Current Events in July 2021

A new study conducted by researchers from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health explored how alcohol can affect consumers’ health and wellness. According to their findings, having as few as two drinks per day can increase the risk of developing several different types of cancer. 

“Alcohol consumption causes a substantial burden of cancer globally,” said researcher Dr. Isabelle Soerjomataram. “Yet the impact on cancers is often unknown or overlooked, highlighting the need for implementation of effective policy and interventions to increase public awareness of the link between alcohol use and cancer risk, and decrease overall alcohol consumption to prevent the burden of alcohol-attributable cancers.”  

The link between alcohol and cancer

For the study, the researchers analyzed data on alcohol consumption, alcohol sales, and long-term health outcomes for consumers around the world. The group noted a clear link between moderate alcohol consumption and an increased risk of cancer; having one to two drinks per day was associated with a higher risk of oral, colon, and breast cancers. 

“All drinking involves risk,” said researcher Dr. Jürgen Rehm. “And with alcohol-related cancers, all levels of consumption are associated with some risk. For example, each standard sized glass of wine per day is associated with a 6% higher risk for developing female breast cancer.” 

Moderate alcohol consumption was specifically linked with the highest risk of breast cancer among consumers in Canada. The researchers learned that having as many as two drinks per day was associated with a 24% increase in breast cancer cases for Canadians in 2020. On a global scale, moderate drinkers made up nearly 15% of all new cancer diagnoses last year. 

“Alcohol causes cancer in numerous ways,” said researcher Dr. Kevin Shield. “The main mechanism of how alcohol causes cancer is through impairing DNA repair. Additional pathways include chronic alcohol consumption resulting in liver cirrhosis, and alcohol leading to a dysregulation of sex hormones, leading to breast cancer. Alcohol also increases the risk of head and neck cancer for smokers as it increases the absorption of carcinogens from tobacco.”

COVID-19 and alcohol consumption

Many consumers have increased their alcohol intake over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. While some of this excessive drinking may be linked to heightened stress over the last year, the researchers worry about how these habits will impact consumers’ long-term health. 

“In our clinic we are seeing many people who report increased alcohol use since the onset of the pandemic,” said researcher Dr. Leslie Buckley. “Although this may be related to temporary stressors, there is a potential for new habits to become more permanent. The consequences with alcohol use are often subtle harms initially that take time to show themselves, while long-term consequences such as cancer, liver disease, and substance use disorder can be devastating.” 

Overall, there was less travel last year, but short-term rental platforms saw their business hold relatively steady in 2020 as pandemic-conscious travelers often avoided hotels for a more private setting. People apparently liked the experience because bookings have increased in 2021.

A recent survey by Cinch Home Services showed most people -- 93% -- expressed interest in staying at a short-term rental such as Airbnb or Vrbo as an alternative to a hotel. Most said they were interested in a rental for leisure travel.

The survey also found that interest in short-term rentals has grown since the beginning of the pandemic, largely based on increased exposure. 

“For people desperate for a change of scene but aren't yet ready to be in a hotel full of strangers, short-term vacation rentals can provide a safer, more socially distant solution for getting away,” the authors write. “With online searches for short-term rentals surging in Delaware, Colorado, Hawaii, and Florida, Americans are ready to start traveling again sooner rather than later.”

Perhaps because of the increase in travel, the survey discovered an increase in interest in renting property and becoming a host. Jamie, of Napierville, Ill., is an Airbnb host and says the experience has been enjoyable as well as profitable.

“Airbnb has stepped in so many times to assist myself and my potential guests to coordinate the reservations should there be adjustments needed like pricing to fit budget requests,” Jamie wrote in a ConsumerAffairs post. “Their 24-7 response has provided me with answers that I have been able to relay to guests when I can't quite figure it out myself.”

Insurance is a big factor

She also says Airbnb has a “huge” insurance policy that gives her peace of mind.

The Cinch survey found that 45% of people are more interested in privately owned rentals than they were before the pandemic began. The three most important factors in picking a rental were price, location, and cleanliness. Fifty-five percent of potential renters said they are more likely to stay in a rental with clear COVID-19 policies.

We recently consulted readers about whether they preferred Airbnb or Vrbo when booking a private rental. You can read the results here.

Smilin’ Bob’s is recalling 1,261 cases of Smilin’ Bob’s Original Smoked Fish Dip and Smilin’ Bob’s All Natural Smoked Fish Dip.

The products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

No illnesses have been reported to date.

A list of the recalled products with the “Best If Use By” dates on the side of each container and the lot number on the side or the lid may be found here.

The recalled products were sold by retailers in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia.

What to do

Customers who purchased the recalled products may return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Consumers with questions may call (305) 395-8382 at any time.

Techtronic Industries Power Equipment of Anderson, S.C., is recalling about 3,700 ECHO EGi-2300 Watt Generators.

The unit can overheat, posing fire and burn hazards to consumers.

The firm has received four reports of the generator overheating or catching fire. No injuries have been reported.

This recall involves ECHO EGi-2300 Watt Generators with model number EGi-2300 and a serial number between EU19483D010001 through EU21021N010180.

The model and serial number is printed on the data label on the bottom left hand of the side panel.

The generators are orange and black with “ECHO” and “EGi-2300” printed on the side.

The generators, manufactured in China, were sold at independent ECHO outdoor power equipment dealers nationwide and online at www.HomeDepot.com from February 2020, through June 2021, for about $850.

What to do

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled generators and contact ECHO for instructions on how to obtain a free repair. ECHO is contacting all known purchasers directly.

Consumers may contact Echo at (800) 432-3246 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (CT) Monday through Friday or online at www.Echo-USA.com and click on “Support-Help” at the top of the page for more information.

Saying it was the company’s “last resort,” Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCLH) has filed a lawsuit against Florida after the state banned vaccine passports. The company said it can’t promote its cruises as safe if it can’t make sure its crew and passengers are vaccinated against COVID-19 in “a way that [NCLH] has determined will be best for all concerned.”

Florida's law puts cruise lines in a no-win position, threatening to fine them $5,000 each time they ask a passenger for proof of vaccination. Gov. Ron DeSantis' press secretary Christina Pushaw told ConsumerAffairs that NCLH made a “disappointing and unlawful choice to join the CDC in discriminating against children and other individuals who cannot be vaccinated or who have opted not to be vaccinated for reasons of health, religion, or conscience"

"At present, approximately 60% of eligible Floridians have been vaccinated against COVID-19, which means Norwegian is purposefully excluding 40% of Florida’s residents from the people it is willing to serve.”

Enough is enough

In what has all the signs of a showdown, Norwegian feels that it and other companies in the travel industry have suffered long enough at the hands of the pandemic. 

“Since March 2020, concerns about COVID-19 have led to a debilitating, total shutdown for the cruise industry generally and for NCLH specifically,” the company said in the lawsuit. “That shutdown has inflicted incalculable, irrecoverable losses not only upon NCLH but upon all those whose interests ride with it—including NCLH’s many crew and passengers as well as a surrounding ecosystem (contractors, vendors, manufacturers, wholesalers, hotels, restaurants, airlines, travel agents, etc.”

If push comes to shove, Norwegian just may pull up every anchor it has in Florida and move somewhere else if it’s not allowed to mandate vaccines.

"At the end of the day, cruise ships have motors, propellers and rudders, and God forbid we can't operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from, and we can operate from the Caribbean for a ship that otherwise would have gone to Florida," CEO Frank Del Rio said during an earnings call in May.

Freedom of choice?

On the other side of the stand-off, Pushaw said that Florida has already fought and won its case so that Norwegian and every other cruise line can invite and serve all Americans on its ships. “But apparently Norwegian prefers the shackles of the CDC to the freedom offered by Florida,” she said.

One ConsumerAffairs reviewer is already standing with Florida on this issue. “Shame on NCL for requiring a covid shot that is not scientifically proven and the FDA didn't even approve it,” wrote Ellen from New York. “Nothing but bullying. We are free Americans and should have the right to choose the shot.”

Coronavirus‌ ‌(COVID-19)‌ ‌tally‌ ‌as‌ ‌‌compiled‌‌ ‌by‌ ‌Johns‌ ‌Hopkins‌ ‌University.‌ ‌(Previous‌ ‌numbers‌ ‌in‌ ‌parentheses.)‌ 

Total‌ ‌U.S.‌ ‌confirmed‌ ‌cases:‌ 33,921,025 (33,895,607)‌

Total‌ ‌U.S.‌ ‌deaths:‌ 607,863 (607,523)

Total‌ ‌global‌ ‌cases:‌ 188,015,773 (187,512,171)

Total‌ ‌global‌ ‌deaths:‌ 4,052,630 (4,043,963)‌

U.S. sees a surge in new cases

Life has seemed almost normal in recent weeks, at least for Americans who are fully vaccinated. But for those who have chosen not to get a vaccine, the threat is still very real. In the last week, U.S. cases of the coronavirus have surged.

The seven-day average of newly confirmed cases has climbed to about 23,300 a day, almost double the average from a week ago. Health officials attribute the sudden rise to the Delta variant spreading among people who are not vaccinated.

“Hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and deaths all lag behind new cases, so we expect those to continue to get worse, substantially worse over the next two to three weeks,” said Dr. Andrew T. Pavia, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Utah School of Medicine, on a call with other health professionals.

Cruise line sues Florida over vaccine passport ban

Norwegian Cruise Lines has filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida, seeking to overturn its law prohibiting businesses from requiring customers to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19. The company says requiring all persons aboard its ships to be vaccinated is necessary to prevent outbreaks of the virus.

"The State of Florida has indicated that it is otherwise preventing (Norwegian) from safely and soundly resuming passenger cruise operations from Miami, Florida, ... in the way that this cruise line has determined will be best for all concerned -- with the benefit of documentation confirming that all of its passengers and crew have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19," the suit said.

In a statement to the media, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office called requiring proof of vaccination “discrimination.” “Therefore, Norwegian faces a $5,000 fine from whom they demand a vaccination status," the statement said.

Study finds food insecurity increased during the pandemic

It’s been well documented how the pandemic changed consumers’ food-buying behavior. Online ordering and curbside pickup grew exponentially.

Researchers at the University of Connecticut have completed a study showing the pandemic’s effects were not uniform. Food insecure consumers behaved differently in ways that increased their insecurity.

The study found that food-secure individuals tended to spend more per trip to stockpile food, reduce the potential for COVID-19 exposure, and prepare for food shortages. But food-insecure individuals could not prepare in the same way because they had much more constrained budgets and resources. Although food-insecure people made fewer grocery shopping trips due to concerns about contracting COVID-19, they did not increase spending per trip.

Around the nation

• California: Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a $100 billion budget measure containing cash payments to help families recover from the economic impact of the pandemic. “California is roaring back from this pandemic because we have your back,” Newsom said. “It’s in that spirit that we’ve used California’s historic surplus to make historic investments.”

• Virginia: Gov. Ralph Northam has proposed $353 million in federal funding to help the state’s small businesses and industries recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Northam went to Virginia Beach to announce his initial spending plan for the $4.3 billion in federal funds the state received as part of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan.

• Iowa: There was no Iowa State Fair in 2020 because of the coronavirus, but food vendors plan to make up for lost time this year. The Des Moines Register reports that 63 new foods will make their fairground debut in just under a month.

• Connecticut: The General Assembly meets today in special session and is expected to extend Gov. Ned Lamont’s emergency powers. Lamont signed a declaration this week renewing the public health and civil preparedness emergencies that were enacted to enable the state to provide an adequate response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

• Mississippi: State health officials are expressing growing concern because the surge in cases has begun to threaten children. Seven children have been hospitalized with COVID-19, and two of them are reportedly on life support.

Child car seats are designed to keep young children safe when traveling in a vehicle, but 17 state attorneys general say those seats are not safe enough. They’ve filed a petition with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to modify current standards.

In a letter sent to the NHTSA and the Department of Transportation, the coalition of state officials asked the former agency to immediately begin developing standards for side-impact. The letter said these standards should have been developed 20 years ago.

The attorneys general also urged the NHTSA to require labels on all car seats that say children should continue to use them until they exceed the height or weight limits.

“I’ve buckled my kids into their car seats more times than I can count, and each time I did so trusting that they were in the safest place they could be,” said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong. “NHTSA has an obligation to every parent nationwide to adopt clear, strong standards that keep our children safe on the roads. Families cannot wait another 20 years for NHTSA to finally act.”

Tong points out that Congress first instructed the NHTSA to adopt side-impact standards for child car seats in 2000. He notes that manufacturers voluntarily conduct their own side-impact tests but without federal standards. As a result, he said parents aren’t sure which seats are the best.

“As families pack their cars for summer road trips, we must ensure that parents have the right information to keep their children safe on the road,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. 

Leading cause of death

In their letter to federal regulators, the attorneys general said auto accidents are the leading cause of death for children aged one to 13. They say child car seats have significantly reduced deaths and injuries, but there’s still room for improvement.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said side-impact crashes cause almost as many child injuries and deaths as frontal-impact crashes and are more likely than any other type of crashes to cause serious or fatal injuries.

“Almost 5,000 children under 15 have died in car crashes from 2015 to 2019, which equates to about 19 children each week over that time period,” she said.

Cases of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 are on the rise nationwide, but Delta Air Lines says travelers don't appear to be taking that news to heart when it comes to planning trips.

The airline says bookings on its flights haven’t suffered as a result, with CEO Ed Bastian noting that customers are still booking flights at the same pace.  

“We haven’t seen any impact at all from the variant,” Bastian said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” citing bookings 60 to 90 days in advance. “As the news of the variant’s spreading, we haven’t seen any slowdown at all. We’re learning to live with this.”

Delta reported its second-quarter results on Wednesday, and the company’s quarterly revenue exceeded analyst expectations. Other airlines have also said they have bounced back from the depths of the pandemic, at least when it comes to leisure travel bookings. Business travel is recovering at a slower pace, but Bastian said domestic leisure travel is at “if not beyond” pre-pandemic levels. 

The CEO noted that 72% of Delta’s employees are fully vaccinated and that a “vast majority” of customers surveyed said they have been vaccinated. 

---

Editor's note: The story has been slightly modified to better delineate that the rise in Delta variant cases has not affected consumers' decisions to travel. Parallels between the name of the COVID-19 variant and the airline mentioned in the story are coincidental. 

Netflix has announced the launch of two new features for families. First, subscribers will see a new “Kids Top 10 list” on kids and family profiles. The most popular children’s shows and movies will be shown and updated daily. 

The leaderboard -- a feature that was previously only available for adult members -- can be viewed in the kids homepage or in the “New & Popular” section in the menu bar across all devices, with the exception of Apple TV. 

The streaming giant also announced on Wednesday that it will start sending out a biweekly email newsletter that will let parents know what their children have been watching. 

The recap email will also include recommendations based on kids’ viewing habits, kids’ favorite genres and topics, and tips on how to best utilize Netflix Kids. The newsletter will also provide some screen-free activities, such as printable coloring pages featuring your child’s favorite characters.

Family-friendly features

The first newsletters will go out later this week to subscribers who have set up a Kids profile on their account. Netflix said the new features are the result of discussions with parents and more than six months of testing.

"Shows and movies are an important way for kids to connect with the world—helping to teach them about new places, create bonds with family or friends, and understand other perspectives," Jennifer Nieva, director of product innovation at Netflix, wrote in a blog post.

The recap emails are intended to “give parents a better understanding of their child’s preferences and new ways to engage those interests,” and the new Top 10 ranking is intended to help younger viewers find new content.

“We’ve seen how Top 10 rows help our members find something to watch, and helping families make the best decisions has always been important to us,” the company said. 

General Motors is pulling wireless smartphone charging from several of its new SUVs due to the ongoing microchip shortage. 

The feature is being dropped from the 2021 Chevy Tahoe and Suburban, as well as the 2021 GMC Yukon (made after July 12). The automaker said the charging pads will also be excluded from some 2022 Buick Enclaves, Chevy Traverses, and Cadillac XT5s and XT6s made after August 2.

For the past few months, GM has been reiterating that its supply chain organization is continuing to make progress in working with its supply base to “mitigate the near-term impacts of the semiconductor situation.” 

“GM continues to leverage every available semiconductor to build and ship our most popular and in-demand products, including our highly profitable full-size trucks and SUVs for our customers,” the company said in a statement. “However, the semiconductor situation continues to remain fluid globally.”

Buyers of the vehicles without wireless charging pads will get a $75 credit. The automaker is also offering a $50 credit for vehicles that don’t have the HD radio feature that is usually included. 

The auto industry has been forced to make a number of changes since early this year due to the global chip shortage. Some companies have had to temporarily shut down assembly lines or wait to fully assemble vehicles until chips arrive. As a result, overall production has decreased and prices have gone up. 

Europe hasn’t been kind to U.S. tech companies lately -- especially Google. On the heels of the U.K.’s decision to investigate the company over failure to remove fake product reviews and the European Union going after it for abusing its ad tech power, France has now handed Google a fine of €500 million ($590,740 U.S.) over bad faith negotiations with news outlets.

In a decision announced on Tuesday, the French Competition Authority (FCA) imposed the fine on Google for essentially failing to comply with injunctions imposed in 2020. Those measures called for the company to work with publishers and press agencies to develop a new partnership called Publisher Curated News, which included a new service called Showcase.

The intent of the partnership was to create an interchange with news publishers where they would control their content and be paid for its reuse in places like Google News.

Deliberate non-compliance

The FCA takes competition seriously. The agency said Google’s failure to comply with the injunctions is a serious issue.

“Google's behavior is the result of a deliberate, elaborate and systematic strategy of non-compliance,” the FCA wrote in its announcement of the fine, (translated from French to English by Google Translate). “And [it] appears as the continuation of the opposition strategy of Google, put in place for several years, to oppose the principle even related rights during the discussion of the directive on related rights, then to minimize its concrete scope as much as possible.”

French regulators are also concerned that Google’s attempts to appease them were tucked into a global strategy that was “aimed at avoiding or limiting as much as possible payment of remuneration to [France-based] publishers.” 

Fix this or pay the price

France is giving Google two months to address the issue by offering payments for the use of “protected content” to publishers. After that, the FCA said the company is looking at an additional €900,000 ($1 million) per day in penalties.

Google was a bit defensive in its response, saying the fine ignores the work that the company has done so far and how its platform handles news content. The company also said it generated “less than 5 million Euros in revenue-not-profit from clicks on ads against possible news-related queries in France.”

“We want to find a solution and reach definitive agreements but this fine is out of all proportion to the amount of money we make from news and we will be reviewing the decision in detail,” Google stated.

A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Texas at Austin explored how exposure to lead during childhood may impact consumers’ personality development. According to their findings, more exposure to the element can lead to behavioral shifts that affect overall well-being.

“Links between lead exposure and personality traits are quite impactful, because we take out personalities with us everywhere,” said researcher Ted Schwaba. “Even a small negative effect of lead on personality traits, when you aggregate it across millions of people and all the daily decisions and behaviors that our personality influences, can have really massive effects on well-being, productivity, and longevity.” 

The long-term effects of lead exposure

For the study, the researchers compared responses from personality surveys given to consumers across the country with data from the Environmental Protection Agency on levels of lead exposure. The information on lead exposure spanned decades, allowing the researchers to understand the long-term impacts of how the chemical affects personality. 

Ultimately, the team learned that consumers who were exposed to the highest levels of lead during childhood were likely to feel the effects in their adult personalities. They noticed the biggest changes to participants’ agreeableness, neuroticism, and conscientiousness, all of which are key components to how consumers behave, interact, and think. 

“These three traits -- conscientiousness, agreeableness and low neuroticism -- make up a large part of what we would consider a mature, psychologically healthy personality and are strong predictors of our success or failure in relationships and at work,” Schwaba said. “Normally, across the lifespan, people become more conscientious and agreeable, and less neurotic.” 

The researchers explained that topsoil, groundwater, and pipes remain the biggest sources of lead exposure across the country. They hope these findings highlight the need for lower levels of lead across the country. 

“For a long time, we’ve known lead exposure is harmful, but each new wave of research seems to identify new ways in which lead exposure harms society,” said Schwaba. “From an economic standpoint, from a social justice standpoint, or really any way you look at it, it’s incredibly important to limit lead exposure as much as possible.”

A new study conducted by researchers from Columbia University explored how kids’ performance in school may be impacted by exposure to air pollution. 

According to their findings, exposure to pollutants may affect comprehension and skill level in several areas, including reading, math, and cognitive outcomes. 

“Children with poor inhibitory control are less able to override a common response in favor of a more unusual one -- such as the natural response to say ‘up’ when an arrow is facing up or ‘go’ when a light is green -- and instead say ‘down’ or ‘stop,’” said researcher Amy Margolis, Ph.D. “By compromising childhood inhibitory control, prenatal exposure to air pollution may alter the foundation upon which later academic skills are built.”  

Consequences of air pollution exposure

For the study, the researchers tracked the cognitive and academic outcomes for more than 200 children in the Bronx and Manhattan from the time their mothers were pregnant until they were 13. They analyzed pollution levels when the women were in their third trimesters and then evaluated the participants’ academic and behavioral performance for over a decade.

The study showed that children exposed to the highest levels of air pollution were the most likely to struggle academically. High air pollution exposure was linked with poorer results in spelling, reading comprehension, and math abilities. Moving forward, the researchers hope these findings highlight one of the risks associated with prenatal air pollution exposure.

“This study adds to a growing body of literature showing the deleterious health effects of prenatal exposure to air pollution on child health outcomes, including academic achievement,” said researcher Julie Herbstman, Ph.D. “Reducing levels of air pollution may prevent these adverse outcomes and lead to improvements in children’s academic achievement.” 

Consumers may be well aware that the cost of living has suddenly started to rise as the economy has reopened. But certain parts of the economy are raising prices faster than others.

The Labor Department’s report showing the Consumer Price Index (CPI) surged 0.9% in June also shows a small number of sectors scored eye-popping price increases. The cost of energy was up nearly 25 percent in the last 12 months.

Within the energy sector, the price of gasoline was up more than 45% year-over-year. But in June 2020, gas prices had plunged well below $2 a gallon because the pandemic had sharply reduced driving. Compared to May, gas prices were only up 2.5% in June

Used cars were another big driver of inflation last month. The price of used vehicles was up more than 45% compared to June 2020, when car sales had screeched to a halt. Compared to May however, used car and truck prices were up more than 10%.

New car prices rose at a much slower pace. New car prices increased around 5% over the last 12 months and were only 2% higher than in May.

Food costs rising at a slower pace

Consumers encountered less inflation at the supermarket. The price of food prepared at home rose just 0.9% over the last 12 months and 0.8% over May. Eating at restaurants was a lot more expensive, with the cost rising more than 4% year-over-year and 0.7% over the month before.

While the Federal Reserve has said inflation is “transitory” and to be expected as the economy reopens, economist Joel Naroff says consumers have a right to be concerned.

“On a year-over-year basis, the rise was the second largest in nearly thirty years, beaten out by the gasoline price surge in 2008,” Naroff wrote in his CPI commentary. “Excluding food and energy, you must go back to November 1991 to see any annual price increase greater.”

Even if rising prices turn out to be a temporary condition, Naroff says they can inflict some short-term pain. He notes that household incomes are not rising nearly as fast as prices, with inflation-adjusted wages actually going down.

General Motors is recalling 26,847 model year 2021 Cadillac Escalades & Escalade ESVs, Chevrolet Suburbans & Tahoes and GMC Yukons & Yukon XLs.

A software issue may cause a loss of power steering assist at startup or while driving.

Increased steering effort, particularly at lower speeds, increases the risk of a crash.

What to do

The power steering module software will be updated by a dealer, or through an over-the-air (OTA) update free of charge.

Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed August 2, 2021.

Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at (800) 222-1020; Cadillac customer service at (800) 458-8006; or GMC customer service at (800) 462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212333900.

Tyson Foods is updating its earlier recall of ready-to-eat chicken products that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

While there is no change in the amount of products ( 8,955,296 pounds), the firm points out that the recalled ready to eat products were used in additional products produced by other establishments and retailers.

Some of these products bear a different establishment number on the label due to further processing, and some may have been served from the deli counter in retail stores.

What to do

Consumers with questions may contact Tyson Foods customer relations, at (855) 382-3101.