Consumer News: Main Street gears up for Trump tariffs' impact

Low vaccination rates threaten pets and their owners, vets warn

Make sure your dogs food is safe check your freezer now before feeding again

• Fromm Family Foods is recalling certain frozen dog food after plastic contamination was found.

• The recall affects only one product: Bonnihill Farms BeefiBowls Beef Recipe (16 oz chubs, Best By 12/25/2026).

• While there havent been any illness reports eating plastic could cause vomiting, stomach upset or even intestinal blockages in dogs.

Fromm Family Foods has voluntarily pulled 300 cases of its Bonnihill Farms BeefiBowls Beef Recipe off the shelves after discovering the possibility of foreign plastic contamination.

The recall applies only to the 16-ounce chubs marked with UPC 072705135004 and labeled Best By 12/25/2026 B01.

These BeefiBowls were sold through independent pet stores across multiple U.S. states and even in Ontario, Canada. Affected states include: Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana, California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska.

Why it matters & what you should do

Although no sickness among pets has been officially reported, the company and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warn that ingesting plastic can lead to symptoms like vomiting, loss of appetite, lethargy or stomach pain.

In more serious cases, it might cause gastrointestinal upset or intestinal blockage which can be dangerous.

If you have any of the recalled BeefiBowls in your freezer, stop feeding them to your pet immediately. The safest bet is to return the product to where you bought it for a refund or dispose of it carefully so pets, kids, or wildlife cant get to it.

Fromm recommends contacting them at 1-800-325-6331 or via email at info@frommfamily.com if you have questions.

If your dog shows any odd symptoms after eating the food, call your veterinarian right away.

Only a small fraction of preschoolers meet daily physical activity guidelines

• Fewer than one in four preschoolers (aged 24) meet the recommended 180 minutes of daily physical activity.

• Only about 2.4% achieve 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity.

• Children are slightly more active by around 15 minutes on days they attend preschool-type settings compared with days at home.

Its no secret that young children seem to be constantly on the move running around, climbing, playing.

However, new research from the University of Bristol shows that, in reality, most toddlers arent getting close to the daily physical activity experts recommend.

The study tracked hundreds of preschoolers and found a surprisingly large gap between realworld movement and healthy activity levels. That gap matters because those early years lay the foundation for healthy growth and habits.

These findings highlight a critical gap in physical activity among preschoolers, researcher Dr. Kim Hannam said in a news release.

While early years settings provide a more active environment, most children are still not achieving the movement levels needed for healthy growth and development. Our study highlights the need for coordinated strategies between policymakers, educators, and families to support early childhood physical activity.

What the researchers did

The study monitored 419 children aged 2 to 4, nearly evenly split between boys and girls, attending various early-year childcare settings across England (Somerset, Swindon, Sandwell) and parts of Scotland (Arran and Ayrshire).

Each child wore an accelerometer a small device like an activity belt for a full week. Researchers compared how active kids were on days they went to daycare or nursery (early years settings) versus days they stayed at home.

This is the first time such a direct, objectively measured comparison has been made across different types of preschool settings and home environments in the U.K.

What they found

Some of the key findings from the study include:

• Only 23% of the children met the recommended daily 180 minutes of activity.

• Even fewer just 2.4% got at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity, the level often associated with stronger cardiovascular and muscular health.

• Activity levels were modestly higher on preschool days compared with home days: on average, kids moved about 15 minutes more.

• Boys were more likely than girls to meet these activity targets, and older children in the 24 age group did better than younger ones.

• Outside preschool settings, children from more affluent families tended to be more active than those from less privileged backgrounds. Interestingly, that gap disappeared when they were in early-years settings implying that good childcare settings can help reduce inequality.
  

Low levels of physical activity in early childhood can impact on childrens healthy development and increase the risk of a range of chronic conditions in later life, researcher Ruth Kipping said in the news release.

Early years settings play an important role in promoting physical activity and reducing inequalities, especially as government-funded childcare expands. However, the low proportion of children meeting activity guidelines highlights the need for continued investment and research to support healthy development in the early years.

How to help preschoolers stay more active

• Build movement into everyday routines: Short bursts of dancing, marching to the bathroom, or walking to do small chores can add up quickly.

• Keep play simple and open-ended: Balls, chalk, cardboard boxes, and music encourage natural movement without needing special equipment.

• Offer frequent movement breaks: Even five minutes of jumping, stretching, or running in place between quiet activities helps boost overall activity.

• Head outside whenever possible: Parks, backyards, and playgrounds naturally promote running, climbing, and exploring.

• Join in the play: Kids often move more when an adult participates, even for just a few minutes.

• Limit long stretches of sitting: Rotate between seated activities and active ones to keep kids moving throughout the day.

How retailers dress up regular prices in a discount costume

• Many 60% off sales are fake Consumer Checkbook found lots of items are on sale more than half the time, so that sale price is really the everyday price

• List and regular prices are often fantasy numbers based on past, future, or hypothetical prices almost no one actually pays

• Treat sales as marketing: compare prices, use price trackers, and dont let today only! hype push you into impulse buys

Wording like 60% OFF, Today only, and Doorbuster deal all sounds exciting, but it turns out most of it is completely fake.

Consumers Checkbook spent six months tracking prices at 25 major retailers. The big takeaway: at most of these stores, the sale price is really just the everyday price dressed up to look like a deal. And this problem has gotten worse over the past decade, not better.

How the fake sales actually work

Retailers will show you a high regular, original, or list price, then put a lower sale price next to it. The message to your brain quickly becomes, Look how much money Im saving.

But Checkbooks researchers found that at most stores, the items they tracked were offered at those supposed discounts more than half the time.

Specifically, at 12 of the 25 companies, more than half the items were on sale every week or almost every week they checked. In other words, the so-called sale price was really just the normal price.

Some stores were especially bad: Bass Pro Shops, Bed Bath & Beyond, Dicks, Foot Locker, Gap, JCPenney, Michaels, Nordstrom, Old Navy, and Wayfair had items that were essentially always on sale.

Interestingly, only three retailers stood out for consistently honest discounts:

• Apple
• Costco
• Dell

Walmart landed right in the middle with almost half of their items marked ason sale, which means theirdiscount signage is still aggressive, but less extreme than many of their competitors.

Why List and Regular prices dont mean much

On some retailer websites, Checkbook couldnt find any explanations at all for how stores set their list prices. If an explanation was found, it was very vague and buried deep in their terms and conditions.

Some of these explanations are almost comical. One major department store said its regular or original price can be a former or future price that they, or another retailer, might someday charge.

Another big-name electronics chain says its comparable value is tied to what the product was (or will be) priced at.

The takeaway being that your savings is often based on a price that hardly any shopper ever paid. Or worse yet, a price that doesnt even exist yet.

How to protect yourself from fake sales

The FTC has some clear rules in place against this deceptive practice, but unfortunately they are not being enforced.

Until the rules are enforced, you have to treat most sales as marketing, not math. Heres how to fight back:

• Never assume a sale is a deal. In other words, if something always seems to be 40% off, thats not a sale price, thats the real price with a costume on.
• Always compare prices. Get in the habit of doing a quick price search at a couple other major retailers before you buy. Utilize tools like shopping comparison sites and price trackers (including CamelCamelCamel for Amazon) as they can show you real price history, not those fantasy regular prices.
• Ask for a price match. Many stores will match a lower price you find elsewhere, including online rivals. That way you can shop where you prefer without overpaying.
• Take your time. Even when a sale has an end date, some stores will extend the price or honor it later, especially if you ask politely. The today only urgency is often exaggerated.
• Ignore the emotional hype. All the fake discounts are designed to make you feel like youre winning so youll buy more. Even if you score a good deal, dont let that savings high push you to toss extra stuff into your cart.
• Call or email for big-ticket items. Because of minimum advertised price (MAP) rules, the lowest prices on appliances, electronics, and other big buys often arent shown online. Independent retailers sometimes quote better prices over the phone, via email, or to loyalty members.

Ford logs a multi-model fire risk sweep as VW faces wheel detachments and Hyundai battles sudden braking

Each week, NHTSA recalls roll in, and we round them up in one place. Heres the latest batch for the week of October 20, 2025.

         Ford (6)
    BMW (2)      Porsche (2)
    Contenders: Hyundai (2), Bentley (2), Altec (2), Volkswagen (2)