Consumer alert!

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has concluded that traces of lead found in older varieties of synthetic turf do not pose a health hazard and that most synthetic turf that kids and athletes play on does not contain lead.
Details are here.

The federal government has renewed its advice to consumers to avoid eating raw serrano or jalapeno peppers grown in Mexico after tracing the source of salmonella contamination to an irrigation system at a Mexican pepper farm.
Details may be found here.

A survey finds that most consumers and small business owners are confident in the financial strength of their primary personal bank. The nationally representative sample by Morpace Inc. of Farmington Hills foundl 87 percent of consumers and 79 percent of small business owners had that confidence level.
Only 2 percent of consumers and small business owners say that they are not confident in their primary bank.
The findings were unexpectedly high given the challenges faced by banks in recent months. “This finding gives some breathing room to banks, who have had a lot of bad news to release in recent quarters,” said Tom Hartley, vice president of customer loyalty at Morpace. “It also shows that the public is able to tell the difference between news about challenges in the financial sector and the fundamental strength of their primary bank.”
Other polls have shown that confidence in banks in general had fallen to very low levels earlier in the year. However, these polls are not asking about the bank with which consumers are most familiar – their own. “It is important to recognize that consumers and small business owners can have very different opinions about their own bank than they have of banks as a general institution. Our survey shows that the confidence of consumers in their own bank is high, with only slight differences in confidence across age, sex, marital status, and household income” Mr. Hartley said.

The Food and Drug Administration has warned consumers who consume Maine lobster not to eat the tomalley — the green stuff inside the body cavity — because it’s the shelfish’s liver and pancreas, which can contain high levels of toxins.
More details are here.

The National Safety Council has a toll-free Radon Hotline available at (800) 767-7236 for consumers who have concerns or questions about radon or who want to test the air quality of their homes. Callers can order a brochure that contains information on radon and ordering a low-cost short-term test kit. Or, to speak to National Safety Council radon expert, callers can dial another toll-free number, (800) 557-2366. Specialists are on hand to answer questions from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on business days.
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can cause lung cancer, formed by the natural radioactive decay of uranium in rock, soil and water. Unless you test for the odorless, tasteless gas, there is no way of telling how much may be present.
A Radon Fact Sheet also is available from the National Safety Council’s resource library by clicking here.

State officials are warning unemployed workers to avoid using independent Web sites to apply for unemployment benefits.
“There is only one official website that unemployed workers should use when applying for unemployment benefits in Michigan,” said Keith Cooley, director of the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth. “That site belongs to the state’s Unemployment Insurance Agency at www.michigan.gov/uia, and there is no fee for using the site.”
He added that UIA’s toll-free claims telephone line 1-866-500-0017 is also the only official phone number workers should call to apply for unemployment benefits in Michigan.
Mr. Cooley issued the warning after learning of a woman in Southwest Michigan who reportedly had filed an unemployment benefit claim through a private Web site and was charged $19.95 plus an ongoing bi-weekly fee.
“There is absolutely no reason why anyone should pay a fee to apply for unemployment benefits,” he declared “Anyone who visits a Web site that charges a fee for processing their application for unemployment benefits should immediately stop and exit that site before they give their credit card number or Social Security number.”
“This sort of Web site preys on those who can least afford it,” Mr. Cooley said. “These independent sites may look official, but they are not authorized by the state of Michigan. In fact, using them could jeopardize or delay a worker’s benefits and expose them to possible identity theft.”

A University of Michigan study being presented today found that more than 75 percent of bank Web sites have some design flaw that could compromise the security of customer information or funds.
A summary of the findings may be found here.

Kroger Co. said it has removed jalapeno peppers from its stores as a precaution, following reports that some of the peppers have been linked to salmonella.
The company said it decided to halt jalapeno sales after the Food and Drug Administration reported Monday that a Texas, distributor was recalling jalapenos because they had the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. She said Kroger removed jalapenos the next day, even though none of its supply was from the Texas distributor.
“It’s a precautionary measure,” said Meghan Glynn, a Kroger spokeswoman.
She said Kroger had received no complaints from customers suspecting jalapenos made them ill.
On Monday, the Texas-based grocery chain H-E-B announced a voluntary recall of products containing fresh jalapenos after government inspectors found a strain of salmonella on a single Mexican-grown jalapeno pepper handled in Texas.
The government is warning against eating fresh jalapenos or products made from them while it continues to investigate a national salmonella outbreak initially linked to tomatoes.