Consumer Confidential: Toys, toys and soda pop

Here's your wonderfully Wednesday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

-- Get the lead out. That's the message from the California attorney general's office to six major retailers found still to have toys on their shelves containing lead. "These products must be removed from store shelves at once to protect our kids from toxic lead exposure," Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown told Walmart, Target, TJ Maxx, Sears, Walgreens and Tuesday Morning. More info is available here.

--Speaking of which, the Consumer Products Safety Commission is trying to get the word out to parents about new federal rules regarding toy safety. Here's what they have to say.

--Don't go looking to Costco if you want to score some Coke (as in cola). The retail giant has removed Coca-Cola products from its shelves because of a pricing dispute with the sugar-water maker. Both sides are trying to remain diplomatic amid the spat, but it's clear things have escalated to an ugly level. Maybe not a bad time to try some fruit juice instead.

-- David Lazarus

  

Consumer Confidential: Strollers, shakes and spam

Here's your make-my-Monday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

--Heads up if you've got a little one. Maclaren, which makes some very popular strollers, has recalled about 1 million folding strollers that can cut or even cut off kids' fingertips. So far, the company says mishaps have resulted in at least 12 kids' fingertips being amputated. The kids apparently get their fingers caught in side hinges when the stroller is being opened or closed. For more info, check out www.maclaren.us/recall or call 877-688-2326.

--The economy might still stink, but things are looking up at the golden arches. McDonald's says its global sales rose 3.3% last month as consumers worldwide answered a hankering for Big Macs, fries and shakes. This was especially the case in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, where sales jumped 4.7%. Who says the United States isn't spreading sunshine throughout the world?

--The website Tagged.com has agreed to pay $500,000 to the New York attorney general's office to settle charges that it routinely hijacked people's e-mail accounts and sent marketing pitches to everyone they know. This is a relatively common ploy among social-networking sites and has sparked outcry among many Net users. If you've had a similar experience with either Tagged.com or some other site, don't hesitate to let California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown know about it.

-- David Lazarus

Jelly Belly recalls mislabeled jelly beans with peanut ingredients

The Jelly Belly Candy Co. is recalling about 6,000 "49 Flavors" jelly bean containers that contain peanut-butter-flavored jelly beans but don't list peanut butter or peanut flower as ingredients on the label.

The mislabeled candy was shipped Sept. 29 to independent candy stores across the country -- no major chain stores were involved, said Tomi Holt, a spokeswoman for the Fairfield, Calif., company.

The candy was sold in 7.5-ounce cylinder-style packages branded with the Jelly Belly logo and "49 Flavors," Holt said.

The tubes also had white stickers on the bottom that listed one of four product codes: 090925, 090928, 090929 or 091001, she said.

No incidents of allergic reactions from those with peanut allergies have been reported to the company, Holt said.

Consumers with questions about the recall are asked to call Jelly Belly at (800) 522-3267. The company will send customers who bought the recalled candy a new tube of jelly beans.

-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

Menu-labeling laws are changing food purchases in New York City, study finds

People are consuming fewer calories at many New York fast-food restaurants.

The mean number of calories purchased per customer decreased at nine of 13 fast-food or coffee chains, according to a study presented today by researchers from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

The agency was looking to see if there was any meaningful reduction in calorie consumption from New York’s menu-labeling laws that went into effect in March 2008. They presented preliminary data today at the annual meeting of the Obesity Society in Washington, D.C.

The study found that the decreases were statistically significant at four of the chains: McDonald’s, KFC, Au Bon Pain and Starbucks. People purchased more at four other chains, but the study's authors said there was only one chain -- Subway -- where the increase was statistically significant.

A similar California law will make chain restaurants post calorie information on menus starting in 2011. Some restaurant chains in California are already printing the information on their menus.

An earlier study by New York University researchers that looked at consumers in low-income and minority neighborhoods found that calorie information on menus may increase awareness of calorie content but had less of an effect on the number of calories people purchase. They New York City study authors said they believed their result was different because their sample size was much larger and more representative of the city's entire population.

Paying attention seems to be the biggest factor in whether people choose less caloric offerings. Customers who said they saw and acted on posted calorie information purchased 106 fewer calories than those who did not notice or did not use the information.

The city agency surveyed more than 10,000 customers at 275 locations of 13 different fast-food and coffee chains throughout the city in the spring of 2007 and over 12,000 in 2009, nearly a year after the requirements began.

The New York researchers said people most likely purchased more calories at Subway than they had previously because of a recession-related promotion. The number of customers buying 12-inch sandwiches at the chain rose from 28% to 73%. This shift happened as Subway launched its $5 foot-long sandwich promotion, something the researchers said suggests that the slimming effects of calorie labeling may be overcome by intensive marketing of large portion sizes.

“Dietary change is likely to come gradually; it will start with consumers interested in making informed, healthy eating decisions and we hope industry will respond by offering more healthier choices and appropriate portion sizes,” said Lynn Silver, an assistant commissioner at the agency.

The study was funded by Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

-- Jerry Hirsch
Twitter.com/LATimesJerry

Photo: A New York Taco Bell posts calories on its menu board. Credit: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times

Plum Organics recalls baby food potentially contaminated with botulism-causing bacteria [Updated]

Plum Organics has recalled a batch of its apple and carrot "portable pouch" baby food possibly contaminated with bacteria that can cause botulism.

The baby food was sold at Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us stores in 4.22 ounce pouches marked with an expiration date of May 21, 2010, the Food and Drug Administration said in a statement. 

The bottom of the recalled pouches also has the UPC code of 890180001221 printed on the bottom, the administration said.

“Due to a mixing error during production, one batch of this product was improperly blended," Plum Organics founder Gigi Lee Chang said in a statement. "As a result, it did not meet our company’s standard for quality."

No injuries or illnesses have been reported, but the mixing error resulted in the baby food possibly being contaminated with clostridium botulinum, which can cause botulism, the administration said.

Botulism is a serious illness that can lead to muscle paralysis and, in some cases, respiratory failure.

Because of the health risk, consumers should not feed their children the baby food, the FDA said. The recalled pouches can be returned for a full refund at any Toys"R"Us or Babies"R"Us store.

No other Plum Organics products were affected by the mixing error, the statement said. Plum Organics is a subsidiary of the Nest Collective Inc. based in Emeryville.

For more information, consumers can call (888) 974-3555 or e-mail info@plumorganics.com.

[Updated at 4:23 p.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said the recalled baby food was contaminated with a botulism-causing bacteria. The baby food was recalled because it may contain the botulism-causing bacteria, not because it had been found to contain the bacteria.]

-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

Photo: Expiration date on Plum Organics apple and carrot portable pouch baby food. Credit: Plum Organics.

Safeway's coffee index shows improved economy

How will we know when the recession is ending? Watch the coffee index, says Steven Burd, chief executive of Safeway Inc., the Pleasanton, Calif., supermarket company that owns Vons here in Southern California.

Speaking to investors about Safeway's third-quarter profit, Burd said shoppers were starting to trade up to more expensive items after a long period in which they have gravitated to less costly goods.

"When we went into the recession, we saw a change in the mix of lattes versus coffee, and now we've seen -- it's early but we're seeing -- a trend back to lattes," Burd said.

Wine is another area in which people are starting to change buying patterns.

At the start of the recession, the percentage of premium wines Safeway sold declined, he said.

"Our wine category has been a fabulous category for us for years, but we saw a mixed change with a reduction in premium wines and we've now seen that reverse itself," Burd said.

Taken together, the two examples of shoppers trading up in their selections "suggests to me, that we're at, or near, the bottom of this whole thing, and that would be good for all of us if that's true," Burd said.

Safeway's financial results, which reflected what was going on the economy during the three months ended Sept. 12, were still on the downswing.

The company said it earned $128.8 million, or 31 cents a share for the quarter, down from $199.7 million, or 46 cents, a year earlier. Revenue declined 7% to $9.46 billion.

Sales at stores open at least a year, a key measure of a retailer's health, fell 3%, excluding gasoline sales.

“Safeway’s sales remained soft, driven largely by deflation in dairy, produce and meat, and a sluggish economy,” Burd said. “However, we are encouraged that our household and transaction counts increased in the quarter."

-- Jerry Hirsch
Twitter.com/LATimesJerry

Consumer Confidential: Sales, stuff and soda

Here's your whoopee-it's-Wednesday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

--Retail sales fell last month, but not really. They're only down because they were up by a lot because of the "cash for clunkers" program, which lured car buyers back into showrooms. Discounting the program's effects, retail sales were actually up by 0.5%, which is a bit better than what economists had been expecting. The betting line among the pocket-calculator crowd is that the economy's still crawling its way toward recovery.

--Some more upbeat news from the statistic front: Business inventories were down by 1.5% in August, the 13th straight month of declines. Why do you care? Because as companies clear stuff away from their shelves, that just makes it more likely they'll need to order more stuff as the economy improves. More stuff means more production, which means more jobs. At least that's the general idea.

--Our pals at PepsiCo are drawing heat for a new iPhone app designed to help guys score with women. Seriously. The app, called "Amp up before you score," is intended to push the company's Amp energy drink. It allows users to pick the type of women they prefer -- "foreign exchange student," say, or "cougar" -- and offers helpful pickup lines. Pepsi apologized via Twitter (natch) that it was just trying to be funny. Yeah, I love it when big companies show off their sense of humor.

-- David Lazarus

San Diego Meat Co. recalls 925 pounds of beef products due to E. coli threat

San Diego Meat Co. is recalling 925 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with the E. coli bacteria, health inspectors said today.

The products were produced from Oct. 7 through Oct. 12 and were distributed to restaurants and two caterers in San Diego County, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

No related illnesses have been reported. The potential contamination was discovered through the inspection service’s microbiological sampling.

Each 15-pound case of ground beef patties and each 10-pound bag of bulk ground beef bears the establishment number EST. 4116 inside the USDA mark of inspection. The front of each package features a “Keep Refrigerated” advisory.

-- Tiffany Hsu

Consumer Confidential: Pizza, Enron and e-books

Here's your tantalizing Tuesday roundup of consumer news from hither and yon on the Web:

--When the going gets tough, it turns out the tough aren't eating pizza. Domino's Pizza Inc. has reported a steeper-than-expected drop in quarterly earnings -- a result, the company says, of more people preparing their own food during these recessionary times rather than ordering in. On the upside, though, Domino's says it's met with some success offering stuff beyond its usual crust-and-cheese lineup, especially sandwiches for lunch.

--He's baaack. Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling will take his case to the Supreme Court, arguing that he was wrongly convicted of securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors, resulting in a 24-year prison term. Skilling says federal law was inappropriately applied in his case and that he was unable to get a fair trial amid "blistering daily attacks" in the media. I'm sure we're all sending good thoughts to the man who helped oversee the wipeout of more than $60 billion in shareholder wealth and $2 billion in Enron employee pension plans.

--Step aside, Kindle. Barnes & Noble is getting set to unveil its own e-book reader. The Wall Street Journal says the bookseller could roll out its device by next month, just in time for holiday sales. The B&N reader reportedly will have a six-inch screen, touch input and a virtual keyboard. Amazon.com has lowered the price for its Kindle to $259, so it's a safe bet that any new entrant to the e-book market will arrive near or below that level. My position remains unchanged: It'll take a pretty dazzling effort by any electronic gadget to woo me away from the myriad pleasures of the printed page.

-- David Lazarus

Consumer Confidential: Credit, jobs and beer

Here's your finally-it's-Friday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

-- Banks weren't doing us any favors in August. Consumer credit dropped by nearly $12 billion, according to the Federal Reserve. In other words, there were a lot fewer loans being made, particularly in light of many credit card accounts being shut down by banks ahead of stricter rules coming from Washington. Of course, it's not necessarily a bad thing that many would-be borrowers are being shown the door. One reason we got into our current mess is because banks were handing out cash willy-nilly. But after billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded bailouts, some might see this big drop in credit as a fine how-do-you-do.

-- This has been an equal-opportunity recession. Experts say it's not just working stiffs who have been struggling to find jobs. Nearly half of long-term job seekers come from the ranks of white-collar workers, according to a report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. And since these folk tend to make more dough, and thus spend more, this could slow any economic recovery until the ranks of the white-collar crew are replenished. I'm sure we can all agree that what the workplace needs is more managers.

-- Don't mess with Coors drinkers. An Illinois man is suing MillerCoors for allegedly denying him the chance to win football-themed goodies in a promotional sweepstakes. Mario Aliano says in the lawsuit that consumers were told by the company to submit a code on Coors Light cartons to see if they'd won a prize. But when he tried to do this online and by text message, he says all he got was an error message. Aliano alleges that the code was in fact invalid and that he never had a chance to win anything. Would he settle for some free brew?

-- David Lazarus