Many in favour of ‘best before’ dates; Fires prompt SUV recalls; CBC’s Marketplace cheat sheet | CBC News

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Do you drive a Hyundai or Kia SUV? It might be among the more than 281,000 vehicles recalled due to fire concerns

The recall covers more than 245,000 Hyundai Palisade and over 36,000 Kia Telluride SUVs from the 2020 through 2022 model years.

The Korean automakers are advising owners of the vehicles to park them outdoors and away from buildings after a series of fires involving trailer hitch wiring. 

Hyundai and Kia have reported 25 fires or melting incidents in the United States and Canada caused by the problem, but no crashes or injuries.

Approximately 22,345 Hyundai vehicles will be recalled in Canada, a representative for the automaker told CBC News in an email. The company has confirmed three unique fire incidents and eight incidents of melting in Canada, according to the representative.

In an email to CBC News, a representative for Kia did not respond to an inquiry about how many vehicles were affected in Canada but said the company is recalling a tow hitch harness accessory that fits on the aforementioned models.

It said 2,863 of these parts were sold in Canada between May 28, 2019 and Aug. 15, 2022.

Dealers from both automakers have stopped selling the affected SUVs until repairs are made. Read more

Many Canadians don’t want to ditch ‘best before’ dates

Would you toss a container of yogurt after its “best before” date passes? Or are you the type to keep eating until the smell, texture and taste tell you to stop?

A joint report from the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University and the Angus Reid Institute found that a majority of Canadians are against eliminating the dates on food packaging. 

Thirty per cent of Canadians say that they oppose doing so, and even more — 32 per cent — say they strongly oppose it.

That’s even though only a handful of foods have actual expiry dates that determine whether they are safe to consume: among them baby formula and liquid diet products.

The majority of “best before” dates, meanwhile, simply act as an indicator of the quality and freshness of the food.

“When you’re talking about quality, safety is one of the components of quality. You cannot say that it’s a high-quality product if it is not safe,” Maria Corradini, an associate professor of food science and the Arrell Chair in Food Quality at Guelph University, told CBC News.

“But you can have a safe product that doesn’t have good quality.” Read more

WATCH | Are ‘best before’ dates a strict rule or just a suggestion?

The debate over ‘best before’ dates: strict rule or just a suggestion?

Experts say best before dates are more like guidelines to preserve quality, but a new survey shows many Canadians still strictly abide by the food label, which leads to food waste.

WestJet is launching a legal battle over an order to compensate a passenger $1,000 for a flight disruption

WestJet is seeking to appeal a Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) ruling that ordered the airline to compensate a passenger $1,000 for a flight disruption caused by a crew shortage.

When issuing its ruling in July, the CTA clarified that, in general, airlines can’t deny passengers compensation for flight disruptions caused by staffing shortages. 

In a motion filed in the Federal Court of Appeal on Aug. 10, WestJet argues that the CTA’s ruling was flawed, because it was based on a misinterpretation of Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR). The court has yet to decide if WestJet can proceed with its appeal. 

Consumer advocate John Lawford said if WestJet gets the green light and is victorious, it may pave the way for all airlines to justifiably deny compensation based on any flight disruption caused by staffing shortages.

“It would give the companies a pretty clear right,” said Lawford, a lawyer and executive director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre.

Following numerous complaints from air passengers that they were unfairly denied compensation, the CTA ruling in July was supposed to help clear the air on compensation regulations. 

The ruling was based on a case involving passenger Owen Lareau, who was set to take a WestJet flight on July 18, 2021, from Regina back home to Ottawa. 

According to court documents, Lareau’s flight was cancelled 1.5 hours before departure. He was rebooked on a flight the following day and arrived at his destination 21 hours later than originally scheduled. 

WestJet denied Lareau compensation, stating in an email that his “flight was impacted due to flight crew member availability and required for safety purposes.”

WestJet, its lawyers involved in the case, the Canadian Transportation Agency and Lareau each declined to comment on the case, which is before the courts. Read more

What else is going on?

Tip-flation has some restaurants asking for up to 30% in tips
The suggested gratuity on some point-of-sale terminals keeps trending upward.

Rogers will spend $261M to split networks, lacks data to quantify economic impact of July outage
Were you impacted by the Rogers outage? Send us your stories. Email us at [email protected]

Consumers are paying the price — in time and cost — for a choked-up global supply chain
Port delays, storage issues, rail capacity and a trucker shortage all play a part in strain on the system.

More kids hospitalized for cannabis poisonings after edibles legalized, study finds
Alberta, B.C. and Ontario saw spike in cases.

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