Prepared by the Georgia Department of Agriculture, Office of Public Affairs Tommy Irvin, Commissioner Call Consumer Q's Hotline at 1-800-282- 5852.

Consumer Alert: Chicken-Basted Rawhide Chips Recalled [cid:image001.jpg@01C934F7.17C34750] Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin is alerting Georgians that a type of dog treat is being recalled because of possible health risk to dogs and people. The Hartz Mountain Corporation, Secaucus, New Jersey, is voluntarily recalling one specific lot of Hartz Chicken-Basted Rawhide Chips due to concerns that one or more bags within the lot are potentially contaminated with Salmonella. The product involved is 4,850 two-pound plastic bags of Hartz Chicken-Basted Rawhide Chips, lot code JC23282, UPC number 3270096463. Dog owners who purchased this product should check the lot code on their bag. If it is from the recalled lot, they should immediately discontinue using it and discard it. Consumers can contact Hartz at 1- 800-275-1414 with any questions they may have and to obtain reimbursement. Salmonella can cause serious infections in dogs, and, if there is crosscontamination caused by handling of the rawhide chips, in people as well, especially children, the aged and people with compromised immune systems. Healthy people potentially infected with Salmonella should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. On rare occasions, Salmonella can result in more serious ailments, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation and urinary tract symptoms. Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers. Pets with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever and vomiting. Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Animals can be carriers with no visible symptoms and can potentially infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.

Consumer Product Recall: Infant Death Prompts Recall to Repair 985,000 Delta Enterprise Drop Side Cribs; Missing Safety Pegs Can Cause Entrapment and Suffocation Hazards The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in cooperation with Delta Enterprise Corp., of New York, New York., is announcing the voluntary recall to replace missing safety pegs involving 985,000 drop side cribs. Failure to use or install safety pegs can cause an entrapment and suffocation risk to infants and toddlers. When the safety pegs in the base of each leg of the crib are missing from the lower track, the crib locks can disengage and detach if lowered below the peg hole, creating a hazardous gap. This gap can lead to the entrapment and suffocation of an infant or toddler. CPSC staff is aware of a death of an 8-month-old child who became entrapped and suffocated when the drop side of the crib detached in a reassembled crib where the safety pegs were not installed. CPSC is also aware of two entrapments and nine disengagement incidents in cribs where the safety pegs were missing. The recall involves all Delta cribs manufactured in Taiwan or Indonesia, with the "Crib Trigger Lock with Safety Peg" drop side hardware design. These model numbers and country of origin can be located on the mattress support board label: 4320, 4340, 4500, 4520, 4530, 4532, 4540, 4542, 4550, 4551, 4580, 4600, 4620, 4624 (production dates 01/06 thru 11/07), 4640, 4660, 4720, 4735, 4742, 4750 (production dates 01/95 thru 12/00), 4760, 4770, 4780, 4790, 4820, 4840, 4850, 4860, 4880, 4890, 4892, 4900, 4910, 4920, 4925-2, 4925-6, 4930, 4940, 4943, 4944, 4947, 4948, 4949, 4950, 4958, 4963, 4968, 4969, 4980. The recalled cribs have date codes ranging from 1995 through December 2005 and one model (4624) was made in 2007. The model numbers are located on the top of the mattress support board. The cribs, which were made in Taiwan and Indonesia; sold at major retailers, including Walmart, Kmart and Target.com from January 1995 through September 2007 for about $100. These cribs have also been found to be sold secondhand. Cribs currently sold at retail are not involved. CPSC and Delta urge parents and caregivers to immediately stop using cribs that are missing a safety peg on any leg of the crib and contact Delta to receive a free, easy-to-install repair kit. The kit will include safety pegs in a bold color and warning labels to be affixed to the mattress board. Consumers with cribs that have all safety pegs installed may continue to use the cribs; however, CPSC recommends that these consumers contact Delta for the repair kit for future assembly purposes. Call Delta toll-free at (1-800-816-5304) anytime after 5pm today or log on www.cribrecallcenter.com to order the free replacement kit. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to find a safe, alternative sleep environment for their child if their recalled crib is missing safety pegs.

Q: I have some pomegranates that are not quite ripe. How can I ripen them now that they are off the tree?

A: Pomegranate are to be harvested before they are fully mature and stored in the refrigerator to ripen. The fruit continues to ripen in cold storage and the flavor only improves. They can be kept this way for up to six months.

Q: I'm interested in growing edible sprouts with my kids indoors. Which ones are edible and how should we do it?

A: There are many types of seeds to sprout and eat, so you and your child may want to experiment with different kinds to see which ones you like best. Be sure that the seeds you purchase are specifically intended for this purpose and have not been chemically treated (with a fungicide to prevent rotting at planting time, for instance). Here are some seeds you might want to try sprouting: alfalfa, barley, broccoli, buckwheat, celery, dill, lentil, lettuce, pumpkin, radish, sunflower and wheat.

Regional Reminders

.. Till the Vegetable Garden: Tilling your vegetable garden in fall can help control insects because it exposes over wintering pests to winter weather. After tilling, plant a fall cover crop, such as winter wheat or rye, to protect the soil over the winter. The cover crop also will add organic matter to the soil when you till it in next spring.

.. Bring Houseplants Indoors: Begin bringing in tender houseplants that have spent the summer outside. First, carefully examine plants for signs of insect pests. A few mealy bugs or spider mites can quickly multiply into a big problem when they're brought into a warm, dry, predator-free indoor environment.

.. Fill Birdbath and Feeders: Invite migrating birds to take a rest at your house by keeping your birdbath cleaned and filled with fresh water. If you stopped stocking your bird feeder during the summer, start again now that birds need the nutrient and calorie-rich seeds to prepare for winter.

.. Clean Up Rose Beds: Rake up fallen rose leaves, remove old mulch under rose bushes, and pluck off the last remaining leaves to remove over wintering insects and disease organisms. Dispose of all of it in the garbage, not the compost pile.

.. Harvest Tomatoes: Tomatoes will stop ripening on the vine when daytime highs reach only into the 60s, so begin bringing full-sized green fruit indoors to ripen. There are plenty of ways to use green tomatoes from frying to salsa, so harvest them all!

Q: What do your inspectors do when they go into a food establishment?

A: Our inspectors are responsible for enforcing state laws, rules and regulations by conducting sanitation inspection of retail food stores, salvage food operations, mobile meat trucks and rolling stores to insure good manufacturing practices. Various tests are performed during inspection including fat tests to check fat content in ground beef, candling shell eggs for wholesomeness and black light for signs of rodent infestation. We also check scanners and scales to insure accuracy of pricing and weight and also the shelves of retail and wholesale stores for outof date food products.

If you have questions or problems with products or services regulated by the Georgia Department of Agriculture, you may write the Office of Consumer Services, Room 224, 19 Martin Luther King Drive, Atlanta 30334 or call 1-800-282-5852.