Current Events in October 2018

The end of a long-running class action lawsuit involving the lack of seating for Walmart cashiers could be near now that Walmart has agreed to pay $65 million as part of a proposed settlement.

The suit, originally filed by former Walmart employee Nisha Brown in 2009, alleges that the retailer has been in violation of a 2001 California wage order that determines employees must be given “suitable seats when the nature of the work reasonably permits.”

If approved, about 100,000 current and former California Walmart cashiers are eligible to receive a portion of the payout, depending on how long they were employed, The Los Angeles Times reported on Friday.

Walmart’s counterargument

Walmart doesn’t agree that it’s in the wrong regarding the matter. The retailer has maintained that the nature of work as a cashier doesn’t permit cashiers to sit down.

The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company has argued that cashiers need to move around to greet customers, stock shelves, and bag items. Among other reasons, the company says cashiers are less efficient when they sit down, customers prefer standing cashiers, and providing seating to cashiers would lead to a loss of revenue, according to the LA Times.

As part of the settlement, Walmart will commit to beginning a pilot program that would provide stools to cashiers “who express a desire to use them.” The retail giant would also promise not to discriminate or retaliate against workers who choose to sit down.

“Both sides are pleased to have reached a proposed resolution,” Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove said in a statement, noting that a judge still has to approve the settlement amount.

If approved, any California cashier employed by Walmart between June 11, 2008 and the date the settlement is approved would be eligible to claim part of the settlement money.

A new study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Davis explored consumers’ knowledge of online photographs: are they real or are they photoshopped?

Previous research had found that consumers were more likely to believe images were genuine if they came from a trusted, reliable source, or if they were liked or shared by friends or family. This new study, however, dismantles that idea and shows that consumers are more skeptical than ever about the images they see online.

“In the age of fake news and alternative facts, the risks and dangers associated with ill-intentioned individuals or groups easily routing forged visual information through computer and social networks to deceive, cause emotional distress, or to purposefully influence opinions, attitudes, and actions have never been more severe,” the authors reported.

Real or fake

To put consumers’ knowledge to the test, the researchers gathered six batches of fake images depicting a wide variety of issues and presented them to the participants as if they had been taken from the internet. The researchers either cropped, combined, altered, or changed each image to make it “fake.”

Each image was then crafted to be part of a mockup that the participants would have to identify as either real or fake. Some were made to look like they were from news sources like BBC, Fox News, or CNN. Others looked like emails or were presented as if they were taken from Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

The images were shown to over 3,000 participants ranging in age from 20 to 87 years old. Some of the issues depicted in the images included a bridge collapse, an animal that had been genetically modified to have a cat’s head and a mouse’s body, a same-sex couple and their family, and a war scene, among others.

Along with the image, the participant was also shown the interaction with it on social media -- how many likes, retweets, and favorites it received, and any news write-ups or commentary if it was a news-related piece. After looking at the image, the participants were asked to rank its credibility on a seven-point scale, with seven being the most credible and one being not credible at all.

Discerning credibility

The study found that the majority of participants were able to point out the fake images, regardless of the alleged source of the image, or who had posted/liked/shared it.

According to lead researcher Cuihua (Cindy) Shen, the team of researchers took into account the participants’ level of education -- most had earned a college degree -- as well as their demographics and experience with digital media.

“We found that participants’ internet skills, photo-editing experience, and social media use were significant predictors of image credibility evaluation,” says Shen. “The results show that participants, no matter how careless or distracted they may be, can still be discerning consumers of digital images.”

The full study was published in New Media & Society, and can be found here.

If you're putting your home on the market, you may need to adjust your strategy for a quick sale near your asking price.

A new report from real estate brokerage Redfin documents a slowdown from the spring's red-hot real estate market, especially in cities with homes valued above the median price. The report says buyers are not rushing in to make offers the way they did a few months ago.

For example, Seattle and San Jose, California -- two of the hottest markets in the nation -- have seen the biggest decline in homes selling within two weeks. Both are down by more than 35 percentage points since spring and over 20 percentage points from a year earlier.

"Sellers in these markets are learning that they need to adjust their strategy," said Redfin's chief economist Daryl Fairweather. "They aren't seeing the same level of interest from buyers that there was a year ago. As a result, sellers are having to wait longer for offers, and more sellers are dropping their list price to attract buyers."

Prices and mortgage rates

Buyers are being squeezed by more expensive home prices and rising interest rates. In early October, the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage topped 5 percent. As a result, many are putting off their homebuying plans.

For first-time buyers, that means remaining renters for a while longer. For current homeowners, that means staying put.

A study by real estate marketplace Zillow shows that many homeowners are content with their current homes and are planning to make renovations instead of move. The report found 76 percent of Americans would rather spend money to upgrade their home to meet their needs instead of using it as a down payment on a new home.

Demographically, baby boomers are now the least likely to go home-shopping. Among consumers who are 55 or older, 87 percent would rather update and renovate their current home than move. The numbers are even higher for boomers who are retired.

The Zillow researchers say rising mortgage rates are a factor. Many older homeowners have owned their homes for years and have a low mortgage rate and manageable house payment. They aren't eager to trade that in for a higher payment.

Exercise in frustration

"Even in a seller's market, simultaneously buying and selling is an exercise in frustration," said Skylar Olsen, Zillow's director of economic research and outreach. "Add to that the emotional history between you and your home, and it's no wonder low inventory has been in a self-fulfilling cycle."

Olsen says some homeowners may also be holding onto their present homes because they don't see anything else they like. And by not putting their homes on the market, they're contributing to the current low inventory of homes for sale.

BMW of North America is recalling 3,501 model year 2018 BMW 330e iPerformance, i3 Rex, i3 Sport Rex, X5 xDrive40e, i3 BEV, i3 Sport BEV and MINI Cooper Countryman SE All4 PHEV vehicles, model year 2019 i8 and i8 Roadster vehicles and model year 2018-2019 530e iPerformance, 530e xDrive iPerformance and 740Le xDrive iPerformance vehicles.

Capacitors within the TurboCord Portable Chargers may fail, possibly resulting in a shock hazard or a fire and increasing the risk of injury or death.

What to do

BMW will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the charging cable, and replace it if necessary, free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin November 12, 2018.

Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417 or Mini customer service at 1-866-825-1525.

Kemps of St. Paul, Minn., is recalling individual pints and pint four-packs of Sweet Me Creamery Brookie Dough ice cream.

The product may contain peanuts, an allergen not declared on the label.

The recall was prompted by consumer reports of an allergic reaction after consuming the product.

The recalled product, with best by dates of 12/4/2019, 12/5/2019, 12/13/2019, 2/15/2020, and 2/16/2020, which can be found on the bottom of the pint containers, was initially distributed by Kemps to retailers and retailer distribution centers in Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

It may have been further distributed by retail customers to additional states and sold through a wholesaler, retail grocery store or convenience store.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled product may return it to the store where purchased for a full refund.

Consumers with questions may contact the firms consumer relations line at (800) 726-6455 Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (CST).

Canyon USA of Carlsbad, Calif., is recalling about 820 mountain bikes.

The chainstays can crack, which can lead to failure of the chainstay, rear wheel detachment and loss of control, posing a crash hazard.

The firm is aware of 20 chainstays cracking which could lead to failures. No injuries have been reported.

This recall involves model year 2018 Canyon Spectral full-suspension mountain bikes with aluminum chainstays that run from the bottom bracket to the axle of the rear wheel.

They were sold in black/red, black/blue, gray/orange, red, and black. Canyon is printed on the downtube. Spectral is printed on the top tube.

The recalled women and men’s mountain bikes have the following models numbers: M71 Spectral CF 9.0 PRO, M71 Spectral CF 8.0, M53 Spectral AL 6.0, M74 Spectral WMN CF 7.0, M50 Spectral WMN 6.0.

The model number is printed in the purchase documents.

The mountain bikes, manufactured in China, were sold exclusively online at Canyon’s website, www.canyon.com, from December 2017, through June 2018, for between $2,400 and $4,500.

What to do

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled mountain bikes and contact Canyon to receive free replacement and installation of chainstays. Canyon is contacting all known purchasers directly.

Consumers may contact Canyon toll-free at (833) 226-9661 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. (PT) Monday through Friday, by email at us@canyon.com or online at www.canyon.com and click on “Service & Support” for more information.

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing is recalling 168,187 model year 2018-2019 Toyota Tundras and Sequoias, and model year 2019 Toyota Avalons and Avalon Hybrids.

The airbag electronic control unit (ECU) may erroneously detect a fault during the vehicle start-up self check. If this occurs, the ECU may not deploy the airbags as intended, in the event of a crash.

Failure of the air bags to can increase the risk of injury in a crash.

What to do

Toyota will notify owners, and dealers will update the software for the air bag ECU, free of charge.

The recall is expected to begin October 22, 2018.

Owners may contact Toyota customer service at 1-888-270-9371. Toyota's number for this recall is J0X.

A London woman is “distraught and heartbroken” after car thieves broke into her Ford Mustang parked in her own driveway and drove off with it. And no, she didn’t make the classic mistake of leaving her door unlocked with the car keys inside.

The car thieves, according to the BBC, were captured on surveillance footage waving a device in front of her car that can mimic key fobs and “trick” the vehicle into unlocking. They successfully got the door to open, and then, thanks to the Mustang’s keyless ignition, sped away in the middle of the night.

They apparently can thank Ford’s “intelligent access system,” as the company calls it. The feature allows consumers to “unlock, lock and start your vehicle without having to reach for your keys.”

It’s another sign that perhaps reaching for one’s own keys is worth the physical challenge. In March, police warned that the Ford Fiesta, apparently Britain’s most popular car, had been targeted in a string of thefts via the same keyless entry device.

The car thefts targeting consumers across the United Kingdom come several years after researchers at the University of Birmingham warned that this was bound to happen.

Goodbye Google+

Google's attempt to build a social media platform to rival Facebook has predictably ended with the revelation that it also exposed users’ vulnerable personal data to third parties.

A Wall Street Journal investigation this week revealed that a bug in Google+ gave third party app developers the ability to access the personal data of people who had never even used or granted permission to the apps.

Google engineers became aware of the bug but opted not to disclose it to the public to avoid bad publicity in the wake of the Facebook Cambridge Analytica fall-out, the WSJ said.

Shorty after the newspaper report went live, Google announced that it would shutter Google+ for good. At the same time, Google executives claimed that “we found no evidence that any developer was aware of this bug” or had abused it.

Payment platform

Hackers used stolen Apple IDs to break into one of China’s most popular payment platforms and steal customers’ money. Alipay announced that it has contacted Apple and is telling users to change their passwords.

Digital wallets on smartphones are increasingly promoted as a new way to pay for everything from a movie download to a Subway sandwich. For people with iPhones, Apple ID is required to purchase anything from the iTunes store.

A California judge is reportedly considering slashing the $289 million award to the cancer victim who repeatedly used Monsanto’s weed-killer product Roundup while working as a school groundskeeper.

Dewayne Johnson, a 46-year-old father of two, was the first of more than 4,000 cancer patients to allege that glyphosate -- the key ingredient in Roundup -- is a carcinogen. Johnson is dying of Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The case centers on the question of whether Monsanto was aware of the cancer-causing risks of the product but deliberately chose not to warn consumers of the dangers.

Two months ago, a jury awarded Johnson $39.2 million in compensatory damages and an additional $250 million in punitive damages after determining that Monsanto acted with "malice" and that its weed killers Roundup and the professional grade version RangerPro contributed "substantially" to Johnson's illness.

Overruling the jury’s decision

However, on Wednesday, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Suzanne Bolanos tentatively granted Monsanto’s request for a new trial, which could ultimately lead to the $250 million in punitive damages portion of the award being dropped.

In a written ruling, Bolanas said the plaintiff "presented no clear and convincing evidence of malice or oppression to support an award of punitive damages." The judge gave attorneys on both sides until Friday to submit written arguments before she makes a final decision.

Johnson's attorneys have contended that the evidence at trial was "more than sufficient to support an inference that Johnson's cancer was caused by his exposure to Monsanto's herbicides.”

"Mr Johnson's story is tragic and could have been prevented if Monsanto actually showed a modicum of care about human safety," they said in written arguments.

Bayer, the company that purchased Monsanto in June, said it agreed with the judge’s tentative ruling. The company said hundreds of studies indicate glyphosate doesn’t cause cancer.

“The jury’s verdict was wholly at odds with over 40 years of real-world use, an extensive body of scientific data and analysis, including in-depth reviews by regulatory authorities in the U.S. and EU, and approvals in 160 countries, which support the conclusion that glyphosate-based herbicides are safe when used as directed and that glyphosate is not carcinogenic,” Bayer said in a statement.

Many adults have incorporated dietary supplements into their daily routines as a means of incorporating more vitamins, minerals, or herbs into their diets. But despite their recent popularity, a recent study shows that these supplements may not be what consumers think they are.

A team of researchers, led by Madhur Kumar of the California Department of Public Health Food and Drug Branch, recently uncovered that 776 supplements sold over the counter -- from 146 companies -- from 2007 through 2016 contained unapproved pharmaceutical ingredients.

Pulling back the curtain

According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act in 1994, classifying dietary supplements as food -- not drugs. Because of this, the supplements weren’t subject to certain safety and effectiveness testings.

This served as the precursor to the researchers’ study, in which they evaluated data from the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Tainted Products Marketed as Dietary Supplements database from 2007 through 2016.

Though the database contains five pages worth of warnings, the FDA urges on the site that this is “only a small fraction of the potentially hazardous products with hidden ingredients” and consumers should “exercise caution before using certain products.”

In looking through the database, the researchers highlighted several key findings. The top three adulterated products were marketed for sexual enhancement (45.5 percent), weight loss (40.9 percent), and muscle building (11.9 percent). All 776 supplements contained unapproved drug ingredients, while 97.6 percent of cases didn’t even list the unapproved ingredients on the label.

Overall, nearly 80 percent of all the supplements contained one unapproved drug ingredient, while over 20 percent contained more than one..

Products not recalled

Despite the FDA’s power to recall supplements that have proven to be tainted, the agency did not mandate any of the adulterated products found in this study to be taken off the market.

Dr. Pieter A. Cohen of Cambridge Health Alliance in Massachusetts commented on the study in an article that was recently published in JAMA. He believes that the only effective way to put an end to this issue is for policymakers to get involved and revamp the current laws.

Dr. Cohen also pointed fingers at the FDA, calling their current system of removing and recalling certain drugs “cumbersome and time-consuming,” and believes that the agency has put consumers’ health at risk due to their inability to remove these products from stores.

“More than FDA action will be required to ensure that all adulterated supplements are effectively and swiftly removed from the market,” Dr. Cohen wrote. “Congress would need to reform the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994.”

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released the results from its latest Global Passenger Survey (GPS), and all arrows point to maximizing the ever-changing digital world of the consumer.

After combing through the 10,000+ responses, the overriding takeaway from the survey was airline customers wanting a “seamless journey” -- and they’d like most of that seamlessness in digital form.

The flier’s message to the airlines is clear. As one of the survey respondents said, “Let us travel simple and efficient, conscious and paperless.” “Fast, intuitive and self-serviced airports experience is what we want,” said another.

“Air travel is expected to double by 2036, the industry will not be able to handle the growth or evolving customer expectations with the current processes, installations and ways of doing business,” commented Nick Careen, IATA's Senior Vice President, Airport, Passenger, Cargo and Security.

What passengers want from booking to landing

“The GPS tells us that passengers want a seamless and secure travel experience from booking to arrival. It’s a tall order because airlines have to coordinate with a mix of governments, regulators, airports, and technology companies to get it done,” Careen added.

Fliers aren’t shy about voicing their concern over the chaos of the boarding process, either. More than 40 percent said that availability of overhead space for carry-on bags would definitely improve the boarding experience.

Seating has become a thorny issue -- something not lost on the U.S. Congress, which told the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in no uncertain terms to set minimum standards for width of seats and legroom.

But once passengers get buckled in, they want to be able to craft their travel experience from their seat. Common features such as the ability to make changes to their flight, get updates on gate info, choose entertainment and food options, make sure their baggage is going to the same place they are, and complete e-declarations for border processing (if required) are high on travelers’ wish lists.

And when they’ve landed, they would like personalized destination services, including:

• Baggage pick up location and delivery time notifications

• Pre-vetted at security checks based on travel patterns and profile information supplied by entities at the departing airport

• Notifications will be sent to the passengers to facilitate transportation, accommodation or other services (e.g. the taxi is waiting at designated curb location)

Interestingly, the IATA survey results regarding seatback vs. personal device entertainment streaming runs counter to what some airlines, like American, have put into play.

The demographic split

Results change a bit where demographic preferences are concerned. Millennials want as much information as possible delivered digitally, whereas older ones prefer printed versions. That demographic also wants things done lickety-split: less than 30 seconds to drop off baggage at departure and less than 5 minutes to wait for baggage at arrival.

Females surveyed showed preferences for making carry-on baggage their own concern, being able to book a hotel together with the purchase of their flight ticket, and for a paper passport over biometric identification.

The IATA represents 290 airlines which amounts to 82% of total air traffic.

With more and more young people turning to e-cigarettes, as they are believed to be a healthier and safer alternative, California has been cracking down with aggressive tobacco control programs in an effort to discourage people from ever starting the dangerous habit.

As a result, a team of researchers from the University of San Diego School of Medicine found that lung cancer-related deaths are down 28 percent throughout the state.

“Quitting smoking at any age will improve a person’s quality of life,” says John P. Pierce, PhD. “But quitting before the age of 35 could help smokers avoid nearly all the negative health effects of smoking. Quitting by age 50 could reduce a person’s risk of disease by almost half.”

“It is clear from the early days of tobacco control, young people in California became increasingly less likely to become addicted smokers,” Pierce continues.

A look at the numbers

To see the effectiveness of their tobacco control programs, the researchers evaluated lung cancer information from the national Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) and smoking habits based on responses from the National Health Interview Survey from 1974 through 2014.

The researchers included responses from over 960,000 United States residents, with roughly 10 percent of them coming from California.

According to Scott M. Lippman, MD -- one of the researchers involved in the study -- in 1985, 108 out of every 100,000 people aged 35 and older died every year due to lung cancer in California. In 2013, that number dropped to approximately 63 per every 100,000 people.

Lippman noted that this is the “largest decline ever seen,” and has paced California way ahead of the rest of the country in terms of lung cancer-related fatalities.

“While quitting smoking has increased across the country, this does not explain why the decline in lung cancer has been so much faster in California,” Lippman says. “This can only be attributed to the success of tobacco control in this state, which has been so effective in convincing young people not to smoke.”

Push to end teen smoking

While the younger generation has been more apt to turn to electronic cigarettes, a new study found that an increase in JUUL sales -- a popular e-cigarette brand -- poses a threat to young people, while also interfering with the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Youth Tobacco Prevention Plan.

JUUL was found to contain the most nicotine of any other e-cigarette and was also the number one e-cigarette in the U.S. in December 2017.

The Youth Tobacco Prevention Plan focuses on three key areas as the agency looks to put an end to teen smoking:

• Preventing youth access to tobacco products

• Ending marketing of tobacco products aimed at the younger generation

• Teaching young people about the dangers of smoking -- both regular cigarettes and e-cigarettes

PayPal has announced that it’s teaming up with Walmart to allow customers to withdraw cash from their PayPal account at any Walmart store across the country.

The new service will let the companies’ shared customers take out or deposit cash to their PayPal account at Walmart’s service desks, ATMs, or cash registers. Customers will need to have their PayPal app or a PayPal Cash Mastercard to make transactions. Each transaction will come with a service fee of $3.

The payment giant noted in a statement that this is the first time PayPal app users will be able to take out cash from their account balance in a brick-and-mortar environment.

“We are committed to working together to make it simple and easy for people to use PayPal cash in and cash out money services at every Walmart location in the U.S. We look forward to working hand-in-hand to help people and families with their financial services needs,” Dan Schulman, PayPal President and CEO, said in a statement.

Providing “great value”

For its part, Walmart says it is committed to expanding access to products and services like these.  

Daniel Eckert, Walmart’s senior vice president, noted that 90 percent of U.S. consumers live within 10 miles of a Walmart store. He said the new service will offer “great value to the many people who rely on Walmart and PayPal to help manage and move their money.”

The ability to deposit cash through the new system is immediately available, while the ability to take cash out will be available at all Walmart locations across the U.S. by early November.

Earlier this year, PayPal made another move into the mainstream banking space by partnering with Venmo to launch a MasterCard debit card that allows users to make in-store and online payments with their Venmo balance.

PayPal has also previously partnered with Apple, Facebook, and Skype with the goal of launching additional offerings to customers.

Apple has filed a patent called “Detection of spoofed call information,” which would enable iPhones to analyze whether an incoming call is legitimate, AppleInsider reports.

“A mobile device receives an invitation to commence a media session. The invitation may be from a legitimate caller or from a spoofing caller. The mobile device checks parameters using templates to evaluate a consistency of the invitation with respect to a database in the mobile device,” Apple said in its description of the patent.

If the system believes anyone has performed call spoofing on the inbound call, it will alert the user before they answer the call.

Cracking down on nuisance calls

News of the patent filing, which was initially made on April 5, 2017, comes a month after recent research showed a dramatic uptick in the number scam calls made to mobile phones.

Last month, a report by First Orion predicted that nearly half of all calls made to mobile phones in the U.S. will be scams by next year. The firm said the only way to curtail these calls is for the industry to come up with effective call protection solutions.

Phone spoofing is different from phone spam in that it’s considered an offense by the FCC. The practice refers to the manipulation of caller ID in ways that disguise the identity of the caller. Phone spoofing violations are subject to steep fines.

Nonetheless, Apple’s technology could represent a step in the right direction toward reducing the overall number of unwanted calls consumers receive. It’s worth noting that the company files numerous patents each week, so there’s a chance it may never become available.

Google has also expressed an interest in curbing spam and nuisance calls. At its “Made By Google” event this week, the tech giant unveiled a Call Screen feature that utilizes Google Assistant to help detect and block spam calls. The company also recently updated its phone app with the ability to send spam calls straight to voicemail.

The sudden rise in Treasury bond yields that has roiled the stock market is also proving costly to homebuyers who haven't locked in an interest rate.

The average rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 4.76 percent this week, according to Bankrate, after hitting 5 percent the week before. That's the highest level in seven years.

Mortgage rates are linked to the yield on the 10-year government bond which rose this week to 3.25 percent before pulling back slightly in Thursday's Treasury auction. Homeowners who finance with a 4.76 percent interest rate will pay an estimated $522.25 in principal and interest charges each month for every $100,000 they borrow.

Hitting the 5 percent benchmark

Earlier in the week, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported the rate on the 30-year mortgage briefly rose above 5 percent at the same time that mortgage applications, not surprisingly, fell.

MBA said the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances increased to 5.05 percent, rising from 4.96 percent.

Whether mortgage rates continue to rise is uncertain at this point. The 30-year fixed-rate loan has dropped to below 5 percent while Bankrate notes the rate for the average 15-year mortgage dropped a full basis point this week to 4.02 percent.

Not a big deal?

Those with long memories may find a mortgage rate of 5 percent hardly cause for alarm. Back during the housing bubble, homeowners typically paid that or more.

But in many housing markets, home prices have escalated far above the sale price of a decade ago. Those homes were a lot more affordable with a 3.5 mortgage rate than a 5 percent.

Some economists speculate the rising bond yields are a result of traders worrying about the Federal Reserve's policy of raising the federal funds rate, fearing it will push the U.S. into recession next year. In a highly unusual move for a U.S. president, Donald Trump has publicly criticized Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, calling the Fed policy “crazy.”

Malone’s Fine Sausage of Milwaukee, Wis., is recalling approximately 26,323 pounds of ready-to-eat pork head cheese.

The products may be contaminated with with Listeria monocytogenes.

There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.

The following ready-to-eat pork head cheese items, produced from August 27, 2018, through October 5, 2018, are being recalled:

• Various weights of vacuum-sealed packages containing “Glorious Malone’s Fine Sausage, INC. GOURMET PORK DELICACY HOT SEASONED HEADCHEESE” with a “Sell By” dates from 10/26/2018 through 12/5/2018 and lot codes 3524 through 3540.
• Various weights of vacuum-sealed packages containing “Glorious Malone’s Fine Sausage, INC. GOURMET PORK DELICACY MILD SEASONED HEADCHEESE” with a “Sell By” dates from 10/26/2018 through 12/5/2018 and lot codes 3524 through 3540.

The recalled products, bearing establishment number “EST. 15702” inside the USDA mark of inspection, were shipped to retail locations in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, and also sold via internet catalog sales.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should not consume them, but discard them or return them to the place of purchase.

Consumers with questions regarding the recall may contact Daphne Jones at (414) 732-1820.

Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods of Richmond, Va., is recalling approximately 18,296 pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry deli-sliced products.

The products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.

The following ready-to-eat meat and poultry deli-sliced items, produced and packaged from September 14, 2018, through October 3, 2018, are being recalled:

• 5.03 lbs. in clear plastic rectangular containers of “Roasted Turkey and Bacon Wrap 4CT Tray,” with a Sell By date from 9/17/18 – 10/06/18.
• 13.5 oz. in clear plastic rectangular containers of “Ukrop's Buffalo-Style Chicken Wrap,” with a Sell By date from 9/17/18 - 10/06/18.
• 13.5 oz. in clear plastic rectangular containers of “Ukrop's Turkey & Bacon Cobb Wrap,” with a Sell By date from 9/17/18 - 10/06/18.
• 42.5 oz. in clear plastic rectangular containers of “Ukrop's Meat & Cheese Tray,” with a Sell By date from 9/19/18 – 10/08/18.
• 9.75 oz. in clear plastic rectangular containers of “Ukrop's Roasted Turkey & Colby Jack Pinwheels,” with a Sell By date from 9/17/18 - 10/06/18.
• 9.95 oz. in clear plastic rectangular containers of “Ukrop's Roasted Turkey and Bacon Wrap,” with a Sell By date from 9/17/18 - 10/06/18.
• 9.25 oz. in clear plastic rectangular containers of “Ukrop's Angus Roast Beef & Cheddar Pinwheels,” with a Sell By date from 9/17/18 - 10/06/18.
• 9.25 oz. in clear plastic rectangular containers of “Ukrop's Black Forest Ham & Provolone Pinwheels,” with a Sell By date from 9/17/18 – 10/06/18.
• 12.6 oz. in clear plastic rectangular containers of “Ukrop’s Chef Salad,” with a Sell By date from 9/17/18 - 10/07/18.
• 4.8 lbs. in clear plastic rectangular containers of “Combo Wrap Turkey & Bacon, Chicken Ceasar, Buffalo Style Chicken, & Veg,” with a Sell By date from 9/17/18 - 10/06/18.
• 43 oz. in clear plastic rectangular containers of “Ukrop's Honey Turkey & Honey Ham Pinwheel Tray,” with a Sell By date from 9/17/18 - 10/06/18.
• 8.1 oz. in clear plastic rectangular containers of “Ukrop's Italian Style Pinwheels,” with a Sell By date from 9/17/18 - 10/06/18.

The recalled products, bearing establishment number “EST.19979” inside the USDA mark of inspection, were shipped to retail locations in Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products should not consume them, but discard them or return them to the place of purchase.

Consumers with questions regarding the recall may contact Susan Rowe at Ukrop’s, at (804) 340-3104.

Toyota is recalling approximately 700 model year 2019 C-HRs in the U.S.

One or more rear axle bearing bolts on some vehicles may not have been tightened sufficiently during the manufacturing process.

If bolts become loose or detach during vehicle operation, they could damage the rear brake components or cause the rear wheels to detach, resulting in reduced brake performance or a potential loss of vehicle stability, increasing the risk of a crash.

What to do

Toyota dealers will notify owners and check the rear axle hub bearing bolts and, if a bolt loose or detached, the dealer will replace the rear axle hub bearing assembly and rear axle carrier sub-assembly with new ones at no cost.

The recall is scheduled to begin in early November 2018.

Owners may contact Toyota at (800) 331-4331.