2008-07-24T11:04:21Z tag:blog.washingtonpost.com,2008:/thecheckout/30 Copyright (c) 2008, WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive 2008-07-24T11:04:21Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-07-24:/thecheckout2008/07/giants_seafood_makeover.html

Last week, we reported on Whole Foods and other supermarkets' new sustainable seafood initiatives. Yesterday, Giant Food announced support for the principles of the Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions, a coalition of nonprofit groups that works with retailers to change the way they buy seafood. Giant said it is committing to work toward buying environmentally responsible products, making information on seafood products readily available and supporting policy changes that have positive environmental impact. The company's...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ylan Mui 2008-07-23T11:09:46Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-07-23:/thecheckout2008/07/found_smoking_jalapeno.html

As reported Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration has found the strain of salmonella that has been making people sick since April in a jalapeno pepper collected from a small Texas produce distributor. The FDA found the pepper by tracing back food eaten by people who got sick. The victims were part of one of the restaurant clusters FDA has been investigating, hoping to come across a lead like this one. Now the FDA can...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Annys Shin 2008-07-21T16:15:06Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-07-21:/thecheckout2008/07/the_product_safety_bill_not_do.html

Last week, House and Senate lawmakers met for the second time to hash out their differences on product safety reform legislation. Remember that? Congress's attempt to protect us from lead paint on toys and dots that turn into the date rape drug when you swallow them? Anyway, while they whittled down the number of things they disagree about, they still haven't resolved everything. The outstanding issues include a ban on phthalates--chemicals that make plastic soft...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Annys Shin 2008-07-21T13:52:27Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-07-21:/thecheckout2008/07/why_we_may_never_know_if_tomat.html

So the latest in the salmonella outbreak last week was the Food and Drug Administration lifting their warning about certain types of tomatoes. All we know at this point is tomatoes on the market are safe because there is no way they could be coming from farms that were shipping tomatoes back in April when people first started getting sick. FDA and the Centers for Disease Control are not saying tomatoes weren't responsible for the...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Annys Shin 2008-07-18T11:40:00Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-07-18:/thecheckout2008/07/cracking_down_on_hidden_fees.html

A bill that would allow merchants to negotiate interchange fees directly with credit card companies cleared a hurdle this week. In a 19 to 16 vote, the House Judiciary Committee approved the Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008. And what exactly are interchange fees? You may not know this but every time you use your credit card to buy something, the merchant has to pay a fee to your card company. That fee is...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Nancy Trejos 2008-07-17T18:37:16Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-07-17:/thecheckout2008/07/latest_in_the_salmonella_outbr.html

With the tally of ill people brushing up against 1,200, the folks trying to figure out--and stop--the source of the salmonella outbreak are hoping a new set of interviews in New Mexico and Arizona will provide more leads. The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with state health officials in the two states and the Indian Health Service, are talking to people who fell ill after June 1....Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Annys Shin 2008-07-24T15:04:45Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-07-17:/thecheckout2008/07/cleaning_up_its_dirty_gold.html

For years, mining reform advocacy group Earthworks called on Wal-Mart to endorse its No Dirty Gold campaign and promise to adhere to several principles, including respecting human rights, cleaning up mine sites and not forcing communities off their land. The group never got a response -- except once, from the communications department -- from the company that sells more jewelry than any other retailer in the United States. That is, not until 2006, after Wal-Mart...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ylan Mui 2008-07-16T18:55:34Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-07-16:/thecheckout2008/07/transsexual_tilapia.html

I know what you're thinking already. It sounds totally insane. But the tilapia you eat very likely has gone through a sex change. Let me explain: When we began working on our story about Whole Foods' new farmed seafood standards, one bullet point caught our eye: No Methyl testosterone for sex reversal. As it turns out, farm-raised tilapia is typically given testosterone in their food when they're very small, for the first 35-40 days of...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ylan Mui 2008-07-15T15:27:38Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-07-15:/thecheckout2008/07/men_women_and_shopping.html

A new poll by Consumer Reports quantifies what many of us already know: Men and women just don't shop the same. The survey found that 84 percent of couples say they shop together at least sometimes. Three-quarters say they have held hands while shopping, and 46 percent admit to "other" public displays of affection, which, really, we don't need any more detail about. That's the boring stuff, anyway. Here's the good dish: More than a...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Ylan Mui 2008-07-14T15:13:17Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-07-14:/thecheckout2008/07/heres_the_beef.html

Happy Monday folks. Sorry I've been radio silent for a week. I had a lot of tomatoes and pepper news to weed through. And beef news too, which is what I'm going to tell you about today. Last Friday, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer and Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Richard Raymond announced the agency would soon begin disclosing the names of retailers that receive recalled meat but only in situations where...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Annys Shin 2008-07-11T11:17:49Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-07-11:/thecheckout2008/07/it_pays_to_know_your_score.html

Consumer understanding of credit scores has improved over the past year, according to an annual survey commissioned by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and Washington Mutual Bank (WaMu). But that's not saying much. Credit scores are important. Very important. That's how lenders decide if you're too risky to lend money to. According to this survey, the results of which were released Thursday, fewer than one-third of Americans know that credit scores indicate risk of...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Nancy Trejos 2008-07-05T20:43:43Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-07-05:/thecheckout2008/07/in_other_news.html

With tomatoes getting all the attention--or should I say Mystery Produce--you may have missed the latest ground beef outbreak in the Midwest. On Thursday, Nebraska Beef, an Omaha-based meat packer, said it was recalling 5.3 million pounds of hamburger meat that it produced since in mid-May after it was linked to an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in Ohio and Michigan. The Kroger grocery chain which bought from Nebraska Beef is pulling ground beef from...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Annys Shin 2008-07-04T11:37:39Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-07-04:/thecheckout2008/07/toy_chests_are_not_toys.html

I know everyone is probably gone for the Fourth, but a recall just flashed over my e-mail that I thought you might like more info about. Bayside Furnishings of San Diego said yesterday it is recalling 9,350 LaJolla Boat and Pirates of the Carribean Twin Trundle beds after a 22-month-old boy died when the lid of a toy chest that is at the end of the bed fell on his neck and strangled him. The...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Annys Shin 2008-07-17T00:44:52Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-06-30:/thecheckout2008/06/a_temporary_pullback_in_credit.html

Here's some interesting, and somewhat positive, data I recently came across. According to TransUnion, one of the three major credit reporting bureaus, average credit card debt has declined for the first time since early 2007. Nationwide, the average debt per credit card borrower dropped 1.25 percent to $1,673 in the first quarter of this year from $1,694 in the previous quarter. In the District, the average borrower had $1,884.79 in credit card debt in the...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Nancy Trejos 2008-07-17T00:44:52Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-06-27:/thecheckout2008/06/too_young_to_handle_credit.html

Congress should consider legislation that would regulate credit card issuers' marketing tactics on college campuses, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), chairman of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee, said during a meeting she convened on the topic Thursday. "Students want and often need credit, but may not realize all the consequences of applying for or getting a credit card," she said. A number of witnesses, including a college student and a representative from New...Please click on the title to continue reading this entry.

Nancy Trejos