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The recall includes products sold in New York City

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• Made Fresh Salads is recalling dozens of ready-to-eat deli salads, cream cheeses and other products because of possible Listeria contamination.

• The products were distributed to retailers and distributors in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and other parts of New York City and may have been repackaged for consumers.

• No illnesses have been reported, but consumers who purchased the recalled products are being urged to return them for a refund.

Consumers in the New York City area are being warned to check their refrigerators after a food manufacturer recalled a wide range of ready-to-eat deli products because they could be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

Made Fresh Salads Inc., based in Bay Shore, New York, announced the recall Sept. 6. It covers ready-to-eat deli-style salads and cream cheese sold under the Made Fresh Salads and Northside brands.

The products were distributed by direct delivery to retail stores and distributors in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and elsewhere in New York City.

One potential complication for consumers is that the food may not still be in its original Made Fresh Salads packaging. The company said retailers may have repackaged the products in deli containers or other retail packaging, meaning labels and product codes can vary depending on where the food was purchased.

A long list of recalled foods

The recall covers dozens of products, including several foods commonly purchased from supermarket and deli counters.

Among them are black bean and corn salad, bruschetta, chickpea salad, crab salad, shrimp salad, egg salad, tuna salad, quinoa salad and numerous pasta and tortellini salads.

Larger containers of potato salad, macaroni salad and coleslaw are also included, along with chocolate and vanilla pudding, potato croquettes and crab cakes.

The recall also includes a large selection of flavored cream cheeses, including:

• Apple cinnamon

• Blueberry

• Bacon scallion

• Garlic and herb

• Jalapeo and jalapeo cheddar

• Lox

• Scallion

• Strawberry

• Vegetable

• Walnut

• Whipped cream cheese

Some tofu spreads are included as well. Northside-branded cream cheese and tofu products are also affected.

The recalled foods have expiration dates ranging from Sept. 3 through Sept. 18, 2026. Products supplied to retailers came primarily in 5-pound and 30-pound white plastic tubs or half-size aluminum pans.

Listeria found during environmental testing

The recall was initiated after environmental sampling conducted by the FDA and the company found Listeria monocytogenes in some areas of the manufacturing facility.

Made Fresh Salads has stopped production and distribution of the affected products while the company and FDA investigate the source of the contamination. No illnesses have been reported as of the recall announcement.

Listeria can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, particularly among older adults, young children and people with weakened immune systems.

Healthy people may experience symptoms including fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Infection during pregnancy can also cause miscarriage or stillbirth.

What consumers should do

Consumers who believe they purchased one of the recalled products should not eat it and should return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.

Because some retailers may have repackaged the food, consumers who purchased prepared salads or cream cheese from a deli counter in the affected New York City distribution area may want to contact the retailer if they are unsure whether their purchase is included.

Consumers with questions can contact Made Fresh Salads at 718-765-0082, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time.

On the other hand, it could also cost you

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• Zillow research suggests the color of a homes front door can change what buyers are willing to offer by thousands of dollars.

• Light blue-green produced the biggest premium in Zillows study, adding as much as $5,023 when paired with an all-white house.

• But matching matters: A red door on a light-brick home could reduce what buyers are willing to pay by as much as $6,738.

Homeowners getting ready to sell often spend thousands of dollars sprucing up kitchens, bathrooms and landscaping. But Zillow says one of the changes that could influence buyers the most may require little more than a can of paint.

New Zillow research finds that the color of a home's front door can affect how much prospective buyers say they are willing to pay sometimes by several thousand dollars. But the findings come with an important catch: The best color depends heavily on the exterior of the house.

Zillow studied buyer reactions to four types of home exteriors light brick, solid white, white wood combined with light brick, and dark red brick. Researchers compared doors painted dark gray, light blue-green, yellow and red against a white-door baseline.

The results suggest sellers shouldn't simply pick the year's trendiest color.

Light blue-green is a winner on the right house

For an all-white house, Zillow found that a light blue-green front door delivered the largest potential payoff of any combination in the study. Buyers indicated they would pay as much as $5,023 more for the home compared with one with a white door.

The same color also performed well against dark red brick, potentially increasing offers by $2,460.

But put that light blue-green door on a light-brick house and the result reversed. Buyers indicated they might pay $4,221 less than they would for the same house with a white door.

Red can be an expensive gamble

A red front door is often used to make a house stand out, but Zillow's findings suggest sellers should be especially careful with it.

On a solid-white house, red performed well, potentially adding about $2,512 to an offer. But on a light-brick house, a red door reduced buyers' willingness to pay by as much as $6,738 the largest potential penalty among the combinations Zillow studied.

A red door on a white-and-light-brick exterior also performed poorly, lowering prospective offers by about $3,953.

Dark gray works best with dark red brick

Homeowners with dark red brick may want to consider charcoal or dark gray. Zillow found that combination could increase an offer by as much as $3,753 compared with a white door.

Again, however, context matters. A dark gray door on a light-brick house could lower an offer by as much as $3,741.

Yellow showed a similar pattern. Buyers indicated they would pay an average of $1,966 more for an all-white home with a yellow door, but $2,907 less when yellow was paired with light brick.

Zillow distilled its findings into a fairly straightforward guide. For an all-white house, light blue-green, yellow or red performed well. For light brick, white was the safest choice. White or yellow worked for a white-and-light-brick exterior, while dark gray or white performed best with dark red brick.

The larger lesson may be even simpler: The more visually complicated the exterior, the more buyers appear to appreciate a neutral front door. A simple exterior, meanwhile, may benefit from a splash of color.

The scheme tries to steal personal and financial information

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• A nationwide phishing campaign is impersonating MyChart and promising consumers a free Medicare Kit or Senior Health Package.

• The promised kit doesnt exist; scammers may use the offer to collect MyChart credentials, personal information and credit card numbers.

• Consumers should avoid links in unexpected MyChart messages and instead access their accounts through the official app or their health providers website.

Theres another scam masquerading as MyChart, the patient portal used by doctors to communicate with their patients. The new scam uses email and texts to target seniors with the promise of a free Medicare kit.

Health systems across the U.S. are warning patients about a growing phishing campaign that impersonates MyChart, the widely used patient portal developed by Epic Systems. The messages may promise a MyChart Medicare Kit, Medicare Health Kit, Senior Health Package or another free wellness product.

There is no such giveaway.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday issued a warning Aug. 28, saying scammers are sending emails and texts offering patients a chance to claim a MyChart Medicare Kit. The messages attempt to get victims to click malicious links and surrender passwords or other personal information.

A previous campaign used a fake MyChart that warned of a serious test result, in hopes of persuading the victim to download malware.

The new campaign has spread widely. Becker's Hospital Review reported that at least 41 health systems had warned about the scheme by late August.

How the scam works

The scam is particularly convincing because millions of patients are accustomed to receiving legitimate MyChart notifications about appointments, test results, prescriptions and messages from their doctors.

One version tells recipients they have been selected to receive a free 2026 Medicare Health Kit. MyChart itself warns that it does not conduct giveaways and says any email claiming MyChart is giving away a product is fraudulent.

UC Davis Health says one version directs consumers to a survey where they are eventually asked for financial information to cover the supposed cost of shipping the free first-aid and medical supply kit.

That's where a free offer can become expensive.

Gizmodo, which obtained consumer complaints filed with the Federal Trade Commission, reported that one consumer in their 70s entered a Mastercard number to pay $9.95 for shipping. According to the complaint, another attempted charge for $29.95 quickly followed.

Other versions can be even more dangerous because they attempt to steal MyChart usernames, passwords or verification codes. Cooper University Health Care warns that fake messages may also request Medicare information or direct consumers to websites designed to look like legitimate MyChart pages.

MyChart hasn't necessarily been hacked

Receiving one of these messages doesn't mean hackers have broken into your hospital's computer system or gained access to your MyChart account.

Health systems say the criminals are impersonating the familiar MyChart brand to make their messages more convincing. Virtua Health, for example, says there is no indication that MyChart, Epic or its health system was breached as part of the scam.

That's an important distinction. The scam relies on social engineering convincing victims that a fraudulent message comes from an organization they already trust.

Red flags

Consumers should be suspicious of messages announcing that Your MyChart Medicare Kit Awaits! or offering free Medicare supplies, wellness packages, prizes or rewards.

Other red flags include requests to verify an address, take a survey, provide Medicare or insurance information, enter a MyChart password or pay a small shipping charge.

Don't assume a message is legitimate simply because it contains the MyChart logo. Scammers can copy logos and other graphics from legitimate websites.

Also avoid clicking an unsubscribe button in a suspicious message. Several health systems warn that the unsubscribe link itself may be malicious.

What to do

If you receive an unexpected MyChart message, don't use the link contained in the email or text. Open the MyChart app you normally use or go directly to your health care provider's known website.

If the message concerns something legitimate such as an appointment, bill or test result you should normally be able to find corresponding information inside your actual account.

Consumers who already entered a MyChart password on a suspicious website should change the password immediately and review their account for unexpected activity. If credit or debit card information was provided, contact the card issuer or bank promptly.

And remember one simple rule: MyChart is a patient portal, not a Medicare benefits program. It doesn't give away Medicare kits.

Where you live can dramatically change your internet bill

• Americans average about 40 cents per Mbps: Dividing your monthly internet price by your plan's speed gives you a quick way to see how your deal compares.

• Where you live matters: NetCredit found Connecticut has the most affordable internet relative to income, while Mississippi has the least affordable.

• Don't pay for speed you don't need: A low cost per Mbps can look like a bargain, but a cheaper, slower plan could still save you more money each month.

Are you getting your money's worth from your home internet?

There's a surprisingly easy way to get an idea, and it takes about 30 seconds.

A new NetCredit analysis of internet prices found that Americans pay an average of about 40 cents per megabit per second, or Mbps.

That number gives you a handy benchmark that you can use to compare to your own bill. Simply take your monthly internet price and divide it by the download speed you're paying for.

If, for example, you pay $80 a month for 500 Mbps service, the math would look like this: $80 500 = 16 cents per Mbps.

That's well below the 40-cent national average found by NetCredit.

But if you're paying $100 for 100 Mbps service, you're shelling out $1 per Mbps, which is more than twice the national average.

That's when it may be time to start shopping around.

Where you live can make a big difference

NetCredit compared internet affordability around the world and across the U.S., looking at both broadband prices and local incomes.

Interestingly, Connecticut came out as the most affordable U.S. state, with the average internet bill consuming about 1.5% of monthly income. On the other end, Mississippi was the least affordable at about 2.8%.

But keep in mind that "affordable" doesn't necessarily mean cheap.

West Virginia, for example, had one of the lowest average broadband bills in the study at about $91 a month, but average internet speeds were also below the national average.

The differences become even clearer at the city level.

NetCredit found Plano, Texas, offered some of the most speed for the money at about 33 cents per Mbps, while Honolulu residents averaged around $1.15 per Mbps.

That's nearly 3.5 times as much for each Mbps.

But don't fall for the 'more speed is better' trap

There's one big flaw with judging an internet plan solely by cost per Mbps: A blazing-fast plan you don't actually need isn't necessarily a bargain.

Imagine you're paying $90 for gigabit internet. That's just 9 cents per Mbps, which is fantastic according to our calculation.

But if a 300 Mbps plan would easily handle your household's streaming, video calls, and web browsing for $55, you'd save $420 a year by downgrading.

In other words, don't let an impressive cost-per-Mbps number convince you to buy more internet than you'll actually use.

Check the 'nutrition label' before switching

If your calculation tells you that you're overpaying, don't call your provider just yet. First, do a little homework and see what competitors are charging at your address.

Internet providers are required to display FCC-mandated Broadband Facts labels that work a lot like nutrition labels on food. They show the monthly price, introductory-rate details, additional charges, typical speeds, and data allowances, making it much easier to compare competing plans.

You can also enter your address into the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers report offering service at your home and the maximum advertised speeds available.

Thats when call your current provider and negotiate a better deal.

Tell them the competing price and speed you've found and ask whether they can match it, move you to a cheaper plan, or offer a retention discount.

And remember that your goal isn't to get the most Mbps for your money. It's to get all the speed you actually need for the lowest monthly bill.