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This post was part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst of 2007 feature. Voting has now closed and readers have chosen rising fuel prices as the most worrisome consumer trend. Be sure to let us know in the comments if you are pleased with this result.

Worrisome consumer trend The most Worrisome Consumer Trend of 2007 is ... whichever one you choose. The following is my analysis of four candidates -- ranging from can't sleep at night to minor complaint:

  • China product recalls. 30 million Chinese products -- many of them toys -- have been recalled in the last several months. With the holiday shopping season in full swing, this has to be among the most worrisome consumer trends. It's not easy to find out if a product is made in China. This list of U.S. made toys might help, and this list of Made in America products might also be useful.
  • Subprime and mortgage meltdown. The cost to society of the subprime mortgage meltdown could be as high as $4 trillion. Two million people are expected to lose their homes to foreclosure by the end of 2008. If you are one of these people, this trend is definitely costing you sleep. And since there's no way of knowing how widespread the damage will be, everyone in the world should be worrying about this one.

Continue reading Best & Worst of 2007: Most worrisome consumer trends

Best & Worst of 2007: Most worrisome consumer trends originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 30 Nov 2007 06:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>beef pricesBest and Worst of 2007Chinese productsE. colifood pricesfood safetyforeclosuresmortgage meltdownoil pricesrecallssubprimeTopps MeatFri, 30 Nov 2007 06:10:00 EST<![CDATA[Topps Meat goes out of business following massive recall]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/06/topps-meat-goes-out-of-business-following-massive-recall/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/06/topps-meat-goes-out-of-business-following-massive-recall/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/06/topps-meat-goes-out-of-business-following-massive-recall/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Topps Meat, whose frozen burgers have been a staple at backyard cookouts for generations, is closing its doors following a massive recall. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s (NYSE: WMT) Sam's Club chain pulled a brand of beef patties from its shelves four children reportedly got sick.

This is unbelievable. The federal government has got to do a better job of ensuring the safety of our food supply. The Topps Meat recall is particularly disturbing since the meet in question was made in LATE JUNE AND JULY. Why did the 21.7 million pound recall -- which ABC news estimates is enough meet to make a McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) regular hamburger for every U.S. adult -- take so long? It was the second-largest beef recall in U.S. history, according to the Associated Press. To make matters worse, government officials say they don't know the "source of the E. coli contamination that appears to have sickened 32 people who ate its hamburgers," the AP said.

Though I don't expect the ranks of vegans to swell because of this massive recall, it may push more people to buy organic beef, which should help the likes of Whole Foods Markets Inc. (NYSE: WFMI) and Trader Joe's. Wal-Mart and big supermarket chains such as Albertsons may be encouraged to buy more meat from organic producers, such as Laura's Lean Beef, which don't use antibiotics or growth hormones.

Something has to be done or these recalls will continue.

Topps Meat goes out of business following massive recall originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 06 Oct 2007 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>beef producersinthenewslaura's lean beefmcdorganic beeftopps meattopps recalltrader joe'swfmiwmtSat, 06 Oct 2007 13:45:00 EST<![CDATA[Topps Meat to call it quits in wake of beef recall]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/05/topps-meat-to-call-in-quits-in-wake-of-beef-recall/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/05/topps-meat-to-call-in-quits-in-wake-of-beef-recall/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/05/topps-meat-to-call-in-quits-in-wake-of-beef-recall/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Six days after issuing America's second ever largest beef recall, Topps Meat Co. announced today that the company is going to be going out of business. The amount of beef that was eventually involved in this recall totaled some 21.7 million pounds of the company's ground beef.

The company, which had been in business for the past 67 years expressed regret and stated that the event was "tragic for all concerned" and admitted that most of the recalled meat had already been consumed before it was recalled. The total amount of beef that was recalled was equivalent to roughly a year's worth of production.

So far, there have not been any reported deaths from the tainted meat, which has led to 30 reported cases of E coli. The good news is that properly cooking the ground beef was able to prevent the E coli breakout from being much more widespread. The disease is killed in meat that is cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

Continue reading Topps Meat to call it quits in wake of beef recall

Topps Meat to call it quits in wake of beef recall originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 05 Oct 2007 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>beef recallBeefRecallinthenewsrecallsTopps MeatToppsMeatFri, 05 Oct 2007 15:45:00 EST