budget goes towards holiday marketing, and two-thirds (66.6%) say that at least 20% of their total online promotions budget goes towards holiday promotions.

Economy a factor

The economy has had an impact on how retailers have changed their plans for the 2013 holiday season. Specifically, more than one-quarter (27.3%) say they will offer free shipping earlier because of the economy. Discounts will also come earlier: according to the survey, 31.8% plan to offer discounts earlier than they did last year, and another 31.8% will increase their use of daily deals for their customers.

Looking for heightened return on their investment, many companies will focus more on social media this year. More than half (54.8%) will increase their use of Facebook in November and December, and 59.5% will increase their use of Pinterest. Additionally, 55.0% of companies surveyed will increase their use of Instagram.

You can tell a lot about the state of mobile technology by measuring viewership on various mobile platforms. A new report suggests Apple remains the mobile device of choice, mainly because of the iPad tablet.

Opera Mediaworks, a mobile ad platform, tracks the type of device that plays its ads. In its report on the third quarter of 2013 the company notes that of the 60 billion ad impressions per month during the period, 44% were displayed on iOS devices.

But tablets make up a big chunk of online viewing. When the iPad is removed from the mix, the iPhone had a 31% share, barely edging out Android's 30.3%, a virtual tie when it comes to ad impressions.

Tablets' impact

Smartphones have proliferated since 2009 but tablets are quickly catching up. When it comes to ad impressions, tablet usage has doubled in the last year, with tablet impressions jumping from 5.0% in 2012 to 10% this year.

"This quarter saw many new trends as growth jumped and monetization on mobile categories broadened, among other things," said Mahi de Silva, CEO, Opera Mediaworks. "As we head into the busiest time of the year for advertisers in Q4, we will see exciting new formats that incorporate video and voice technologies slated to run in the last quarter of the year."

And we are likely to see them on an evolving set of mobile devices. While Apple holds the lead in tablets, Samsung continues to broaden its base of smartphones and has beaten Apple to the punch on release of a smartwatch, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Gear Smartwatch.

It's a smartphone you wear on your wrist, like a watch, costing $300 at Verizon Wireless with a two-year contract. According to Samsung it's packed with features and tools and comes with a full HD touchscreen, S Pen and long-lasting batteries.

History of wrist devices

Initial promotion plays on the role a smartwatch has played in popular culture over the last half-century.

Initial reviews

Initial reviews have not been kind. IGN says it “falls short when trying to deliver basic functions that one would want in a wearable companion device,” concluding it's “not worth your time.” 

CNN Money says the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Gear “doesn't cut it.” The Gear offers a glimpse into the future of smartwatches, the review declares, “but unfortunately, it's not ready yet.” 

The Dallas Morning News points out that the smartwatch requires the user to also have the Samsung Note 3. Otherwise, it doesn't work.

“Without the Note 3, the watch can’t even tell time, much less do any of its fancier tricks.” the review declares.

However, it sees some potential, saying the device does “a few nice tricks and holds the promise for more.” 

Samsung is not the first company to produce a smartwatch. Other manufacturers, such as Sony and Nokia, got products into the marketplace first.

Does anyone really think Coca-Cola is free of artificial flavors and chemical preservatives? Paul Merritt apparently thinks so. At least he claims in a California lawsuit that Coca-Cola labels fail to list phosphoric acid as an artficial flavor and preservative.

"Indeed, many of the cartons and containers of defendants' Coca-Cola brand sodas affirmatively and falsely state that they contain no artificial flavoring or chemical preservatives," the complaint states, Courthouse News Service reported.

We didn't have a Coca-Cola product available for inspection but numerous online photos of Coke labels show that phosphoric acid is clearly listed among the ingredients. Merritt's contention, however, rests around whether phosphoric acid is "natural." 

In his lawsuit, Merritt claims that Coca-Cola states on its website that it adds phosphoric acid to sodas to improve their flavor and "tartness" and protect them from spoiling. He alleges that Coke claims on its website that, "Phosphoric acid contains phosphorous, one of the basic elements of nature and an essential nutrient. Phosphorous is a major component of bones."

But Merritt claims that phosphorous and phosphoric acid "are two different things" and that phosphoric acid is not derived from natural ingredients, such as spices, fruits, barks or herbs.

"Defendants knowingly and intentionally falsely stated that Coca-Cola soda has 'no artificial flavors. No preservatives added,' despite the fact that Coca-Cola soda contains artificial flavoring and chemical preservatives," the complaint states.

Merritt seeks restitution and a variety of other remedies.

A company that marketed products ranging from iPhone accessories, bottle holders and lens cleaners to dog collars and leashes will stop claiming its products are "Made in the U.S.A.”

E.K. Ekcessories, Inc. of Logan, Utah, which sells merchandise directly to consumers on its website, and through online sellers such as Amazon and REI, agreed to stop making the claims as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The proposed settlement prohibits the company from deceiving consumers about the degree to which its products are made in the United States.

Fast and loose with the truth

The company's website claimed that, “For 28 years E.K. Ekcessories has been producing superior quality made accessories in our 60,000 sq. ft facility in Logan, Utah” and “Our source of pride and satisfaction abounds from a true ‘Made in USA’ product.” That's not quite the case.

The company imports many of its products and components, according to the complaint. The FTC also claims the company distributed deceptive promotional materials for its products to third-party retailers such as Amazon and REI.

Thus, the FTC alleges, E.K. Ekcessories violated the Federal Trade Commission Act by making false and unsupported statements that its products were all or virtually all made in the United States.

According to the FTC’s 1997 U.S. Origin Claims Enforcement Policy Statement, for a product to be advertised or labeled as “Made in the U.S.A,” the product must be “all or virtually all” made in the United States -- that is, all significant parts and processing must be of U.S. origin, and the product should contain no (or negligible) foreign content.

Settlement terms

Under the proposed order, the company is prohibited from claiming that any product is made in the United States unless that product is all or virtually all made in the United States. It's also banned from making any misleading claims about a product’s country of origin and from providing deceptive promotional material to third-party retailers, or otherwise providing the “means or instrumentalities” for others to make deceptive U.S.-origin claims.

The company also is required to contact all distributors who bought or received products between January 1, 2010 and May 1, 2013, and provide them with a notice and a copy of the order.

You're all graduated and ready to go -- but go where? Moving from the classroom to the world of work is not the easiest transition, but it doesn’t have to be a killer.

To help recent college grads make their life-shaping decisions, University of California San Diego Extension has put together its fifth annual edition of "Hot Careers for College Graduates." A complete copy of the report is available at extension.ucsd.edu/specialreports.

The hot careers list was initiated to help new college graduates identify the most promising careers to bridge to desirable positions which can be easily attained with minimal extra preparation. This report notes up-to-date employment trends and projections.

What’s hot

According to the federal government's Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation Summary of April 2013,, within the past year jobs categorized under "professional and business services" have grown the most -- averaging an increase of nearly 49,000 jobs per month. This is reflected in the hot careers list by such jobs as computer systems analysts and software applications developers moving up to the top of the charts.

The forces that have most affected job demand and employment trends in the past five years have been the Great Recession that began in 2008, a global expansion in access to and use of the Internet, and the beginning of a retirement wave by the baby boom generation. These changes have influenced the types of jobs that are available, as well as the skills needed.

Overall, the study suggests an increasing national demand for college graduates with skills in computer sciences and analysis or problem solving. Here are the top 18 jobs:

1. Software Developers, Applications
2. Software Developers, Systems Software
3. Market Research Analysts
4. Accountants and Auditors
5. Network and Computer Systems Admin
6. Elementary School Teachers
7. Computer Systems Analysts
8. Management Analysts
9. Public Relations Specialists
10. Insurance Sales Agents
11. Financial Analysts
12. Computer Programmers
13. Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific
14. Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents
15. Paralegals and Legal Assistants
16. Middle School Teachers
17. Training and Development Specialists
18. Human Resources Specialists

Why they’re hot

What makes a hot career so hot? This list was scored in four criteria categories: current employment in the field, projected growth in the occupation between 2010 and 2020, median annual salary in the occupation, and workplace environment characteristics.

The desirability of the work environment includes such factors such as duration of work week, level of competition, time pressure, consequences of errors, and time spent standing. Each category was assigned equal weight, with a maximal potential category score of twenty-five, making one hundred the highest potential cumulative score for each career. The cumulative score was then used to determine the rankings of the occupations in the Hot Careers list.

A fifth dimension, "bridgeability," was applied as a simple criterion to include or exclude a given career from this particular list, but did not affect the weighted total score of the career. Its sole purpose was to eliminate careers that recent college graduates could not easily "bridge to" with minimal or no training beyond an undergraduate degree. The most noticeable difference between the 2012 and the 2013 list is the absence of healthcare positions this year and the increase in analytical and technical occupations.

A turnaround last month in existing-home sales.

After hitting their highest level in almost four years during August, sales of previously owned homes fell 1.9% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.29 million. Still, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) notes sales are 10.7%t above the 4.78 million-unit pace in September 2012. In fact, sales have been above year-ago levels for the past 27 months.

The September decline did not come as a surprise.

“Affordability has fallen to a five-year low as home price increases easily outpaced income growth,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Expected rising mortgage interest rates will further lower affordability in upcoming months. Next month we may see some delays associated with the government shutdown.”

Home prices

Limited inventory conditions continued to pressure home prices in much of the country. The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $199,200 in September, up 11.7% from September 2012 and the 10th consecutive month of double-digit year-over-year increases.

Foreclosures and short sales accounted for 14% of September sales, up 2% from August, which was the lowest share since monthly tracking began in October 2008; they were 24% in September 2012. Lower levels in the share of these distressed sales account for some of the growth in median price.

Data from NAR show some of the strongest increases in listing price from a year ago are in the Detroit area, up 44.6%; Las Vegas, up 30.7%; and Sacramento, up 28.9%.

Where they're selling

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast declined 2.8% to an annual rate of 690,000 in September, but are 15.0% above September 2012. The median price in the Northeast was $240,900 -- up 2.3% from a year ago.

In the Midwest, sales were down 5.3% to a pace of 1.25 million, but are 12.6% higher than a year ago. The median price was $158,400 -- 9.0% above September 2012.

Sales in the South dipped 1.4% to an annual level of 2.10 million last month, but are 9.9% above the same period last year. The median price in the South was rose 13.9% from a year ago -- to $171,600.

The West was the only region to show an increase -- 1.6% to a pace of 1.25 million in September, and 7.8% higher than the year before. With inventory restrictions continuing, the median price in the West rose to $286,300, which is 16.8% above September 2012.