Fixing media noche? Check food labels

If you’re doing some last-minute grocery shopping for New Year’s Eve, it pays to check food labels meticulously, ensuring that the packaging and seal of the food items are intact and they were are stored in a clean environment.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday offered these tips to merrymakers to avoid stomach troubles and other health problems caused by feasting on compromised or adulterated food products.

“This Christmas and New Year, there is high demand for food products as Filipino families traditionally celebrate through preparation of meals for festivities,” said FDA officer in charge Director General Maria Lourdes Santiago in an advisory.

Basic consumer tips
“Unwary consumers might succumb to unscrupulous food business operators selling compromised, improperly handled and stored, misbranded and adulterated food products,” she warned.

Santiago said the FDA had prepared basic consumer tips on buying food products for the holidays to avoid eating unsafe food.

Earlier, the Department of Health (DOH) said festivities during the holiday season could spawn food poisoning incidents if the food is not handled properly.

The Southeast Asian region, including the Philippines, has the second highest incidence of food-borne illnesses next to Africa, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It registers 150 million cases and 175,000 deaths annually, it said.

Most of these cases are caused by non-typhoidal salmonella, E. coli and pork tapeworm, said the WHO.

Storage condition

In checking food labels, one must pay attention to the following information: brand and product name, net content or weight, list of ingredients, name of manufacturer/repacker/distributor/

importer, expiry date, lot identification code and nutrition information.

One must also check the food item’s storage condition, especially for those needing storage beyond the normal room temperature, food allergen information (such as nuts, milk and crustaceans) and direction for use.

Tampered label details, like scratched out information and a new expiry date pasted over the original one, should be considered red flags, the FDA warned.

To ensure that food items are still safe for eating, the FDA said soft packaging materials like plastic, foil and aluminum wrap must not have tears or perforations.  Metal bottle caps must be rust-free  while glass bottles should be crack-free.

It advised consumers not to buy canned goods that are dented, bulging and rusting.

“Food products must at all times be sold under optimal hygienic conditions [such that] the probability of cross-contamination from biological, chemical and microbial hazards must be reduced, minimized and eliminated,” the FDA said.



Cross-contamination

Frozen and refrigerated products must be kept frozen or stored in a refrigerator while perishable products should be kept away from non-perishables to prevent cross-contamination, it noted.

Consumers were also advised against buying food sold in a dirty environment or in areas infested by rodents, insects and other pests.

“Consumers are advised to be more vigilant and conscious in buying food products in the market to avoid health and safety issues,” the FDA said.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

New Samsung phone with side display in time for holidays

BERLIN—Samsung’s new smartphones aren’t getting bigger, but one will have a side display for quick access to the flashlight, Twitter, news and frequently used apps.

The Galaxy Note Edge was announced at a trade show in Berlin on Wednesday, alongside the new Galaxy Note 4 phone, which lacks the side screen, and a virtual-reality headset called Gear VR. They are due for release in October—in time for holiday shopping—and aim to compete with Apple’s new iPhones due to be unveiled next week.

The Edge uses Samsung’s flexible-display technology, which came out with much fanfare last year but has seen little use beyond a phone and a fitness device with displays that were slightly curved.

With the Edge, Samsung is offering a practical use for the curvature. While the main screen remains flat like previous phones, the right edge extends and curves until it reaches the back. That creates a side display so information such as weather and time can be seen from the side when the phone is laid on a table or nightstand.

With the side display, the phone’s camera functions more like a stand-alone, point-and-shoot camera, as the shutter button and other functions appear on top when the phone is held horizontally.

The side display also provides one-tap access to various apps normally found on the home screen. It will also have a panel of tools, like the flashlight and stopwatch, akin to what Apple offers in the iPhone’s Control Center with a swipe up from the bottom. Samsung will look to app developers to find new ways to use the feature.

Samsung didn’t announce prices. In the US, last year’s Galaxy Note 3 went for about $700 without a contract, or $300 with one. Prices are likely to be similar when the Note 4 comes out in October through all four national carriers in the US. The Edge will likely cost more.

‘Clear differentiation in crowded market’ 

Analysts said the new display feature could cut both ways.

“An edge-based display will give Samsung’s smartphone clear differentiation in a crowded market,” said Ian Fogg, an analyst covering the mobile industry at IHS in London. “But for Samsung to maximize the potential of an edge display it needs third party apps to support the display with additional Samsung-specific functions,” he said.

If the South Korean giant wants to avoid paying developers to kickstart the development of such apps, it might have to make the feature standard across its broad smartphone portfolio, said Fogg.

Samsung made the announcements at the IFA trade show, one of the world’s longest-running showcases for consumer electronics and home appliances.

The new phones were announced amid expectations that Apple will unveil new iPhones next week. The iPhone 6 is expected to feature a 4.7-inch screen, up from the current 4 inches, to make it more competitive with larger smartphones made by Samsung and other companies. There has been speculation that Apple may also unveil an iPhone with a 5.5-inch screen.

Samsung’s Galaxy S5, which came out in April, has a 5.1-inch screen. The Note is Samsung’s line of larger phones and emphasizes note-taking with an included stylus. The Note 4 will have a 5.7-inch screen, while the Edge’s will be 5.6 inches. To support such power-hungry large screens, Samsung says it has improved battery life.

The new models will have a 16 megapixel rear camera and 3.7 megapixels on the front. The front camera will be able to take sharper selfies than the typical camera phone. It will also have a wide-angle feature to fit more people into selfies by stitching multiple images together.

Meanwhile, Samsung will sell the Gear VR headset for about $200 as a companion to the Note 4. It won’t work with the Edge or other phones. The Note 4 attaches to the headset, which has sensors to gauge the head’s position and tells the phone which part of a 360-degree image to display. It can be used to give people an immersive experience with concerts, aerial footage and games.

But video and other content will need to be adapted for the device. Samsung says it expects to have content partnerships in place by the time the device goes on sale.–Frank Jordans with Anick Jesdanun in New York

source: technology.inquirer.net

Apple offering free shipping until December 22

Holiday shoppers looking to grab some items from Apple can enjoy free shipping on all online orders until December 22.

To ring in the holidays, Apple is offering the free shipping on any product ordered through its online Apple store or through its Apple Store iOS app. Apple normally provides free shipping only on online orders of more than $50. So the new promotion gives shoppers incentive to buy less pricey stocking stuffers or to pick up multiple items throughout the holiday season.

Last-minute shoppers who need their items delivered quickly can also opt for two-day shipping for $10 or one-day delivery for $16.

Apple is even serving up a holiday gift guide on its Web site to steer potential buyers to a variety of items and accessories. In addition, the company is offering gift wrapping and engraving on certain products such as iPads and iPods.

Apple also served up some bargains last week on Black Friday by offering Macs, iPads, iPods, and other items at discount prices. That strategy apparently paid off since the company reportedly took in four times the number of sales that it typically brings in on a Friday.

source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57332991-37/apple-offering-free-shipping-until-december-22/?tag=mncol