Precautions on use of floor lamps
A Consumer Council test has uncovered two major areas of concerns in the safety of some floor lamps.
First, the tungsten halogen tubes fitted in some of the floor lamps could rise to a high temperature of over 700°C that might set off a fire when in direct contact with fabric or plastic materials.
Second, though the floor lamps were generally stable, some of them were found to topple over when they were tilted at an angle of 15°.
The Consumer Council has received at least one complaint in which it was suspected a floor lamp overheated and set ablaze the sofa resulting in a fire accident.
Included in the test were 11 samples of floor lamps - 5 were fitted with tungsten halogen tubes and 6 designed with side lamp for reading purpose.
Though there is no requirement under the safety standard on the surface temperature limit of the tungsten halogen lamp, it was found that, in the case of floor lamps fitted with halogen tubes, the tube surface could rise to as hot as 770°C, a temperature at which many fabric or plastic would burn when in direct contact with the surface.
Even the surface of the protective glass shield (for preventing the spread of splinters of glass in the event of a broken tube), was measured to reach 330°C which is sufficiently hot to char or ignite inflammable materials in the surrounding such as curtains.
Further, beware of the outer surface of the lamp shade of some side lamps as it could be scorching hot at over 100°C. Users will do well to use a thick dry cloth to cover the shade before adjusting the lighting direction while the lamp is on.
As an alternative to reduce such potential hazards, consumers may consider the use of compact fluorescent lamps (CFL or energy saving lamps) which produce the same brightness but can substantially lower the temperatures of both the lamp and the shade surface by about 40°C and 60°C respectively. CFL, however, will not operate on lamps fitted with a connected dimmer.
In the test on stability, all floor lamps were found to satisfy the general stability test at an inclination of 6°. However, eight of them would topple over at an angle of 15° from the original position with some samples potentially overheating the floor after the fall.
The consequences could be grave if the toppled lamp were to fall on inflammable materials or young children. A more stable design is therefore important to ensure safety.
So, never place a floor lamp near curtains or loose hanging objects, do not allow young people to get or play near it, avoid fitting halogen lamp tube of a higher than stated rating.
Fast foods are high in calories but low in fibre and calcium
If fast food is your favoured daily meal you are at risk of suffering from maladies of over-weight, constipation and osteoporosis.
This was borne out in a Consumer Council report in CHOICE, which assessed the nutritional value of 15 breakfast and lunch menus of both Chinese and Western foods commonly sold at fast food outlets in Hong Kong.
An earlier survey of the Council has indicated that consumers patronise fast food restaurants mostly for breakfast and lunch at a frequency, on average, of 3 times a week.
With the assistance of a dietitian and a food and nutrition scientist, the fast food samples were assessed for their values in calories, total and saturated fat, cholesterol, protein, sodium, dietary fibre, calcium and carbohydrates. They were then rated on a 5-point scale - the higher the rating, the better.
Only one sample could score up to 4 points, a breakfast menu comprising traditional Chinese congee and dim sum of rice noodle rolls and siumai.
At the bottom of the scale were 3 samples each scoring only one point - a breakfast of egg, sausages and instant noodle; a lunch of curry chicken rice; and one of baked pork chop rice.
Overall, the survey found most of these fast food meals to be high in the amount of calories, fat, cholesterol, sodium and carbohydrates. At least 3 of the samples were graded "too high" in many of these nutrients.
The calorific values of the lunch menus in particular were worrying, with 3 of them containing an amount of energy estimated to be double the need of lunch. Such diet is prone to make one too fat for health.
Second, none of the samples could provide enough dietary fibre - most of them were graded to contain "too little"fibre.
Deficiency in dietary fibre could result in constipation. Consumers are advised to supplement such meals with fruits, vegetables, whole wheat food, etc.
Third, calcium was found lacking in most of the fast food. Calcium is essential to healthy bone development and the lack of it may lead to osteoporosis. Consumers should choose calcium-rich food such as milk, dark green vegetables, soya bean, dried bean curd, high calcium soya milk, etc. to replenish calcium in meals for dinner.
As almost all of the samples were served with a beverage, consumers are advised to consider the option of soft drink with artificial sweetener or pure fruit juice instead of ordinary soft drink in order to reduce the intake of sugar.
Also, in the case of tea, the use of sugar and milk should be minimised, or better still, switch to lemon tea without or with a minimum of sugar.
Some of the menus were rated to contain "too much" nutrients. This may be due to the serving size which comes in large proportion. However, the serving size varies from restaurant to restaurant.
In view of the findings of the survey, fast food restaurants are urged to include in the foods a higher amount of dietary fibre such as vegetables, fruits and cereals, and to adopt cooking methods other than deep frying as is common in many fast foods.
Renewed caution on use of stable stands for heavy TV sets
The Consumer Council has renewed its call for caution in the use of secure stable stands for large TV sets.
This followed a recent death inquest in which a 5-year-old child was fatally injured by a heavy TV set that toppled over on him.
The accident has raised serious concerns over the use of furniture as stands to support the heavy weight of TV sets.
At the inquest, the Coroner has suggested that importers, distributors and retailers should affix warning label on heavy TV products to alert users to the importance of securing TV sets on stable position.
The Consumer Council offers the following advice to consumers and parents with young children at home in particular:
Use the TV stand by the original TV manufacturer, if available; alternatively, use other stands or furniture that are specially designed for such purpose.
In purchasing these products, check if the product catalogues or labels indicate that the furniture can safely support a TV set of the required weight and size.
Cabinets with drawers which can be pulled out in the front are not suitable for placing a heavy TV set on the top unless the cabinet is securely attached to the wall by screws or other means. Due to leverage effect, the TV set can easily topple over whenever the drawer receives a downward pressure in its pull-out position.
The supporting surface for a TV set should be deep enough preferably with 5 centimetres of extra clearance in the front.
Survey on parental burden from school textbook purchase shows variations
Parents of primary school pupils spent an average of 0.3% less on textbooks this year compared with last year, according to a survey of the Consumer Council.
The annual survey showed that the average textbook expenditure for primary pupils was $1,569; and no significant difference was found among the different classes with the average expenditure for Primary One to Primary six ranging from $1,516 to $1,599.
However, on the secondary school sector, the average textbook expenditure for students took a different trend. It amounted to an average of $1,783 representing an increase of 1.0% over last year.
Higher expenditure was recorded for Form One ($2,056) and Form Four Science/Technical ($2,047) students.
In the case of the former, students had to purchase such books as the Atlas, Bible and Dictionary which are used over the next few years.
In the latter case, some schools required students to purchase both Form Four and Form Five books simultaneously and furthermore, due to the syllabus change of several subjects in Form Four by the Education and Manpower Bureau this year, the prices of Chemistry and Physics textbooks rose considerably.
In consequence of these syllabus changes, the average expenditure for Form Four students alone accounted for an increase of 4.8%. If the changing syllabus factor was excluded, the overall average increase for secondary schools was reduced to 0.2% only.
Council tests environment friendly battery chargers
Hundreds of thousands of dry batteries of various sizes and chemical components are being disposed of everyday throughout the year.
That is not only money down the drain but is also generating a huge quantity of battery waste.
But the problem can be eased. A whole new generation of fast speed battery chargers (mainly for Nickel Metal Hydride rechargeable batteries) at affordable prices are now available for the choice of consumers.
The Consumer Council has conducted a comparative test on 12 models of plug-in (5) and desktop (7) chargers to evaluate their performance, including their speed of charging.
Among the 12 models, nine chargers carried the claim that they could do the job quickly. But even among these chargers, they performed with variations in charging time.
According to the test, they varied from a fast speed of only 0.8 hours to 6.7 hours in charging time for rechargeable batteries of the AA and AAA types.
This is in sharp contrast to the three standard speed basic models included in the test, which required as many as 16 hours for recharging batteries.
Consumers are advised to also pay heed to the charging cut-off system designed for the charger, i.e. -dV or timer controlled. The former can detect whether a battery is fully charged by sensing its voltage drop, while the latter stops after a fixed period of time.
The -dV design is generally preferred as it can adapt to different capacities of the rechargeable batteries. The time-controlled model only works well on fully discharged batteries with capacities matching the charger specification.
In general, the price of fast speed charger with more advanced charging cut-off system, such as -dV, is higher than that of the standard speed basic model with only timer control.
In the test, the models were rated on a 5-point scale based on the criteria of performance, ease of use, flexibility and charging system intelligence. None achieved the full score of 5 points; five models scored 4.5 points, two models 4 points, two models 3.5 points and three models 3 points.
Update on digital cameras plus advice on digital print service
More update information on digital cameras is available in this September issue of CHOICE - as new models are brought out continuously in the market.
In the latest update are the test results on 19 models including one digital SLR and 18 digital compact cameras, with output resolution ranging from 3.1 to 6.3 million pixels (most are around 3.1 million pixels).
The models were compared for: picture quality, movie quality, viewfinder/monitor quality, flash performance, battery performance, versatility and ease of use.
Most samples were found to produce at least satisfactory overall picture quality and flash performance. Versatility and ease of use, however, varied significantly.
Included in the test report is a special supplement offering advice to consumers on the use of digital print service from photo-finishing shops.
Importantly, consumers are reminded to always backup their photos of great value to them. Also, hand in image copy in low cost media such as CD-ROM instead of in expensive memory card.
Chairing the press conference today (September 15) on the publication of CHOICE issue number 323 is Prof. CHING Pak-chung, Vice-Chairman of Publicity and Community Relations Committee of the Consumer Council.