Charlie;
Isn't this amazing?
POISONING
"Cantaloupe melons have been identified as a common source of food poisoning. Researchers who studied records in Canada and the U.S. identified almost one large outbreak caused by cantaloupes every year over a 30-year period. It is believed that the problem lies in the rough skin of the cantaloupe being hard to clean meaning that bacteria on the outside can contaminate the flesh when it is cut open.
CONSTRUCTION
Shanghai has constructed a massive underground bunker complex capable of sheltering 200,000 people from a nuclear attack. The million-square-foot complex connects to shopping centres, office buildings, apartment buildings and the subway system via miles of tunnels. The complex has water, hydro, lighting, ventilation and protective doors and can support life for as long as two weeks.
CONTAINERS
Industry experts estimate that anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 containers fall off ships each year, less than one per cent of the number of containers sent by sea annually, but representing a huge cost to those who lose cargo to the ocean. The loss of even one shipment which may contain millions of small parts, could shut down a manufacturing line.
MOBILES
About 70 per cent of 12- to 13-year-old Europeans own a mobile phone. Now, the EU is examining the risks children face when using mobile phones such as access to harmful or illegal content, and the risks of strangers meeting children after making telephone contact.
CHECKOUT
A recent study shows that shoppers purchase impulse items such as snacks, candy, beverages and magazines 45.5 per cent less often when they use self-checkout than when they use a staffed checkout lane. The impact is greater for women, 50 per cent, versus a drop of 27.9 per cent for men. In 2005, consumers spent over US$111-billion on self-checkout transactions at retailers, up 35 per cent over the previous year. The average number of items in a self-checkout transaction is 6.7 with a value of $32.85.
INDIA
The U.S. is warning India that bans on soft drinks like Coca Cola and Pepsi could blight its hopes of attracting American investment. Six Indian states have now announced partial or complete bans on soft drink sales in schools, colleges and hospitals after claims that the drinks contain harmful pesticides. Coke and Pepsi account for nearly 80 per cent of India's more than US$2-billion soft drink market
SHOPPING
The Polo Lauren Group is taking impulse shopping one step further with technology that allows passersby to purchase clothing they see in the windows of one of its New York stores by using a touch screen on the glass. Projected on the window of the store is a 67-inch image of items. Customers can purchase them by using a credit card swiper on the window.
DOGS
After a year of field testing, the first CD ever approved for dogs by dogs has just been produced in California. Canine focus groups, selected from more than 200 dogs across the U.S., were "questioned" about their preferences in music. The responses, a bark or a wag, were used by an animal communicator to guide the creation of the 12 songs.
GIVEAWAYS
British newspapers are now giving away as many free DVDs as are being purchased in stores. The cover-mounted DVD giveaways, which include recent movies, are devaluing the format in the eyes of many consumers, one quarter of whom said they would have bought the same titles if they had seen it in a store at a reasonable price. In the first quarter of 2006, about 54-million DVDs were given away to consumers who bought newspapers and magazines. That compares with 130 million DVDs given away in 2005, valued at an estimated C$1.04-billion.
TECHNOLOGY
British university students are being monitored by a unique electronic tagging system designed to ensure that they attend lectures. About 1,000 undergraduates at the University of Glamorgan have been issued with key rings containing microchips that store each individual's name and other enrolment data. Every time he or she attends a lecture, the students press the key ring against a sensor that acts as an electronic receiver which records attendance.
EGGS
Revolutionary "self-timing' eggs designed to overcome the perennial problem of how to avoid runny whites or overcooked yolks will appear on UK supermarkets shelves before too long. The eggs are marked with logos in "thermochromic" invisible ink, which turns dark when it reaches a certain temperature. Inks have been created to appear after three minutes to indicate a soft-boiled egg, after four minutes for medium and seven minutes for a hard-boiled egg.
Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.
Isn't this amazing?
POISONING
"Cantaloupe melons have been identified as a common source of food poisoning. Researchers who studied records in Canada and the U.S. identified almost one large outbreak caused by cantaloupes every year over a 30-year period. It is believed that the problem lies in the rough skin of the cantaloupe being hard to clean meaning that bacteria on the outside can contaminate the flesh when it is cut open.
CONSTRUCTION
Shanghai has constructed a massive underground bunker complex capable of sheltering 200,000 people from a nuclear attack. The million-square-foot complex connects to shopping centres, office buildings, apartment buildings and the subway system via miles of tunnels. The complex has water, hydro, lighting, ventilation and protective doors and can support life for as long as two weeks.
CONTAINERS
Industry experts estimate that anywhere from 2,000 to 10,000 containers fall off ships each year, less than one per cent of the number of containers sent by sea annually, but representing a huge cost to those who lose cargo to the ocean. The loss of even one shipment which may contain millions of small parts, could shut down a manufacturing line.
MOBILES
About 70 per cent of 12- to 13-year-old Europeans own a mobile phone. Now, the EU is examining the risks children face when using mobile phones such as access to harmful or illegal content, and the risks of strangers meeting children after making telephone contact.
CHECKOUT
A recent study shows that shoppers purchase impulse items such as snacks, candy, beverages and magazines 45.5 per cent less often when they use self-checkout than when they use a staffed checkout lane. The impact is greater for women, 50 per cent, versus a drop of 27.9 per cent for men. In 2005, consumers spent over US$111-billion on self-checkout transactions at retailers, up 35 per cent over the previous year. The average number of items in a self-checkout transaction is 6.7 with a value of $32.85.
INDIA
The U.S. is warning India that bans on soft drinks like Coca Cola and Pepsi could blight its hopes of attracting American investment. Six Indian states have now announced partial or complete bans on soft drink sales in schools, colleges and hospitals after claims that the drinks contain harmful pesticides. Coke and Pepsi account for nearly 80 per cent of India's more than US$2-billion soft drink market
SHOPPING
The Polo Lauren Group is taking impulse shopping one step further with technology that allows passersby to purchase clothing they see in the windows of one of its New York stores by using a touch screen on the glass. Projected on the window of the store is a 67-inch image of items. Customers can purchase them by using a credit card swiper on the window.
DOGS
After a year of field testing, the first CD ever approved for dogs by dogs has just been produced in California. Canine focus groups, selected from more than 200 dogs across the U.S., were "questioned" about their preferences in music. The responses, a bark or a wag, were used by an animal communicator to guide the creation of the 12 songs.
GIVEAWAYS
British newspapers are now giving away as many free DVDs as are being purchased in stores. The cover-mounted DVD giveaways, which include recent movies, are devaluing the format in the eyes of many consumers, one quarter of whom said they would have bought the same titles if they had seen it in a store at a reasonable price. In the first quarter of 2006, about 54-million DVDs were given away to consumers who bought newspapers and magazines. That compares with 130 million DVDs given away in 2005, valued at an estimated C$1.04-billion.
TECHNOLOGY
British university students are being monitored by a unique electronic tagging system designed to ensure that they attend lectures. About 1,000 undergraduates at the University of Glamorgan have been issued with key rings containing microchips that store each individual's name and other enrolment data. Every time he or she attends a lecture, the students press the key ring against a sensor that acts as an electronic receiver which records attendance.
EGGS
Revolutionary "self-timing' eggs designed to overcome the perennial problem of how to avoid runny whites or overcooked yolks will appear on UK supermarkets shelves before too long. The eggs are marked with logos in "thermochromic" invisible ink, which turns dark when it reaches a certain temperature. Inks have been created to appear after three minutes to indicate a soft-boiled egg, after four minutes for medium and seven minutes for a hard-boiled egg.
Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.