Current Events in December 2013

The Chobani yogurt recalls earlier this year left a sour taste in many consumers' mouths and now Whole Foods says it will stop selling Chobani by early 2014.

Without mentioning the recall and the many illnesses that were blamed on the mold-infested yogurt Whole Foods said it wants to open up shelf space for more organic and GMO-free foods, according to the Wall Street Journal.  

Chobani promotes its product as "natural" but many critics say the company uses milk from cows that are fed with genetically modified feed.

Whole Foods said that, for now at least, it will continue to carry Chobani rival Fage, which is also not GMO-free.

Chobani is credited with starting the Greek yogurt craze in the U.S. and said it hopes to hook up with Whole Foods again in the future. 

In a prepared statement, Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya said the company "is committed to using milk from regional-area farms and strengthening its surrounding local economies."

"All Chobani products ... are kosher certified, contain five live and active cultures, and are made with milk from cows not treated with rBST, with most of its products offering two times more protein than regular yogurt," Ulukaya said, adding that according to the FDA, "no significant difference has been found between milk derived from rBST-treated and non-rBST treated cows."

GMO-free

Whole Foods has said that, by 2018, all products in its U.S. and Canadian stores1 must be labeled to indicate if they contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs)2. Whole Foods Market says it is the first national grocery chain to set a deadline for full GMO transparency.

“We are putting a stake in the ground on GMO labeling to support the consumer’s right to know,” said Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, at an industry conference earlier this year.

“The prevalence of GMOs in the U.S. paired with nonexistent mandatory labeling makes it very difficult for retailers to source non-GMO options and for consumers to choose non-GMO products.

"Accordingly, we are stepping up our support of certified organic agriculture, where GMOs are not allowed, and we are working together with our supplier partners to grow our non-GMO supply chain to ensure we can continue to provide these choices in the future.” 

The slaughter of American horses is set to resume by year's end. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, which had issued an emergency injunction in November, has now lifted that injunction, saying those trying to save horses are unlikely to succeed in court.

The action clears the way for three licensed slaughtering houses to resume operations and is expected to encourage others to apply for a USDA permit allowing them to get into the business.

The action by the appeals court -- the last stop before the U.S. Supreme Court -- means that further appeals will not be fast-tracked and leaves wildlife advocates with few remaining options.

Inhumane treatment

A U.S. Agriculture Department ban on slaughtering horses, imposed in 2007, was lifted in 2011 after the USDA's Inspector General found it was contributing to inhumane treatment of horses. Owners hard hit by the recession and the high cost of grain were abandoning their horses, letting them starve to death, the IG's report said.

Animal welfare groups have disputed that finding and also say they're concerned that the antibiotics and other drugs pumped into horses could leave dangerous residues in the meat. 

Realistically, Congress appears to be the last resort for animal rights groups. Some states have outlawed slaughtering horses for human consumption but getting a bill -- any bill -- through Congress is fraught with uncertainty in today's political climate.

There's also the grim reality that an estimated 100,000 U.S. horses are slaughtered each year after being shipped to Mexico and Canada. 

All sides agree that the annual slaughter of more than 100,0000 U.S. horses continues regardless despite the animal rights groups' efforts. The animals are simply exported to Mexico and Canada and slaughtered there. 

The run-up to Christmas is marked by frantic shopping, the period immediately after by equally frantic returns and exchanges, a process that often doesn't go as smoothly as consumers would like.

This year, shoppers will find shorter return windows at three major chains -- Best Buy, Sears and Toys "R" Us -- although most retailers' return policies are about the same as last year, according to ConsumerWorld.org.

Best Buy cut its regular return period in half from 30 to 15 days for most customers last March, and shortened its holiday return period by nine days (now January 15 instead of January 24). Special orders now are not refundable.

Sears shortened its regular return policy for major appliances and vacuums from 60 to 30 days, and excludes them from its extended holiday return period. On the other hand, Sears extended the return period for mattresses to 60 days. Sears continues to impose a 15% restocking fee for missing parts or if items are used. Exchanged items are not eligible for a subsequent refund, only another exchange.

Toys "R" Us introduced an extended holiday return policy until January 25 for most items, but certain electronics purchased November 1 onwards must be returned by January 9. Previously, electronic items had a 45-day return window, but now that is reduced to only 30.

Few changes elsewhere

According to the National Retail Federation, 28% of stores surveyed change their return policies for the holidays, while 72% keep them the same. These special holiday policies typically extend the normal return period into January or even February. Consumer World found a few high-profile stores, however, have tightened restrictions for goods like electronics and appliances.

Many stores continue to “slice and dice” their return policies, creating complicated rules for different categories of items. Electronic items may be subject to stricter rules than say, clothing. Computers, digital cameras, and opened goods may be subject to limited return rights, restocking fees, shorter return periods, or no refunds at all, in part to discourage buyers from “renting” goods for the weekend and to help thwart return fraud. Online policies may also differ from store rules.

Noteworthy policies, policy changes, or unusual return policies for 2013 include:

• Macy’s now imposes a 15% restocking fee on furniture and mattress returns. They continue to affix a return label to some goods so a receipt may not be necessary.
• Amazon now rejects jewelry returned without all documentation (previously it imposed a 15% restocking fee). Restocking fees were reduced from 50% to 20% for late returns.

Unusual policies:

• Target.com will pay for return shipping with their label. REDcard holders get 30 extra return days. Items that are opened/damaged/receipt-less may be denied a refund or exchange.
• Express, Bloomingdale’s, and Macys.com require special occasion dresses to be returned with tags in place to deter “wardrobing” – buying then returning after a one-time wearing.
• Overstock.com: 37-inch and larger TVs are not returnable, and there is up to a 100% restocking fee for some open, used, or late items.
• Sports Authority stores will not accept returns of goods purchased at their online store.
• Office Max’s 30-day return policy excludes refunds on goods that it no longer stocks. Open technology products returned within 14 days are subject to a 15% restocking fee.

“If shoppers follow the rules, they should have many happy returns,” said Edgar Dworsky, Founder of Consumer World, an online consumer resource guide. “But, since the rules vary so much from store to store, you really have to read the fine print.”

Dworsky notes that return policy law varies state to state. Generally, a store can set up any return policy it wants, whether it is "all sales final," "merchandise credit only" or "all returns in 30 days."

Many states require the policy to be clearly disclosed to the buyer prior to purchase, usually by means of a conspicuous sign. Some states do not consider a disclosure that only appears on the sales receipt to meet this requirement. It is not unreasonable, however, to require customers to provide a sales slip or gift receipt to establish where and when the item was purchased, and at what price. Some stores record IDs in a tracking database to detect excessive returns or to thwart return fraud.

Houston-area home burglars looking for an easy score will be happy to learn that the homeowners’ association at the Alief subdivision in Cedar Springs has forbidden the use of burglar bars on the grounds that said bars might lower a home’s property value (in addition to whatever damage actually being burglarized does to the value of a home).

Homeowner Tony Vo put bars on the insides of his windows and doors two years ago, after his niece came to his house to discover a burglary in progress.  Since then, about a dozen homeowners in the area have added their own security bars, and that was the status quo until last week, when the HOA decided that the burglar bars have to go.

Resident Balaji Ramarao told KHOU news that “I don't understand why we got this letter initially this time …. The bars are inside and it doesn't have any effect if you look from outside.”

KHOU paraphrased a letter from the HOA board, alleging that the ban on burglar bars is “to preserve a desired standard and promote increased home values, and the bars have to go within ten days or homeowners must request a hearing with the board regarding the matter.” Vo responded that his bars aren’t bothering anyone except for burglars and the HOA board, and said he wasn’t going to take them down.

We’re going to go out on a limb here and guess that the people who put burglar bars on their ground-floor entrances also sought to “preserve a desired standard” – specifically, the standard where the stuff in their house stays there in lieu of being stolen by a thief.

Granted, we do not understand how, in a neighborhood where home burglaries have already occurred, the way to increase property values is to ban anything which might decrease future burglaries — but then, our inability to appreciate such wisdom doubtless explains why we never tried getting a job as a burglar or an HOA board member.

For the second year in a row, Consumer Reports has named the Toyota Prius the best overall value for the automotive dollar and the Nissan Armada the worst in its annual Best New-Car Value analysis. 

The popular Prius has the right combination of performance, reliability and low estimated five-year ownership costs of 47 cents per mile, the magazine said. Last year, the Prius unseated the perennial best-value leader, the Honda Fit. The Fit had held the best new-car value title for the previous four years.

The Armada, a large SUV that gets only 13 mpg overall and scored poorly in Consumer Reports’ annual reliability survey, costs a hefty $1.20 per mile, according to CR’s analysis. 

Toyota and Lexus models placed at the top in three of the 10 categories that Consumer Reports analyzed — with the Prius taking top overall ranking and emerging in first place in the Compact/Subcompact Cars category. The Toyota Avalon Hybrid Limited is the top-scoring vehicle in the Large Cars group and the Lexus ES 300h is the top model in the Luxury Cars category.

Vehicles from Subaru and Mazda were also standouts in the analysis; each automaker had vehicles that topped the rankings in two categories. The Subaru Legacy 2.5i Premium was the top-scoring vehicle in the Midsized Cars category and the Subaru Forester 2.5i Premium scored best among Small SUVs. The Mazda MX-5 Miata Grand ranked first overall in the Sports Cars/Convertibles category while the Mazda5 Grand Touring was best in the Wagons/Minivans group.

Best mpg

“The Prius’ 44 mpg overall is the best fuel economy of any non-plug-in car that Consumer Reports has tested,” said Consumer Reports Automotive Editor Rik Paul. “Though it’s not particularly cheap to buy, the Prius’ depreciation is so low that it costs less to own over the first five years than its initial MSRP. We call that a bargain.”

Here’s a look at the winners and losers in each of the categories:

• Compact /Subcompact Cars: Best, Toyota Prius Four; Worst, Volkswagen Beetle 2.5L

• Midsized Cars: Best, Subaru Legacy 2.5i Premium; Worst, Nissan Altima 3.5 SL

• Large Cars: Best, Toyota Avalon Hybrid Limited; Worst, Ford Taurus Limited

• Luxury Cars: Best, Lexus ES 300h; Worst, BMW 750Li

• Sports Cars/Convertibles: Best: Mazda MX-5 Miata Grand Touring; Worst, Chevrolet Camaro convertible 2SS (V8)

• Wagons/Minivans: Best, Mazda5 Grand Touring; Worst, Chrysler Town & Country Touring-L

• Small SUVs: Best, Subaru Forester 2.5i Premium; Worst, Ford Escape SE (1.6T)

• Midsized SUVs: Best, Nissan Murano SL; Worst, Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara

• Luxury/Large SUVs: Best, BMW X1 xDrive28i; Worst, Nissan Armada Platinum

• Pickups: Best, Honda Ridgeline RTS; Worst, Ford F-250 Lariat (6.7L V8)

To learn more, visit: www.ConsumerReports.org or pick up the February Issue of Consumer Reports Magazine.

Builders broke ground for new home construction at a red-hot clip in November.

Figures released by the government show housing starts shot up 22.7% last month -- to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,091,000. That rate is 29.6% above the year ago  pace and the biggest increase -- in percentage terms -- since January 1990.

The advance was led by a 22.7% surge in single-family housing starts to an annual rate of 1,091,000. The November rate for buildings with five units or more was 354,000.

Building permits

Building permits, a gauge of future construction plans, were up 3.1% to annual rate of 1,007,000 -- 3.1% below the October rate, but 7.9% above November 2012. Permits for construction of single-family homes were up 2.1% -- to 634,000, while apartment building authorizations were at a rate of 346,000. The November rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 354,000.

The complete report for construction of new homes is available on the Commerce Department website.

Mortgage applications

Following a small increase the previous week, mortgage applications plunged during the week ending December 13, 2013.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, its Market Composite Index -- a measure of mortgage loan application volume --  fell 5.5%.

The Refinance Index was down 4% from the previous week. Still, the refinance share of mortgage activity rose 1% from last week -- to 66% of total applications from 65 percent the previous week.  The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained at 8% of total applications.

"Mortgage applications fell further last week, with the market index falling to its lowest level in more than a dozen years,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of Research and Economics.  “Both purchase and refinance applications fell as interest rates increased going into today's Federal Open Market Committee meeting."

Contract interest rates

• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) increased to 4.62%, the highest level since September 2013, from 4.61%, with points increasing to 0.38 from  0.26 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) rose 2 basis points -- to 4.61% from 4.59%, the highest level since September 2013, with points increasing to 0.24 from 0.15 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year FRMs backed by the FHA decreased to 4.25% from 4.30%, with points decreasing to 0.32 from 0.38 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 15-year FRMs remained at 3.66%, with points increasing to 0.35 from 0.31 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.
• The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased 9 basis points to 3.20%, with points increasing to 0.42 from 0.35 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.  The effective rate increased from last week.

Hobby Lobby Stores of Oklahoma City, Okla., is recalling about 1,400 accent chairs.

The front legs on the chair can loosen and detach, posing a fall hazard and risk of injury to the consumer. The company has received one report of a chair collapsing.

This recall involves black wooden accent chairs with a shaped wood top rail and center back splat. The chairs have a black and white chevron print seat cushion. Item number 5218300 and PO number 9099294 are printed on the chair’s hang tag and a tag affixed to the underside of the chair.

The chairs, manufactured in China, were sold exclusively at Hobby Lobby Stores nationwide from March 2013, to August 2013, for about $180.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled chair and return it to the nearest Hobby Lobby store. Consumers with a purchase receipt will receive a full refund; those without a receipt will receive a store credit.

Consumers may contact Hobby Lobby at (800) 326-7931 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

Suzuki is recalling 142 model year 2013 SX4 vehicles manufactured December 26, 2012, through February 4, 2013 and equipped with a continuously variable transmission.

The bolts that fasten the drive plate to the torque converter may not have been installed with sufficient torque and may loosen and come out. The detached bolts can get caught between the drive plate and cylinder block, which may cause the engine to stall, increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.

Suzuki will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the torque converter bolts, tightening them as necessary, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in December 2013.

Owners may contact Suzuki at 1-800-572-1490. Suzuki's recall number is VE.

One of the fastest growing personal property crimes in the U.S. is cellphone and smartphone theft. It should come as no surprise. These devices can often cost more than a laptop computer if you pay the unsubsidized price. They can also contain valuable personal information.

That creates a sizable profit margin for crooks on the black market. And it seems to be an easy thing to steal.

“I was at the mall recently and I saw so many people walking around with iPhones sticking out of their back pocket,” said Shane Lyberger, founder of MyStolenPhone.com, an online database where consumers can report stolen devices. “You know how easy it would be for a thief to pull that phone and run? No one seems to have a sense of security about their cellphones anymore.”

Swiped in mid conversation

Even people who think they are being careful with their phones can fall victim. There have been reports of people having their phones snatched in mid conversation, as they were holding the device to their ear.

There are a number of different databases, operated by law enforcement and the wireless carriers, that contain information about stolen devices. Lyberger says his is the largest public database of stolen phones.

Individuals manually submit ESN, MEID, or IMEI numbers that can then be seen by thousands of businesses and other users who access the database when selling mobile devices. That number is an identifying number unique to each phone. It can be found on a sticker on the back of the device or sometimes inside the battery compartment. Each cellphone owner should write down their number and put it in a safe place.

Some law enforcement officials say the carriers -- like AT&T and Verizon -- could do a lot more to combat smartphone theft. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman recently demanded to know why carriers refused to activate a "kill switch" that Samsung had devised for its phones. It would have turned stolen phones into unusable bricks. 

Victims should always report the crime

In the event the phone is stolen, the device can essentially be deactivated, so that it won't work on a wireless network. But the victim has to report it and Lyberger says that doesn't always happen.

“A lot of people don't realize that if your phone is stolen you can report it and your carrier can keep it from being used,” he said.

If your cellphone is lost or stolen, your first step is to report it to your wireless carrier. It will immediately deactivate your account.

However, sensitive information will remain on your phone. If you have the ability to do a remote “wipe” of the device's memory, you should do so. Next, Lyberger strongly recommends filing a police report, even though they aren't likely to go out and make an immediate arrest.

What the police can do

“If your police or sheriff's office or state police has the ability to list it to the Nation Crime Information Center (NCIC), that's even better,” Lyberger said. It's in another database that's going to help recover that device or prevent that device from being used.”

The industry itself has been active recently on the stolen phone front. CTIA – The Wireless Association, has implemented new databases to prevent reactivation of stolen smartphones by U.S. carriers.

The purpose in trying to prevent stolen phones from being reused is to try to reduce the market for stolen phones. If there is less of a market, phones should become less desirable targets of thieves. But Lyberger is realistic about ever reaching that goal.

Global market

“Unfortunately a lot of phones stolen in the United States are sold elsewhere,” he said. “It's still going to be a huge problem.”

But every once in a while, there are small victories. Lyberger said he received an email not long ago from an individual who was prepared to purchase a smartphone on eBay.

Before making the purchase, however, Lyberger said the potential buyer checked the device on MyStolenPhone.com and discovered it was stolen.

Gift cards remain a popular choice when it comes to gifts but the explosive growth in e-gifts is this holiday season's big trend.

CEB TowerGroup has tallied the numbers. Last year there was a total of $300 million in e-gift sales. This season the projected total is a staggering $3 billion. E-gifts are expected to boost the overall sale of gift cards to $118 billion, an eight percent increase over 2012.

Most consumers are very familiar with a gift card. It's usually a piece of plastic the size of a credit card and issued by a specific retailer – a closed loop card – or by a credit card company, an open loop card. Gift cards are an easy gift but the knock on them is that they are impersonal – only a step above giving someone cash.

Adds some personality

An e-gifts is an electronic version of the gift card, and while that may sound even more impersonal, it doesn't have to be. Because it is delivered to the recipient electronically, through text, mobile app or email, it can be highly personalized, with words, pictures and even video.

Many e-gifts can be redeemed either online or in a store and carry no expiration date. Retailers that sell physical gift cards in their stores usually have a selection of e-gift cards online. You simply select the card design you like, customize it with a message and select the amount. The e-gift card arrives in the recipient's in-box a short time later, allowing them to purchase what they want.

Entertainment value

The process is similar to sending a digital greeting card, except that there is a monetary value attached to it. To personalize an e-gift there are several options, including attaching a picture of your face to a pre-produced video animation, such as the one below from Amazon.com.

As the numbers suggest, e-gift cards are quickly becoming the “hot” gift, when you can't find the “hot” gift in a store. CEB says the emergence of e-gifts will keep the gift card near the top of the list of most-given gifts for the foreseeable future.

It believes the e-gifting trend will help propel continued growth in the gift card market in excess of $140 billion in sales by 2016. During that same period it expects e-gifts to make up more than $10 billion of that amount, filling a niche for customers who want to simultaneously buy and send their gifts to recipients they may not see in person over the holidays.

Reduces wrapping and shipping

In fact, that is likely a major difference. CEB analysts say the traditional gift card segment will remain popular with gift-givers who will see the recipient in person. They are likely to be more comfortable having a physical gift to give.

The selling point to the e-gift, they say, is giving a gift to an out of town recipient. There is nothing that requires wrapping and shipping.

New peer-to-peer (P2P) services from banks and non-traditional financial players such as PayPal, can also be expected to offer more in the way of e-gift products in the years ahead. In fact, CEB says innovations related to e-gifting and P2P services are expected to contribute to the decline of unused gift card value, not so good for retailers, perhaps, but an advantage for consumers.

"The gift card experience continues to get better for consumers," said CEB TowerGroup Senior Research Director Brian Riley. "E-gifting and P2P innovations add a new dimension to the market, which means more flexibility for buyers and recipients.”  

That big bottle of multivitamins on your shelf might not be as beneficial as you think — and it might even be harmful.

That’s the conclusion of an editorial published in the Annals of Internal Medicine debunked the widely held (yet erroneous) belief that taking high doses of various vitamins confers various health benefits – added protection not merely against vitamin deficiency, but health problems ranging from heart disease to cancer.

Given that the title is “Enough is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements,” you won’t be surprised to learn the editorial concluded that multivitamin supplements probably aren’t worth it. Supplements are useful at filling any “nutrient gaps” in your diet, but the idea that extra doses of vitamins will confer extra benefits doesn’t hold up.

The study looked at hundreds of thousands of individuals who took multivitamin supplements, to determine what if any health benefits they enjoyed. In fairness to the multivitamin boosters, studies did suggest that multivitamins might confer an extremely small level of protection against cancer — but only in men aged 50 and older.

However, researchers found no evidence that multivitamin supplements would reduce anyone’s risk of heart disease, or preserve cognitive function in older people.

But they did discover that extra doses of certain vitamins might increase the risk of certain problems: for individuals already at risk of lung cancer, high doses of vitamin E or beta-carotene seemingly increase the risk of getting it.

This study should not be taken to mean “vitamins don’t matter;” what it does shatter is the myth that taking a pill (or several pills) every day makes an acceptable substitute for a nutritious diet and all-around healthy lifestyle.

It's been previously observed that children who are exposed to dogs in infancy are less likely to develop asthma, other allergies and infections, and now researchers say they have found the reason -- and it has to do with the bacteria that live in our gastrointestinal systems.

The researchers exposed mice to dust from homes with dogs and found that the dust reshaped the community of microbes that live in the mouse gut — collectively known as the gastrointestinal microbiome — and also diminish immune system reactivity to common allergens.

The scientists also identified a specific bacterial species within the gut that is critical to protecting the airways against both allergens and viral respiratory infection.

The study was led by Susan Lynch, PhD, associate professor with the Division of Gastroenterology at UC San Francisco, and Nicholas Lukacs, PhD, professor with the Department of Pathology at the University of Michigan.

Cockroach allergies

In their study the scientists exposed mice to cockroach or protein allergens. They discovered that asthma-associated inflammatory responses in the lungs were greatly reduced in mice previously exposed to dog-associated dust, in comparison to mice that were exposed to dust from homes without pets or mice not exposed to any dust.

The results are likely to explain the reduced allergy risk among children raised with dogs from birth, according to the study leaders.

The team had previously demonstrated that the presence of a dog that roams both inside and outside was associated with a significantly more diverse house dust microbiome that was enriched for species found in the gastrointestinal tract of humans.

After teaming up with Lukacs, an expert on immune responses in lung disease, Lynch said, "We set out to investigate whether being exposed to a distinct house dust microbiome associated with indoor/outdoor dogs mediated a protective effect through manipulation of the gut microbiome and, by extension, the host immune response."

"The results of our study indicate that this is likely to be one mechanism through which the environment influences immune responses in early life, and it is something we are currently examining using human samples in a large multi-institutional collaborative study funded by the NIAID."

"Gut microbiome manipulation represents a promising new therapeutic strategy to protect individuals against both pulmonary infection and allergic airway disease," Lynch said.

Airway protection

Among the bacterial species in the gut microbiome of these protected mice, the researchers homed in on one, Lactobacillus johnsonii. When they fed it alone to mice, they found it could prevent airway inflammation due to allergens or even respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. Severe RSV infection in infancy is associated with elevated asthma risk.

The researchers showed in this experiment that protection of the lungs' airways was associated with reduced numbers and activity of asthma-associated immune cells.

The level of protection with this single species was less than that obtained with the full complement of dust microbes from dog owners' homes, indicating that other, environmentally sourced bacterial species probably are necessary for full airway protection, Lynch said.

This result suggests that Lactobacillus johnsonii or other species of "good" bacteria might one day be used to reshape the gut microbiome in ways that can prevent the development of asthma or allergies, or perhaps even to treat existing cases, she said.

Lynch's own work and research by several others in the field has led her to become convinced that "the composition and function of the gut microbiome strongly influence immune reactions and present a novel avenue for development of therapeutics for both allergic asthma and a range of other diseases."

The current study demonstrates that changes in the gut microbiome can have wide-reaching effects on immune function beyond the gut, at sites elsewhere in the body, Lynch said.

The study, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), is published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and involves a multi-disciplinary group of researchers from UCSF, the University of Michigan, Henry Ford Health System and Georgia Regents University.

In the wake of 43 infant fatalities from 2007 through June of 2013, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has approved a new federal mandatory standard to improve the safety of hand-held infant carriers.

The new federal standard incorporates by reference the voluntary standard, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Hand-Held Infant Carriers, with one modification that clarifies that semi-rigid hand-held bassinet/cradles, such as Moses Baskets, are within the scope of the standard.

The carriers

A hand-held infant carrier is a freestanding, rigid or semi-rigid-sided product intended to carry an occupant whose torso is completely supported by the product to facilitate transportation by a caregiver by means of hand-holds or handles.

Most hand-held infant carriers also serve as child restraint systems (car seats) for automotive use and are regulated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Products that fall within the hand-held infant carrier standard include hand-held infant carrier seats (child restraint system for vehicles) and hand-held bassinet/cradles (including Moses baskets).

In addition to the afore-mentioned fatalities, CPSC estimates there were about 66,000 hospital emergency room-treated injuries between 2007 and 2013 related to hand-held infant carriers. The majority of the injuries occurred from falls.

Consumers sound off

ConsumerAffairs has heard from dozens of consumers regarding problems with various brands of infant carriers. Among them:

• Tanja of St. Helens, Ore., writes that the seat pad on her Touriva car seat kept on having issues coming undone. She says that while she was driving one day, her son started crying. "I checked to see what was wrong, and he had the elastic strap around his neck from the seat coming undone. We after then made sure and put a lot of Velcro in the most vulnerable places. To top it all off, the other day, he was in his car seat and I heard a pop. The bar that goes across in front had popped out of the hole where it is held, and it is completely broken now, not to mention unsafe."
• Nathaniel of West Covina, Calif., says he has had his EVENFLO Auro On the Go - Travel System for 11 months and has had many problem with it. "For example," he writes in a ConsumerAffairs post , "about 4 months ago the mechanism in the handle located on the carrier broke so we cannot use the carrier to carry our son in it anymore, on the stroller the rear-right wheel has fallen off a few times already and will not stay on, it seems the plastic cap has wore off inside, the last but main concern is the seat will keep unsnapping from the base and swings almost 90 degrees backwards. We have had this system for about 11 months now and has proven to be very dangerous to my son."

The effective date for the new mandatory hand-held infant carrier standard is six months after the final rule is published in the Federal Register.

Need another reason to shed some pounds? Here's one: Researchers at Duke Medicine have found that medical costs rise steadily as the body mass index (BMI) goes up.

Even when the BMI is in the high normal range -- 19 or so -- medical costs were higher than they were for thinner people, the study published in the journal Obesity found. 

"Our findings suggest that excess fat is detrimental at any level," said lead author Truls Østbye, M.D., Ph.D., professor of community and family medicine at Duke and professor of health services and systems research at Duke-National University of Singapore.

BMI is a measurement of a person's weight adjusted for his or her height, and can be used to screen for possible weight-related health problems. A healthy or normal BMI is 19-24, while overweight is 25-29 and obese is 30 and above. For example, a 5-foot-6-inch person who weighs 117.5 pounds has a BMI of 19, while a person of the same height weighing 279 pounds has a BMI of 45.

You can calculate your BMI online. 

Fat and healthy?

The findings may give pause to those who, like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, argue that it's possible to be both healthy and obese. 

Østbye said the study was motivated partly by research published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association, using death data from several large population studies, which concluded that while higher degrees of obesity were associated with higher mortality rates, being overweight or even slightly obese was actually linked with lower mortality.

Since these findings questioned the general belief that high body mass leads to poor health outcomes, Østbye and his colleagues sought to better understand the rates of obesity-related disease, or morbidity, by measuring health care utilization and costs.

Using health insurance claims data for 17,703 Duke employees participating in annual health appraisals from 2001 to 2011, the researchers related costs of doctors' visits and use of prescription drugs to employees' BMIs.

Measuring costs related to doctors' visits and prescriptions, the researchers observed that the prevalence of obesity-related diseases increased gradually across all BMI levels. In addition to diabetes and hypertension -- the two diseases most commonly associated with being overweight or obese -- the rates of nearly a dozen other disease categories also grew with increases in BMI. Cardiovascular disease was associated with the largest dollar increase per unit increase in BMI.

The average annual health care costs for a person with a BMI of 19 was found to be $2,368; this grew to $4,880 for a person with a BMI of 45 or greater. Women in the study had higher overall medical costs across all BMI categories, but men saw a sharper increase in medical costs the higher their BMIs rose.

"The fact that we see the combined costs of pharmacy and medical more than double for people with BMIs of 45 compared with those of 19 suggests that interventions on weight are warranted," said Marissa Stroo, a co-investigator on the study.

It’s a fact of life that a person who reaches a certain age will start feeling strange new urges and desires — specifically, the desire to bore the heck out of younger people via long-winded tales on the theme, “We sure had it rough compared to kids these days.”

This is easy for folks who grew up during truly tough times like the Great Depression or World War Two, but later generations are reduced to complaints like, “When I was your age, if we wanted to watch a movie for the second time we had to wait up to four minutes for the videotape to finish rewinding.”

Luckily, Netflix provided new old-times complaint fodder this week, in a press release titled “Netflix Declares Binge Watching is the New Normal,” a long, detailed and statistics-packed article that boils down to “People who rent an entire season of a TV series they like rarely limit themselves to watching only one episode at a time.” (Note to young people: you don’t appreciate how good you have it. Why, when we were your age, we couldn’t watch previous seasons of TV shows at all unless the reruns went into syndication — and even then, we were lucky if we could see one episode per day.)

"Binge" defined

Anyway, according to the press release (which in turn discussed the results of a survey of TV-viewing habits): “A majority (73%) defined binge watching as watching between 2-6 episodes of the same TV show in one sitting.  And there's no guilt in it.  Nearly three quarters of TV streamers (73%) say they have positive feelings towards binge streaming TV.”

If watching a mere two episodes in a single sitting entails “binge” watching of a show, then it’s no surprise the majority of people with DVDs of TV shows deem themselves “binge” watchers.

In fairness, though, there was more to the press release than standard pro-Netflix advertising. The company spoke with a cultural anthropologist named Grant McCraken, who concluded that, due to changing times and the stresses of daily life, especially in this economy, “I found that binge watching has really taken off due to a perfect storm of better TV, our current economic climate and the digital explosion of the last few years. But this TV watcher is different, the couch potato has awoken. And now that services like Netflix have given consumers control over their TV viewing, they have declared a new way to watch. …. Getting immersed in multiple episodes or even multiple seasons of a show over a few weeks is a new kind of escapism that is especially welcomed today.”

So, surprise: TV viewers with the option to choose what they watch, when they watch it and how many episodes they watch at once turn out to adopt viewing habits very different from TV viewers back in the days when your viewing options were limited to “whatever’s airing on TV right now.”

In today’s changing times you might not have control over the big things in life, like your job, family and finances, but thanks to services like Netflix you do have control over what you watch on TV.

The prices consumers pay for the things they use held steady in November.

According to the government, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was unchanged last month after falling 0.1% in October. During the past 12 months, the CPI is up a modest 1.2%.

Energy and food

A 1.0% drop in energy costs helped keep the inflation rate in check last month. The decline was driven by dips in gasoline (1.6) and natural gas (1.8%) -- the fifth decline in natural gas in the last 6 months. On the other hand, electricity prices were up 0.3%, while fuel oil costs rose 0.4%.

Over the past year, energy prices have fallen 2.4%, led by a 5.8% plunge in the cost of gasoline and a drop of 4.1% in fuel oil.

Food prices, meanwhile, inched up 0.1% last month -- the same as in October. The cost of fruits and vegetables declined 0.7%, while meat, poultry, fish, and eggs and nonalcoholic beverage prices each dipped 0.2%. Cereals and bakery products were unchanged. Increases were registered for dairy and related products (0.4%).

The “core” rate of inflation, which strips out the volatile energy and food categories, was up 0.2% in

November, with increases in prices for shelter and airline fares accounting for most of it. For the past 12 months, the core rate of inflation is 1.7%

The complete November CPI report may be found on the Labor Department website.

After holding steady in November, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) -- a measure of builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes -- is on the rise again.

The HMI jumped 4 points to a reading of 58, reflecting improvement in all three index components: current sales conditions, sales expectations and traffic of prospective buyers.

“This is definitely an encouraging sign as we move into 2014,” said National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chairman Rick Judson, a home builder from Charlotte, N.C. “The HMI is up 11 points since December of 2012 and has been above 50 for the past seven months. This indicates that an increasing number of builders have a positive view on where the industry is going.”

“The recent spike in mortgage interest rates has not deterred consumers as rates are still near historically low levels,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “Following a two-month pause in the index, this uptick is due in part to release of the pent-up demand caused by the uncertainty generated by the October government shutdown. We continue to look for a gradual improvement in the housing recovery in the year ahead.”

A rise in all components

The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as “good,” “fair” or “poor.” The monthly survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

All three HMI components posted gains in December. The index gauging current sales conditions jumped six points to 64, while the index gauging expectations for future sales rose two points to 62. The index gauging traffic of prospective buyers gained three points to 44.

Looking at the three-month moving averages for regional HMI scores, the South edged one point higher to 57 while the Northeast, Midwest and West each fell a single point to 38, 59 and 59, respectively.

Google and Hewlett-Packard are recalling about 145,000 HP Chromebook 11 power supply/charger units.

The computer’s charger can overheat and melt, posing fire and burn hazards.

Google has received nine reports of chargers overheating and melting during use. There is one report of a small burn to a consumer and one report of minor property damage to a pillow from an overheating charger.

This recall involves chargers that were sold with the HP Chromebook 11. The charger is black with outlet pins, measures 1¾ inches by ¾ inches, and has a 6-foot long cord with a micro-USB connector on the end. The model number of the charger is MU15-N1052-A00S, which is stamped on the face of the battery charger that has the outlet pins.

The chargers, manufactured in China, were sold at Best Buy stores nationwide and online at Amazon.com, bestbuy.com, Google Play at play.google.com, and HP Shopping at shopping.hp.com from October 2013, through November 2013, and included with the Chromebook 11 which sold for about $280.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled charger for the HP Chromebook 11 and contact Google for a free replacement.

Consumers may contact Google toll-free at (866) 628-1371 between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m. PT seven days a week.  

Once again, Yauk’s Specialty Meats of a Windsor, Colo., is expanding its recall to include an additional product that was produced under unsanitary conditions.

There have been no reports of illness due to consumption of these products.

The latest products are are in addition to the various meat and poultry products that were recalled on Dec. 9 and Dec. 12, 2013.

The newest products subject to recall can be identified by the establishment number “Est. 20309” inside the USDA Mark of Inspection and include:

• “Corner Post Meats” brand hams and bacon.
• “Old Style Sausage” brand Smoked Andouille Sausage.
• “Old Style Sausage” brand Smoked Kielbasa Sausage.

Consumers with questions about the recall may contact Wayne Yauk at 970-686-9080 .