Consumer alert!

Flashing pacifiers are being recalled because they are said to pose a choking hazard to tots.

Find details here.

Visual presenters made by ELMO USA and some of which were sold with the Epson brand name are being recalled because the fluorescent lighting elements can catch fire.

Details are here.

More than a half-million more products designed for kids are being recalled because they exceed federal lead content rules.

The products include:
Rachel Rose and Distinctly Basic jewelry sold at Family Dollar Stores.
Shaving Paint Brushes sold through Discount School Supply.
Crystal Innovations jewelry sold through Michaels stores.
Le Femme NY jewelry sold through dollar stores.
Colossal metal jewelry sold through discount stores.
Stretchable Aqua Bracelets sold as a Cherrydale fundraising item.
Buy-Rite Designs jewelry sold at Big Lots stores.
Children’s pencil pouches sold by school supply stores nationwide.
Boppy Pillow Slipcovers

This comes at a time when a new study finds that low levels of lead — below the federal standard — can cause brain damage in children.

The Mackinac Bridge Authority is proposing to raise tolls for bridge crossings. There’s a whole new rate schedule for different vehicle types that the authority is proposing to put into effect Jan. 1, 2008.

They are seeking public comments. The basic toll for autos would rise from the current $2.50 to $4 under one proposal. A second proposal would raise it to $3 in 2008 and $4 in 2013.

You can comment on the idea by clicking here.

Just in time for Thanksgiving travel, the price of oil Tuesday took a big jump to $98 a barrel in some markets. That undoubtedly will find its way to the pump soon.

Pump prices Tuesday in the Monroe area ranged from $3.09 to $3.17, with an average of $3.14.

Federal authorities are taking action against Edward May and his Detroit-based E-M Management LLC, a company which defrauded investors, mostly senior citizens, by convincing them to invest in what supposedly were telecommunications contracts with big casinos and resorts. May and his colleagues netted $250 million, partly through investment seminars which promised high returns on the money invested.

The telecommunications contracts never existed. Learn more details here.

The Federal Trade Commission is settling charges that Budget Rent-A-Car misled customers by promising them they could avoid a fuel fee if they returned rented cars with a tankful of gas.

But investigators found that regardless of whether the tank was filled by the customer, those who drove less than 75 miles still were socked with a fuel fee that ranged from $5 to $9.50.

Details are here.

The state Office of Financial and Insurance Services has issued its newest version of the Buyers’ Guide to Home and Renters’ Insurance , a compendium of information about shopping for home and rental insurance policies.

Bogus checks bearing the names of two banks in Michigan border states are being used as part of consumer scams.

Counterfeit cashier’s checks drawn on the First National Bank of New Holland in New Holland, Ohio are being passed nationwide in connection with a mystery shopper scam. Learn more here.

Counterfeit official checks from Integra Bank of Evansville, Ind. are being passed nationwide in connection with a lottery scam. More info is here.

Starting Monday, the U.S. will allow the import of older Canadian beef and cattle products, a move that Consumers Union said puts meat safety at risk and weakens the ability of U.S. beef producers to sell their beef abroad.

The USDA will allow Canadian cattle born after 1999—cows up to 8 years old—to enter the U.S., where they can be slaughtered and sold for steak and beef burgers. Previously, USDA only allowed cattle up to 2.5 years old to enter the country. Older cattle are believed to be at higher risk for carrying mad cow disease. Because implementation of country of origin labeling has been delayed by Congress numerous times, it will not go into effect for beef until September 2008, at the earliest. As a result, consumers won’t know if they are buying Canadian beef.

“Canada claims that all cattle born after 1999 are safe, as its new feed rules became effective at that time. But no less than five cases of mad cow disease have been detected in Canadian cattle born after 1999,” said Dr. Michael Hansen, CU’s senior scientist for food safety. “Moreover these cattle have been detected in a relatively small test program that tests only about one percent of slaughtered or dead Canadian cattle. How many more are there that are escaping detection?”

“Allowing these cows to enter into the U.S. food system is a foolhardy course,” Hansen said. “According to the Center for Disease Control, the prevalence of mad cow disease is 30 times higher in Canadian than in U.S. cattle.

In March 2007, Consumers Union submitted comments and a petition from over 17,000 concerned citizens to the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). The petition asked the USDA to close the border to all cattle and beef from Canada until the USDA tests all cows over 20 months of age. Since 2006, six Canadian cows tested positive for mad cow disease.

Feds have seized about $2 million worth of Age Intervention Eyelash, a product marketed as a cosmetic but which contains a drug that could cause eye damage.

The government recommends that those who have purchased the product discard it.

Here’s the news release.

Sony camcorders got the best marks for quality and useability in a survey of camcorder buyers by J.D. Power and Associates.

Bath robes made for girls and boys and sold through Elder-Beerman and other stores operated by Bon-Ton are being recalled because they don’t meet federal fire-resistance standards.

Consumers can get a refund of the purchase price. Details of the recall are here.

Wood and canvas storage racks sold through Wal-Mart and other stores need a repair kit that will keep them from toppling on toddlers.

One child already has died when one of the racks fell over on him. They pose a suffocation and entrapment hazard. About 36,000 of the sets were sold.

For details on how to get a repair kit that will add stability, click here.

Anti-obesity drugs don’t produce much weight loss at all, according to a new study.