With the hottest days of summer probably still ahead, it might be time to take a critical look at the sunscreen in your beachbag.
Not to worry. The Environmental Working Group already has done it for you. They’ve rated nearly 1,000 sunscreen products and, shockingly, found that 4 of 5 are either ineffective or contain chemicals that could hurt your skin.
They’ve rated them all. For their report, click here.
Kmart Pharmacies is lowering prices and expanding its generic prescription drug program to include more than 500 commonly prescribed generic medications, making it the broadest generic program of any retailer.
The program offers more than 100 generic antibiotic, pain and cold/cough treatments for only $5 per prescription, and the cost of a three-month supply of many common maintenance medications has dropped to $10. The Kmart program also provides lower costs on selected generic drugs for women, including medications for oral contraception, pre-natal wellness, cancer, osteoporosis and female health priced at $10 and $25.
“By expanding the Kmart Pharmacy Generic Prescription Drug Savings Program, we want to help moms — who, by and large, are making most of the family’s healthcare decisions — save money and do their best to protect their family’s health,” said Mark Doerr, vice president of Kmart Pharmacy.
In the interest of nutrition information, the Consumer Federation of America has published the alcohol content, calories and carbs for the most popular alcoholic beverages.
It not only provides good information for those concerned about alcohol and caloric intake, it also notes the alcohol content by volume for some of the most popular beers.
For the low-down, check the CFA’s Alcohol Facts poster.
Gasoline prices appear to be spiking again.
The average price over the weekend in the Monroe area rose to $4.15, ranging from a low of $3.93 at a Marathon station in Erie to $4.26 at the Marathon station on S. Dixie Hwy. in Monroe Township. To get an idea of how fast prices can rise, the S. Dixie Marathon had gas for $4.11 on Saturday morning. Before the end of the day, it was $4.26.
The Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children’s Hospital has compiled a top 10 list of the most nutritious vending machine snacks. It’s also on the same site as its Snackwise calculator, which lets you plug in the Universal Product Code and name of your favorite snack and then spits out a recommendation on whether you should eat the snack often or give it up.
Check out the Snackwise site here.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is proposing a new rule designed to protect senior citizens from being prey for salespeople pushing equity-indexed annuities, which often are not suited for older investors.
For full details, click here.
Anheuser-Busch has agreed to stop putting caffeine into some of its alcoholic beverages, at the urging of some consumer and health groups.
Details may be found here.
Panasonic and Xerox ranked tops in satisfaction among buyers of office printer-copiers, according to a new J.D. Power and Associates survey.
Buyers of new cars are slightly less satisfied with their vehicle purchases than they’ve been in past years, primarily because of the impact of higher fuel prices, according to the 13th annual vehicle buyer satisfaction survey by J.D. Power and Associates.
The findings are a reversal of recent trends.
For details of the findings, click here.
The Michigan Department of Community Health said more than half of a recent rash of E. coli cases reported in the Midwest have been traced to ground beef sold at Kroger stores in Michigan and Ohio in May and June.
The lots of beef no longer are on store shelves, but additional retailers and outlets may be identified.
MDCH has confirmed 15 E. coli cases that are genetically linked and 10 of those cases are hospitalized.
“Kroger is fully cooperating with state and federal investigators,” said Don Koivisto, Michigan Department of Agriculture Director. “It’s critical that consumers follow safe food practices to
reduce the risk of foodborne illness such as cooking your meat thoroughly using a food thermometer to determine proper internal temperature.”
The 15 genetically linked cases, E. coli are present in seven Michigan counties including Eaton (1), Macomb (2), Washtenaw (4), Saginaw (1), Genesee (1), Wayne (3) and Oakland (3). Reported E. coli patients became ill between May 31 and June 8. Additionally, individuals in Ohio also have been identified with the same genetic strain of E. coli O157. The confirmed Ohio and Michigan cases have been linked both epidemiologically and genetically to this outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The symptoms of E. coli infections vary for each person but often include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea (often bloody), and vomiting. If there is fever, it usually is not very high (less than 101˚F/less than 38.5˚C). Most people get better within 5-7 days. Some infections are very mild, but others are severe or even life-threatening.
Federal officials have seized products from a PETCO warehouse in Joliet, Ill. because of concerns that they’ve been contaminated by bird and vermin infestations.
The warehouse serves PETCO stores in several Midwest states, including Michigan.
Details are here.
The U.S. Comptroller of the Currency has compiled an amazingly long list of bogus banks that apparently have been doing business in the U.S. over the last several years.
If the legitimate sounding name is a bank based in Belize or Paulau, think twice.
Here is the list.
Alaska Airlines, Continental Airlines and JetBlue Airways rank highest in a customer satisfaction survey by J.D. Power and Associates. But overall customer satisfaction is at a three-year low due to “people factors.”
Check out the findings and all the rankings here.
To find out which restaurants offer the best dining experience for families, Parents magazine looked beyond the menu. It surveyed more than 50 full-service and buffet-style restaurant chains and asked about reservation policies and kid amenities such as crayons at the table and changing tables in the bathroom. It also found out whether the restaurants have eliminated trans fats in their dishes and whether they can accommodate children with food allergies; and inquired about partnerships with children’s charities and other factors that contribute to an overall dining experience parents can feel good about.
According to the survey, the 10 Best Family Restaurants in order of their ranking are:
Legal Sea Foods
Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes
Mimi’s Café
Uno Chicago Grill
Chili’s Grill & Bar
Red Robin
The Old Spaghetti Factory
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro
Denny’s
Claim Jumper
Details are in the July issue, which goes on sale today.
Consumer Reports has compiled a list of the most economical cars with the highest mileage ratings. Small foreign brands, such as the Honda Fit, top the list.