jikMint St. Patrick’s Day Milk Goes National With TruMoode

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(The Impulsive Buy)

Do you enjoy drinking milk, but think that it simply isn’t green or sugary enough? Following in the deeply disturbing footsteps of orange milk and jellybean milk comes “mint vanilla” flavored milk from TruMoo, a brand that started as a low-fat version of chocolate milk. Why mint? The milk is green, for St. Patrick’s Day, so it’s mint-flavored. It’s like a melted Shamrock Shake.

Mint-flavored holiday milk isn’t an invention of Dean Foods, maker of TruMoo. It’s not even new The green stuff was a childhood staple for me every spring from the local dairy, and they started this hot trend in 1976. They make a fine pairing with Thin Mints, and at least make a little bit more sense than Creamsicle milk to celebrate Halloween.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

jikReport: Teens Buy E-Cigarettes Online With Little Difficulty Despite Industry Safeguardsde

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Back in February 2014, Ohio became the first state to prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. Since then, 40 other states and cities have followed suit. Despite those regulations, a new study found it’s increasingly easy for teens to skirt the rules by purchasing the products online.

USA Today reports that a new study published in JAMA Pediatrics found teens had little trouble purchasing e-cigarettes through online retailers across the country.

The study, which included 11 teens ages 14 to 17, found that participants were able to buy the products in 94% of attempts.

In all, only five of the 98 purchases were rejected based on consumers age. Those attempts were blocked because of parental control settings on the computer.

When the packages were delivered, none of the teens were asked to shows proof of age. In 95% of the cases, the study reports, the packages were simply left on the doorstep.

According to the study, seven of the 98 online e-cigarette retailers claimed to use age verification techniques capable of complying with North Carolina law, which requires online retailers to verify e-cigarette customer’s ages with a government records database.

However, researchers say the teens were able to place orders at six of those websites, showing that the retailer’s age verification doesn’t sufficiently work.

E-cigarettes have become increasingly popular in recent years, while the Food & Drug Administration has been slow to implement federal regulations.

The FDA’s proposed regulations include a ban on selling the products to minors, but those rules have yet to be finalized. Additionally, the proposed rules do not take intent sells into consideration, researchers say.

Harold Farber, a pediatric pulmonologist, tells USA Today that the study’s findings aren’t shocking.

“Ninety percent of adult smokers start before age 18,” Farber says. “The industry knows very well that in order to get their next generation of customers, they need to get them before they become adults. We’re seeing the e-cig industry follow the tobacco industry’s playbook.”

Still, representatives with e-cigarette industry group, Smoke-Free Alternatives Trade Association, say retailers take protecting children seriously.

“We certainly don’t want teenagers to have access to them,” Phil Daman, president of industry group, tells USA Today. “If people aren’t using age verification software, if they’re not doing what they’re supposed to be doing, there’s no excuse for it,”

Teens can easily buy e-cigarettes online, study says [USA Today]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

jikMichigan Lawmakers Want To Bring Back School Bake Salesde

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(Coyoty)

In an attempt to bring back that event many remember as a particularly sugary, joyous time at school, Michigan lawmakers have introduced legislation that would lift the current ban on bake sales, saying school groups are in need of such fundraisers to keep going.

As is laid out under federal rules that went into effect for the current school year that require anything sold as a snack to be healthy, bake sales have gone extinct in some states during school hours. Fundraisers that sell food that isn’t meant to be eaten immediately like Girl Scout cookies are still allowed.

But though the rules allow for some exemptions and flexibility, the Michigan Department of Education had opted to keep the ban in place, reports the Detroit Free Press.

But supporters of bake sales say funding efforts have been stifled as a result, making it difficult for school-related groups to raise money.

“It’s been a tough year,” Samantha Phillips, president of the Rochester Community Schools PTA Council told the paper. Bake sales were easy — kids like sweet stuff, and parents could be involved easily.

The new legislation introduced in the House and Senate would allow school officials flexibility to raise money at least three times a week by selling baked goods.

“You’re essentially cutting them off and saying we’re cutting off this livelihood you’ve had for your organization,” said Sen. Patrick Colbeck, noting a public forum where a Boy Scout troop member had asked why he couldn’t sell brownies at school to raise money.

Colbeck and 19 other senators in the state legislature are behind that bill, while a similar bill was also introduced in the House by Rep. Pat Somerville.

Schools would then have the control to decided whether or not to allow the sales.

A spokesman for the MDE said “it was a collective decision to not allow the non-compliant fund-raisers,” pointing to things like selling Boy Scout popcorn or frozen pizza kits is still okay, since that food isn’t usually consumed on the spot.

“It’s important to note that many healthy fund-raising options are available to schools that are easy to implement and profitable,” he added.

Cupcakes, doughnuts make comeback in Michigan schools? [Detroit Free Press]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

jikShipments Diverted To East Coast During Contract Dispute Probably Won’t Come Backde

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(Corey Templeton)

Here’s the thing with container ships: you can move them. That’s the point, actually, so it’s not surprising that instead of waiting in long lines to have their cargo unloaded while the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union spent nine months in a contract dispute. Some ships were diverted to the East Coast, and it’s possible that those shipments may never come back to the West Coast.

The two sides reached an agreement with the help of the Secretary of Labor, and it will take a few months both to ratify the contract and to clear the massive backlog of cargo that’s lined up at the West Coast ports. Yet some shippers have moved their business to ports on the East Coast, or in Canada or Mexico, in order to avoid the hassles of going through ports on the West Coast of the United States during the last few months. One company that comprised most of the business for an entire terminal at the port of Portland, for example, is no longer sending shipments to Portland at all.

Call it Frank Sobotka’s Revenge. Yes, that’s a fictional character, but an important symbol of what’s happening here. He was a fictional port workers’ union president in the HBO series “The Wire,” who went to great lengths to keep work from drying up at the port of Baltimore. Indeed, things are booming over in Baltimore, with shipping container up 10% since the slowdown began.

Some cargo diverted during West Coast port slowdown may never come back [Business Journals]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

jikHealth Officials: Three People Contracted Measles From Contagious Restaurant Worker In Las Vegasde

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(AgeOwns.com)

Disneyland isn’t the only place dealing with measles outbreaks these days, as health officials in Nevada say they believe three new cases of the disease have been linked back to a Las Vegas restaurant worker who was contagious while on the job.

The three new cases are likely linked to a contagious worker at Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, reports Reuters, and includes two staff members and a restaurant patron.

That makes for nine total cases in Clark County, a spokeswoman for the Southern Nevada Health District said. Though Disneyland isn’t too far away, she adds that none of these cases is linked to the outbreak there in December.

Officials believe the worker was infected by an infant who was too young to have been immunized against measles. Though none of the new patients have been hospitalized, one of them did visit a Walgreens and a Chili’s while infectious, so others who may have visited those locations should be informed.

“The Health District is advising anyone who was at these locations during these times to review their immunization status against measles if they have not already had the disease,” Nevada health officials said in a prepared statement. “In addition, they should contact their health care provider if they develop rash with fever or other symptoms consistent with measles within 21 days after their visit.”

Three infected with measles at Las Vegas seafood restaurant [Reuters]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

jik200,000 Consumers (And Counting) Ask Their Phone Companies To Just Let Them Block Robocalls Alreadyde

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(Jenn and Tony Bot)

You still hate robocalls. We still hate robocalls. And over 200,000 other Americans hate robocalls, too, and have signed on to a petition asking their phone companies to just roll out the darn tech to block them already.

Our colleagues at Consumers Union (the advocacy arm of Consumerist’s parent company, Consumer Reports) launched the petition, at endrobocalls.org, in late February and already over 200,000 people have signed.

There are tools available that phone companies could be using to block robocalls, and the FTC has said that it would be perfectly acceptable for phone companies to do so. The petition asks phone companies to offer those tools to consumers.

“Americans are fed up with being harassed by robocalls and they are demanding relief,” said Christina Tetreault, staff attorney for Consumers Union. “Our campaign is just getting started but hundreds of thousands have already joined the fight. The phone companies need to start listening and provide their customers with effective tools to block unwanted robocalls.”

“Telephone companies have huge technology departments and pin their whole brands around being so innovative,” Tetreault added. “They could lean in and solve this problem that affects millions of their customers if they really wanted.”

Last year, the FTC received more than 3 million complaints about unwanted robocalls. Many are already in violation of existing rules, or originate overseas where U.S. regulators can’t easily reach. Giving consumers the ability to opt-in to call-blocking tech, or to create their own block-lists or whitelists, would drastically reduce the hassle to many.

In the meantime, if you’re getting unwanted robocalls despite being on the do-not-call list, you can file a complaint with the FCC in their new and improved help center here.

by Kate Cox via Consumerist

jikIHOP Giving Away Free Pancakes Tomorrow For Charityde

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(Great Beyond)

It’s that time of year again — the day IHOP shovels stacks of free pancakes onto plates across America, all in the name of charity. That day will be tomorrow morning, March 3, so mark your calendars and tell yourself not to forget.

This marks the 10th year in a row that the breakfast chain has slung free buttermilk stacks in celebration of National Pancake Day, and to benefit charity.

Hungry customers can head to their local IHOP for a free stack of pancakes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and while the pancakes are free, IHOP is encouraging people to donate at least what they might normally pay for them — $5 — to their local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital.

Once you’ve done that, you do end up getting free pancakes in essence, with a coupon worth $5 off their next IHOP visit.

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist