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Consumer News UK Daily Weekly Articles 2010 Mar 2

Tue, 2010-03-02

1.  Highly poisonous antimony found in fruit juices.

Antimony, a highly poisonous chemical element,  has been found in fruit juices and cordials drunk by millions of people every day across Britain, scientists have revealed. They have found levels of antimony, which can be lethal in large doses, in commercial juices and cordials that exceed the EU limit for drinking water and raise concern about leaching from packaging. The University of Copenhagen found that bottles of fruit juice and squash contained up to 2.5 times more of the substance than is deemed 'safe' in tap water, under EU guidelines. In some cases the levels of antimony were ten times higher. Researchers studied antimony levels in various juices, mainly red fruit juices, packaged in PET bottles, glass bottles and Tetra Pak cartons. A British Soft Drinks Association spokesman insisted the packaging was safe.   FULL STORY (telegraph.co.uk)

2.  New Consumer rights initiative launched. Find out the ten top tips.

A new official campaign has been launched to ensure shoppers get a fair deal when buying goods, and to dispel the common myths that may prevent people’s consumer rights from being upheld. The initiative, called ‘Know Your Consumer Rights’, is a joint venture from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), Consumer Direct and Consumer Focus. The three organisations have come together to offer 10 top tips on understanding your consumer rights. FULL STORY INCLUDING THE TEN TOP TIPS (which.co.uk)

3.  The 1800 calorie bag of popcorn - Food Standards Agency expresses concern.

Cinema-goers should be warned about how many calories are contained in popular snacks such as popcorn, fizzy drink and icecream, according to the nutrition watchdog. The Food Standards Agency is also concerned that portion sizes offered to filmgoers are getting out of control and have called on cinemas to act to tackle the obesity crisis. It follows claims that a large bag of sweet popcorn could contain an alarming 1,800 calories - the equivalent of a large curry with sides and two bottles of beer.  FULL STORY (dailymail.co.uk)

4.  25% of first class mail failed to arrive on time.

First class post has plunged to its worst performance in more than a decade. Figures just published have laid bare the crippling impact of the strikes by militant postmen which caused five months of chaos last year. Nearly one in four letters sent by first class post did not arrive the next working day. The target is 93 per cent, but the actual performance was 78 per cent. Even second class post, which has a more relaxed timetable to arrive within three working days, failed. Only 93.3 per cent of letters arrived in time, compared with a target of 98.5 per cent. The postal watchdog Consumer Focus says that customers up and down the country have been 'let down' by Royal Mail.   FULL STORY (dailymail.co.uk)

5.  EU privacy body wants changes to Google Street View.

EU data protection authorities have urged Internet search giant Google to shorten the period it stores images from its controversial Street View Web service because of privacy concerns.  Launched in San Francisco in 2007, Street View allows users to navigate around a 360-degree view of city streets, buildings, traffic and people, using pictures taken by Google's camera vehicles. Now available in many countries, critics of the service accuse Google of failing to obscure sensitive images and setting its cameras in a way that allows them to peer over fences, hedges and walls into private property. Google, which now keeps the images for a year should halve this period, privacy authorities wrote in a letter to the company's global counsel, Peter Fleischer.  FULL STORY (Reuters.com)

 

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