Consumer alert!

Sara Lee is recalling wheat bread and other baked goods, sold mainly in southern states, because they might contain small pieces of metal.

Here’s a product list.

True Leaf spring mix and related products are being withdraw from the market due to the potential for contamination by salmonella.

Here are details.

A doctors’ group is debunking the study that associated soda drinking with metabolic issues and heart disease.

Learn why the group says the study is seriously flawed.

Some pacifiers that were purchased, decorated with crystals, and then resold online are being recalled because the crystals pose a choking hazard to babies.

Read about the dangers here.

Toro electric blowers sold about five years ago have impellers that can break and throw shrapnel.

About 900,000 of them are being recalled. It sounds as if you can get a free, newer replacement if you turn yours in. Check it out here.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are all the rage these days, and for good reason. They’re cooler, last a lot longer and use far less energy than a traditional incandescent bulb. Technological advances also have produced CFLs that have a tone that is much like that of a traditional light bulb.

But there’s a downside to the bulbs. They contain mercury. In fact, some estimate that the 100,000,000 CFLs that Wal-Mart has committed to marketing as a way to reduce global warming, contain about the same amount of mercury that the nation’s power plants put into the air in one year powering residential lighting.

Whether you buy that comparison or not, there are precautions you should take in disposing of a CFL or cleaning it up if it’s broken. The first step is to open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes.

Here’s the rest of the advice from the EPA.

Kiplinger.com has a concise article on how to buy a used car without getting stuck with a clunker.

One of the tips is to get a CARFAX report on the vehicle’s history.

Hackers are targeting iPhones and other SmartPhones. Consumer Reports’ electronics blog has an interesting entry on what’s going on and what you can do about it.

A Florida company called Suntasia is in hot water because it wasn’t upfront with consumers who bit on the bait of free memberships in travel and buyers clubs it offered.

Here are details.

TV stands made by Sauder Woodworking of Archbold, Ohio have been collapsing around the country because the consumers who assemble them are tightening some of the fasteners enough.

No refund or returns are being given, just further instructions on how to properly tighten the fasteners.

Here are details.

Pottery Barn Kids crib bumpers have decorative stitching that can unravel and entangle tots.

Here’s how to get a refund.

About 21,000 Sky Rangers remote control airplanes made by Estes have a tendency to explode, causing burns and hearing loss to users.

Here are details.

Apparently you have to be brave to use Brave log-splitters.

They have a rod-retention problem that has resulted in at least one hand amputation.

Here’s news of an expanded recall.

A coalition of consumer groups has criticized a federal report that finds it okay for insurance companies to issue policies based on credit scores.

They argue that the federal report is flawed and the use of credit scores for insurance purposes should be banned.

Read their arguments here.

An auto theft tip hotline is expanding its hours to round-the-clock operation with the help of AAA Michigan.

AAA Michigan has partnered with H.E.A.T (Help Eliminate Auto Thefts) to provide specially trained operators to answer the auto theft tip line, 1-800-242-HEAT, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

H.E.A.T. is Michigan’s statewide auto theft prevention program that coordinates citizen action with law enforcement agencies through this confidential, toll-free tip line and on its Web site.

“We are pleased AAA Michigan can make this service available 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Bill Sams, Vice President Claims for AAA Michigan. “By expanding the hours the tip line is available and having live operators answering at all times, we are allowing the H.E.A.T. program to have an even greater impact on auto theft in Michigan.”

Callers are encouraged to report information on stolen vehicles, chop shops, theft rings and suspected auto theft activities including insurance fraud and carjackings.

“With the help of AAA Michigan, we are now fully accessible to the public who help us combat auto theft every day through their invaluable tips,” said Terri Miller, director of H.E.A.T.

Since its inception in 1985, H.E.A.T. tips have led to the recovery of more than $43 million in stolen property and the arrests of nearly 3,000 suspects involved in auto theft rings, chop shops, carjackings and fraudulent car thefts, among other auto-related crimes. H.E.A.T. has paid more than $2.9 million in tipster rewards over the last 22 years.

Anyone with information on auto theft, carjacking, chop shops, auto theft- related identity theft and auto insurance fraud in Michigan is encouraged to call the H.E.A.T. 24/7 tip line and speak to a live operator at 1-800-242-HEAT, or file a confidential report online here..