Rebecca Smithers, consumer affairs correspondent
The Guardian, Thursday 25 February 2010
Article history
 
Many supposedly healthy soup products from high street chains and supermarkets contain high levels of salt that increase the risk of a stroke or heart attack, a survey warns today.

The health organisation Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash) analysed 575 ready-to-eat ranges and identified unhealthy amounts in household name brands including Batchelors and Heinz.

February 22, 2010, 8:36 am

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Q:  D. J. from New York City asks the Consults blog:

I know some people use baby walkers to help young children learn to walk. Is it true that this may actually be harmful to developing bones and muscles?

A:  Pediatrician Dr. Alan Greene responds:

It’s so exciting to see a baby take the first step! When wheeled seats arrived on the scene that would allow babies to move around with their feet on the floor, parents and babies alike were delighted. Some parents still use these baby walkers to help their children learn to walk or to give them some exercise or mobility. Some use baby walkers almost like pacifiers for the legs: many babies seem happier when they are propelling themselves across the floor.

By Jeffrey Kluger Monday, Mar. 01, 2010

If you're like most people, you're way too smart for advertising. You flip right past newspaper ads, never click on ads online and leave the room during TV commercials.

That, at least, is what we tell ourselves. But what we tell ourselves is hooey. Advertising works, which is why, even in hard economic times, Madison Avenue is a $34 billion–a–year business. And if Martin Lindstrom — author of the best seller Buyology and a marketing consultant for Fortune 500 companies, including PepsiCo and Disney — is correct, trying to tune this stuff out is about to get a whole lot harder.
(Watch TIME's video "Why a Baby's Laugh Will Make You Buy.")

Monday, Feb. 22, 2010

Have you ever seen your credit card's interest rate be jacked up, out of the blue, for no apparent reason? You're not alone, and a new law hopes to cut down on such unsavory practices. The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act, signed by President Obama in May 2009, went into effect last fall. Many of the provisions, however, are finally taking hold on Monday, Feb. 22. This latest step in a three-part rollout will continue the Obama Administration's quest to eliminate predatory lending by banks and make the overall process of using and paying off credit cards much more transparent — and far less perilous for individual credit histories.
(See how Americans are spending now.)

By Andrew Hough
Published: 7:30AM GMT 19 Feb 2010

GlaxoSmithKline, the British pharmaceuticals giant, announced on Thursday that it was removing zinc from its denture adhesives after claims that “long-term, excessive” use of the products was bad for people’s health.

It has been claimed that long-term use of popular brands such as Poligrip Ultra and Poligrip Total Care has been linked to neurological damage.