Consumer News: More older Americans are taking five or more medications a day, raising health concerns

The chips were distributed to nationwide retailers

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• Utz Quality Foods has issued a voluntary recall of certain Zapps and Dirty potato chips in the U.S.

• The recall stems from a seasoning ingredient that may be contaminated with Salmonella.

• No illnesses have been reported, but consumers are urged not to eat affected products.

Utz Quality Foods is recalling limited varieties of its Zapps and Dirty brand potato chips after a supplier flagged a potential contamination issue, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notice.

The Hanover, Pennsylvania-based snack maker said the recall was initiated after it was notified that a seasoning ingredient used in certain products may contain Salmonella, a bacteria that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections.

The affected chips were distributed to various retailers in the United States, though the recall applies only to specific flavors and production lots tied to the seasoning ingredient.

Salmonella infection can lead to symptoms such as fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. In rare cases, it can result in more severe illness, particularly among young children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems.

No reports of illness

Utz said it has not received any reports of illness related to the recalled products.

The recall follows notification from a third-party supplier that a seasoning containing dry milk powder could be contaminated, prompting the company to act out of an abundance of caution, according to the FDA notice.

Consumers who have purchased the affected chips are advised not to eat them and instead discard the products or return them to the place of purchase for a refund. Retailers have been instructed to remove impacted items from store shelves.

Zapps, known for its Cajun-style kettle chips, and Dirty chips are both brands owned by Utz Quality Foods.

Food recalls are typically issued when a product may pose a health risk due to contamination or mislabeling, and federal agencies advise consumers to check product details carefully to determine whether items they have purchased are affected.

The FDA said it continues to monitor the recall as part of its ongoing food safety oversight.

The simple system that unlocks big savings at Safeway

• Stack everything: At Safeway, the best deals come from layering sale prices, digital Just for U coupons, and rewards points dont rely on just one.

• Start in the app: Clip coupons before every trip and check for personalized and threshold offers (like $10 off $50) to maximize savings.

• Shop with a plan: Time trips around weekly deal drops, build your cart around promos, and stay flexible on brands to consistently save 20%50%.

Couponing at Safeway isnt about clipping a few random deals and hoping for the best. Its a system. And once you understand how Safeways pricing, digital coupons, and promotions stack together, you can consistently knock 20%50% off your grocery bill without going extreme.

Heres how to do it.

Understand how Safeway pricing really works

Safeway runs on layered discounts, not just on simple sales like a lot of independent grocery stores.

Most of the best deals at Safeway come from combining:

• Weekly sale prices
• Digital coupons (in the Safeway app)
• Personalized offers (targeted to you)
• Rewards points (gas or grocery discounts)

If youre only using one of these, youre leaving money on the table.

Step 1: Always start in the app (this is non-negotiable)

Its time to start thinking of Safeway as a digital-first coupon store, as thats where the majority of your savings aregoing to come from.

Download the Safeway app, create an account, and do these threethings before every trip:

1. Clip all the Just for U digital coupons that you think you might use.
2. Look for category deals (like $5 off $25) on stuff youd be buying anyway.
3. Check for personalized offers based on what youve bought in the past.

Pro tip: Learn how to trigger better Just for U offers on purpose. It's safe to assume that Safeways app learns from your behavior. If you always buy the same brand, youll usually get weak coupons. Instead, skip or switch brands for a week or two. That often triggers a stronger win-you-back deal like $2$5 off or deeper discounts on the stuff you usually buy.

Step 2: Stack your discounts the right way

This is where the real savings starts to happen, especially when you can combine something that's on sale and also has a digital coupon available.

A strong Safeway deal usually looks like this:

• Item is on sale.
• You apply a digital coupon.
• You earn rewards points on top. You earn onepoint for every dollar spent on groceries.

Example:

• Cereal on sale for $2.49
• Digital coupon takes off $1
• Final price: $1.49 + rewards earned

Thats how you get to those extreme couponing prices without the hassle.

Reward points breakdown:

This is a good time to breakdown exactly how Safeway reward points work.

• $1 spent on groceries = 1 reward point
• $1 spent on gift cards = 2 reward points

Then when it comes to redeeming your points, it works like this:

• 100 points = $1 cash off at checkout
• 1,200 points = $20 off at checkout
• 100 points = $0.10 off per gallon of gas ($1 off/gallon max)

Pro tip: Get in the habit of always clipping more digital offers than you think you need. Safeway wont apply coupons unless theyre clipped before checkout.

Step 3: Build your trip around weekly promos

Safeway loves threshold deals, and theyre one of your biggest savings opportunities.

Youll see offers like:

• Spend $50, get $10 off
• Buy four, save $4
• Spend $75, earn bonus rewards

How to use them:

• Combine items you already need.
• Avoid adding junk just to hit the threshold.
• Pair with digital coupons to double-dip savings.

When you get a Spend $50, get $10 off offer, try not to blow it all in one cart.

If you can, split your haul into two $50 transactions (especially with a partner or separate accounts) and trigger the reward twice. Same groceries, double the savings.

Pro tip: If youre close to a discount threshold, its usually worth adjusting your cart slightly to hit it. Try to only buy something that you actually need and will use.

Step 4: Use rewards points strategically

As noted earlier, Safeway rewards arent just for gas. They can be used for grocery discounts too.

Your best strategy:

• Use rewards for groceries when you need immediate savings.
• Use for gas when prices are high and you can maximize the per-gallon discount.

Be sure to not let points expire, as thats essentially lost money. Points earned in a month last for that month, plus the next, before they expire.

Pro tip: For maximum savings, try to stack clearance items with digital coupons. Most people dont realize that clearance items still scan with digital coupons. Always look for yellow clearance tags, discontinued flavors, and seasonal items on clearance. Then check the app. When both apply, you can get 70%+ off without trying.

Step 5: Time your trips for maximum savings

Safeway updates their deals weekly, usually midweek (often on a Wednesday).

Your best strategy:

• Shop right after new deals drop.
• Combine current week + overlapping promos when possible.
• Watch for holiday weeks (bigger promos, more stacking opportunities).

Get in the habit of checking the app the night (or day) before your trip. New coupons often appear in the evenings.

Pro tip: Try the digital coupon reset trick in the middle of the work week. Safeway is known to quietly drops new or refreshed coupons throughout the week. So be sure to check your app the night before your trip, then again right before you checkout. Youll often catch new coupons or better versions of ones you already clipped.

Common mistakes that cost you money

Avoid these at Safeway and youll instantly save more:

• Not clipping coupons before checkout
• Shopping without checking the weekly ad
• Ignoring threshold deals
• Letting rewards points expire
• Buying full-price items out of habit

Most people make the mistake of shopping at Safeway like a traditional grocery store.

Instead, youll want to:

• Be flexible with brands, and be open to trying their store brand Signature Select.
• Let the deals guide your cart.
• Stack everything you can.

Once you do that, Safeway goes from kind of expensive to one of the easiest places to consistently save money, without spending hours couponing.

New research shows small increases in daily movement may lower disease risk

• Findings from a recent study found that adding about 1,700 to 5,500 steps per day was linked to lower risk of several chronic diseases.

• The study used real-world Fitbit data from more than 15,000 adults over time.

• Extra steps helped offset but not completely erase risks tied to long periods of sitting.

If you spend a big chunk of your day sitting at a desk, in the car, or on the couch youre not alone. Researchers have long linked sedentary time to a higher risk of chronic conditions, from diabetes to heart disease.

But new research suggests there may be a practical way to push back against some of those risks: simply moving more throughout the day.

The study, led by researchers connected to Vanderbilt Health and published in Nature Communications, looked at whether increasing daily step counts could help counteract the health effects of prolonged sitting. Instead of focusing on intense workouts, the research zeroed in on something more accessible everyday steps.

How the study worked

To explore this, researchers analyzed data from 15,327 adults participating in the National Institutes of Healths All of Us research program. Each participant used a Fitbit device, which tracked their daily steps and sedentary time over extended periods.

This approach gave scientists a detailed, real-world look at behavior not just snapshots or self-reported activity. The dataset also included electronic health records and other health measures, allowing researchers to connect movement patterns with new diagnoses of chronic disease over time.

The study specifically compared people with varying levels of sedentary behavior including those sitting for as long as 14 hours a day and examined how increasing daily steps influenced their risk of developing conditions like obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.

What the researchers found

The results point to a clear pattern: more steps were associated with lower risk for many chronic conditions. In particular, adding between 1,700 and 5,500 steps per day helped offset the increased risks linked to long periods of sitting.

The number of extra steps needed varied by condition. For example, about 1,700 additional daily steps were linked to lower risk of obesity and liver disease, while higher increases around 5,300 to 5,500 steps were associated with reduced risk of diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

However, the findings werent universal. Increasing step counts did not fully offset the risks of coronary artery disease or heart failure, suggesting that movement alone may not completely counteract the effects of prolonged sedentary time for every condition.

Overall, the study suggests that while sitting less is still important, adding more movement even in modest amounts may play a meaningful role in lowering the risk of several chronic diseases.

Many of us have to be in seats most of the day, researcher Evan Brittain, MD, MSCI, said in a news release.

This is a bit of an empowering message to say, even if youre stuck there for a number of hours, this is a strategy to offset that. Its a practical way to convey evidence around disease risk.

How team-based care helped patients lower their numbers

• A multi-part care strategy significantly lowered blood pressure in low-income patients.

• The approach combined team-based care, home monitoring, and structured treatment protocols.

• Patients in the intervention group saw larger improvements than those receiving standard care.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, affects nearly half of U.S. adults, yet many people still struggle to keep it under control.

Even though medications and lifestyle changes are widely available, large numbers of patients especially those in lower-income communities dont reach recommended targets.

Researchers have long known that lowering systolic blood pressure can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, but translating those goals into real-world clinical settings has been more complicated.

A new study from UT Southwestern, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, explores whether a more structured, team-driven approach could help close that gap. Instead of relying solely on traditional doctor visits, the strategy brings together multiple layers of support designed to make blood pressure management more consistent and accessible.

Poor hypertension control is a major clinical and public health challenge. This effective, sustainable, and scalable implementation strategy should be widely adopted in the U.S. to improve hypertension control, researcher Jiang He, M.D., M.S., Ph.D., said in a news release.

How the study was conducted

To test this approach, researchers partnered with 36 federally funded health centers in Louisiana and Mississippi that serve medically underserved populations.

Clinics were randomly assigned to either implement the new intervention or continue with enhanced usual care, which included standard guideline training and blood pressure measurement practices.

The intervention itself was multifaceted. Care teams included not just primary care providers, but also nurses and community health workers who shared responsibility for managing patients hypertension. Providers followed a structured treatment protocol based on intensive blood pressure targets, while patients monitored their blood pressure at home multiple times per week. These readings were shared with the care team, allowing for ongoing adjustments.

Additional components included health coaching to support medication adherence and lifestyle changes, as well as regular audits and feedback on blood pressure data to help clinicians refine care.

In total, 1,272 adults with uncontrolled hypertension participated in the study, with an average age of about 59.

What the researchers found

After 18 months, patients in clinics using the team-based strategy experienced a greater reduction in systolic blood pressure compared to those receiving usual care. On average, the intervention group saw a drop of 16 mm Hg, while the comparison group had a reduction of 9 mm Hg.

The intervention group also showed better adherence to the treatment strategy overall, suggesting that the structured, supportive approach made it easier for both patients and providers to stay on track.

Importantly, rates of serious side effects were similar between the two groups, indicating that the more intensive strategy did not introduce additional safety concerns.

Taken together, the findings suggest that a coordinated, team-based model can make a measurable difference in blood pressure control, even in settings with limited resources. Researchers note that this type of approach could potentially be expanded to other clinics to improve outcomes for patients who have historically faced barriers to effective hypertension management.

The great Costco bagel debate of 2026 is upon us

• Smaller packs, more flexibility: Costco is testing single eight-count bagel packs instead of forcing multi-pack purchases.

• Less waste, smarter spending: Shoppers can buy what theyll actually eat instead of overbuying and freezing extras.

• Debate over value: Some say the per-unit price is higher, others say its cheaper if you avoid throwing food away.

For years, shopping the bakery at Costco came with a built-in dilemma: great prices, but way more food than most people actually needed. If you wanted bagels, you werent just grabbing one pack, you had to commit to multiple sleeves whether you liked it or not.

Now, thats starting to change. And for a lot of shoppers, its a bigger deal than it sounds.

The change: Smaller packs, same value mindset

Costco is testing a new approach in some warehouses by offering a single eight-count package of bagels for $4.99, instead of requiring shoppers to buy two six-packs at once.

On paper, its a small tweak. In reality, it fixes one of the biggest pain points in the Costco bakery, which is forced bulk buying.

Instead of standing there debating freezer space, or whether youll realistically eat a dozen bagels before they go stale, you can now just grab one pack and move on.

Why this matters for real shoppers

Reducing the number of bagels you have to buy isnt just about convenience, Costco is hoping it reduces waste and hopefully saves you money in the process.

Heres what used to happen:

• Youd buy more bagels than you needed just to get the deal.
• Half would end up frozen (or forgotten).
• Sometimes, food would go bad before you finished it.

With smaller pack sizes, youre:

• Buying closer to what youll actually eat.
• Keeping food fresher.
• Avoiding the bulk trap where cheap per-unit pricing can lead to waste.

For smaller households, empty nesters, or anyone not feeding a crowd every morning, this is a much more practical way to shop.

But not everyone thinks its a win

Some shoppers arent celebrating just yet, and I think theyre raising a fair point.

A few commenters argue the change may be less about convenience and more about pricing.

One shopper put it bluntly: So before, you got 12 for $5.99. Now, you get 8 for $4.99. They raised prices without raising prices.

Another added: So now it is more expensive per pack.

Yes, youre buying less upfront. But depending on how you look at it, the per-unit cost could be slightly higher.

Others pushed back on that argument, pointing out that if you used to throw some away (or forgot about them in the freezer) then the smaller pack is actually cheaper in real life.

The hidden savings strategy here

This shift to smaller amounts also unlocks a smarter way to shop at Costco overall.

One of the biggest misconceptions is that bigger always equals cheaper. But the truth is, the best deal is the one you actually use.

A single $4.99 pack you finish is cheaper than two packs where one goes stale.

So, if you see these smaller bakery options at your local warehouse:

• Start with one pack and test how fast you go through it.

• Skip the automatic stock up mindset.
• Only freeze extras if you know youll actually use them.

What to watch going forward

Like many Costco changes, this rollout isnt everywhere yet. Availability can vary by location, and not every bakery has made the switch.

But if this sticks, it could signal a bigger shift in how Costco balances bulk value with real-life shopping habits. And honestly, its overdue.

Because while Costco built its brand on buying more, shoppers today are getting smarter about buying better, and often that means buying less.