Substandard sunglasses may actually expose users to the hazard of cataract
The Consumer Council has sounded anote of caution on wearing sunglasses of substandard manufacture.
This follows a Council's test on 110 samples of sunglasses sourced from a diverse range of retail outlets comprising optical shops, department stores and hawker stalls.
The Council warns that sunglasses that do not effectively screen out harmful ultra-violet rays, give their users a false sense of security. Users in fact become even more vulnerable to excessive UV exposure.
This is because the wearers of such inferior lenses would fail to automatically adjust (by constriction) the pupil of their eyes to reduce UV transmission as is the case when one is without a pair of sunglasses in conditions of strong sunlight.
According to the test, 8 of the samples - 6 adults and 2 children models - were found to be inadequate havin gfailed to conform to the ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standard which stipulates that the mean transmittance of UVB in high and prolonged exposure condition should not be greater than 1%.
Lifelong exposure to UV is widely accepted to be associated with the formation of certain types of cataract, a disease which is due to a loss of transparency of the lens of the eye and the leading cause of blindness.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), some 12 to 15 million people in the world are blind from cataract. WHO has estimated that up to 20% of cataracts, or 3 million people,per year could be due to UV exposure.
In addition, 14 samples - 13 adults and1 child models - were found to fail the ANSI requirement in the traffic signal recognition test. Motorists are advised of this finding as when using these sunglasses to view the traffic signal, the colours of the signal - red, amber and green - may be distorted.
Those from optical shops and department stores were free of such defects in this test. All models in question were sourced from hawker outlets (but not all samples sourced from hawkers were of an inferior quality). Hawkers are urged to ascertain quality of the product to be in order from their suppliers.
Further, do not be misled by the colour of the lens. A dark lens is no more effective than a light one in protecting the eyes from UV transmission. The key factor is whether the lens is designed to filter off the harmful UV.
Big price variances in active ingredient of health supplement Yunzhi
Substantial variances in the concentrations of polysaccharides were detected in the products of the health supplement Yunzhi, according to a Consumer Council test.
The concentrations of polysaccharides,an active ingredient of Yunzhi, among the 9 samples were found to range from5.4% to 21.4% by weight - a fourfold difference between the lowest and the highest concentrations!
3 of the samples were found to overclaim their polysaccharides content by 16.6% to 26.56%.
On the basis of this finding, the unit cost of this active ingredient or the cost per gram of polysaccharides was computed, as well as other related costs, and the variances as revealed in the computations are astonishing.
In relation to their price, the cost per gram of polysaccharides in these Yunzhi products varied from the lowest of $20to the highest of $793, a difference of 40 times!
Also if consumers follow strictly the highest daily intake recommended by the manufacturers, the cost of consumption of Yunzhi could range from $6 to as much as $197 per day, a difference of 33times!
The test shows that the price of the product is quite unrelated to its content of polysaccharides. The more highly priced products do not necessarily contain more polysaccharides.
In fact, the lowest priced sample (at $4per gram) was found to contain 21.0% by weight of polysaccharides which was the second highest concentration among the samples. And the highest priced product(at $73 per gram) contained the second lowest concentration of polysaccharidesat 9.2% by weight.
Manufacturers of both the most and least expensive Yunzhi products claimed that their products, besides polysaccharides,contain other ingredients of health and nutritional value.
Some samples labelled the active ingredient in terms of "polysaccharide peptide (PSP)" content.However, accepted method to date can only determine "total polysaccharide" content, which includes PSP as its components.
All samples were free from contaminants of heavy metals and pesticides, bacteria, western medicines adulteration and carcinogenic dyes.
The Consumer Council has notified the Department of Health of the test findings and in consequence, warning letters have been issued to agents of 3 products which carried medicinal claims such as curing hepatitis B and chronic bronchitis, claims that may contravene the Undesirable Medical Advertisements Ordinance.
Comprehensive array of innovative products to suit individual needs as banks usher in interest rate deregulation
A Consumer Council survey has unveiled a comprehensive array of innovative products which have emerged in the retail banking market in the wake of interest rate deregulation earlier this month.
The survey compares a total of 26 banks for their latest deposit interest rates, and fees and charges.
It clearly shows that the banking sector is quick to respond to the competitive forces of deregulation, offering a markedly widening field of choice of products to suit the varying needs of individual depositors and consumers.
Significantly, instead of a single interest rate set for all to adopt prior to deregulation, banks now offer a standard savings rate of 1.75% to 2.25%.
Or depending on the size of your deposit and the relationship you have established with a bank, a variety of offers of bonus interest spread, or even HIBOR (Hong Kong Interbank Offer Rate) based interest rates to as high as 3.495%.
Further, some banks have effectively begun to pay interest to current accounts - through combined savings and current accounts.
While bigger deposits appear to attract higher interest rates, the Council's survey shows that 8 out of 26 banks have not joined the recent bandwagon to introduce minimum balance requirement nor interest rate deduction for the small depositors. In fact they offer interest rates of between 2% and 2.25% for balances below $5,000, as compared to some banks which not only pay no (0%) interest but levy a service fee for low balance accounts.
As even a slight change in the interest rate could mean a substantial difference to the big depositors, they are advised to shop around. In the case of a $500,001 deposit, for instance, the choice of interest rates could range from a minimum of 1.75% to a maximum of 3.345% at the time of the survey, a difference of 1.595% or nearly $8,000 a year.
Consumers are advised when considering those competitive choices, to pay attention to not just deposit interest rates but equally important are such factors as minimum balance requirement, annual fee, or other related fees and charges.
Second, consumers will do well to ask for more details before accepting any special offer or bonus rate offer. For instance, some offers may be invalidated after a certain length of time. Or if the offer is conditional upon your opening - and using regularly - a securities trading account with the bank.
Third, depositors may be encouraged to invest in products of higher yields, e.g. securities, funds and insurance, etc.,in order to obtain a more attractive interest rate for their bank deposits.Consumers must be clearly informed that these are investment vehicles different from bank deposits in that they inherently pose a certain level of risk, and affect liquidity of capital in medium-long term.
In response to some comments that deregulation had resulted in lower interest rates, the Council is of the view that movements in interest rates are to a large degree affected by global economic factors. What is important is that banks in Hong Kong are free, within the context of those factors, to provide innovative and competitive product choices to Hong Kong consumers.
The Council considers that small depositors should have a choice, and will maintain an interest in how competition develops in the new deregulated environment.
Comprehensive, up-to-date information on a wide diversity of bank products is available in the latest (July) issue of CHOICE.
Beware of stringent provisions and qualifying conditions in MPF Guaranteed Funds
Do Guaranteed Funds in MPF schemes really offer the protection you want?
A Consumer Council survey has raised concerns over the many stringent provisions and qualifying conditions attached to the Guaranteed Funds (GF) in the MPF market.
Of particular concern to consumers is the unilateral power of variation of the GF guarantor to change or even cancel the guarantee.
And, further, the discretionary power toretain part or all of the investment earnings of the GF.
The survey covered 38 GFs in 34 MPF schemes and showed different GFs to impose different provisions and conditions that may affect the guarantee.
In the event of cancellation or modification of guarantee, the survey shows that the guarantor may change the guaranteed rate of return on investment by giving advance notice of 1 to 6months, or even cancel the guarantee in the light of unfavourable market conditions.
For instance, there are conditions which stipulate that in the event the Prime Rate remains below 7% for 2 months consecutively, the guarantor may unilaterally alter the guaranteed rate by giving 1-month notice.
In view of the present low interest rate, it is possible that some GF may change the guaranteed rate of return.
The survey shows also that the guarantor has the discretionary power to retain the investment earnings over and above the guaranteed amount. The retained investment earnings may be either taken as profit for the guarantor or used to offset any under-performance of the fund at other times.
Investors, therefore, are urged to read the fine print to be clearly aware of the provisions on the power of some guarantors, and to also pay attention to what qualifying conditions they need to meet to secure the guarantee:
Holding period - During this period(varying from 36 to 60 months), if you switch out of your GF or if your employer switches to another scheme, the guarantee will become void.
Qualifying events - The investment guarantee is only applicable to withdrawal of accrued benefits under specific circumstances such as reaching age 65, early retirement, death, total incapacity, etc.
Consumers should also give due consideration to the following:
- Guaranteed Fund can be a conservative or a low investment risk fund. Its rate of return on investment is usually low and in the long run, it may not be able to beat inflation.
- In addition to the normal fees and charges, most GFs carry a high guarantee or reserve charge of up to 2%, to be deducted from your MPF assets.
- The guarantee period may be limited. Some GFs have a fixed guarantee period and when the guaranteed period expires, the fund automatically becomes a non-guaranteed fund.
- Investors should ascertain before hand what kind of guarantee is in the GF: whether it guarantees the total amount of your MPF contributions (the Capital Guarantee), or it guarantees a minimum rate of return on your investment (Return Guarantee); and whether the guarantee is on a net basis (i.e. after deduction of administrative fees) or not(in which case investors may receive less than the guaranteed amount).
Textbook prices are ever on the rise while deflation continues unabated
The Consumer Council has called for a joint concerted effort between the educational authorities and the publishers to keep down the costs of school textbooks.
The Council strongly believes that the time has come for decisive action to be taken to stop the continuous spiralling increase of textbook prices.
The Consumer Council's annual textbook price survey this year (2001) has again revealed increases higher than the previous year (2000) - an average of 5.0% and 4.4% for the primary and the secondary school textbooks respectively.
Last year's increases were 4.0% and 3.4%for the primary and the secondary respectively.
With the exception of the Nominal Wage Index in the printing, publishing and allied industries which recorded an increase of 7.2% in March of 2001, the Council does not know the extent of other costs but clearly they have an effect on rising textbook prices given the decline in other known factors: The Consumer Price Index - The average change in the CPI for the period June 2000 to May 2001 was down by 2.5%.
The printing cost - Printing companies reported their printing cost was about the same as last year, but some indicated the cost had actually dropped by 5 to 10%.
The paper cost - Compared with last year, the change was in the range of 0% to minus 15%.
Ever since the Consumer Council initiated annual textbook price survey over 20 years ago, the findings have been consistently identical - prices on average have not ceased to rise.
This year, textbook publishers have attributed the cause for rising prices to the ever changing needs of educational and curriculum reforms. The Education Department, on the other hand, has called on the trade for restraint in textbook pricing by making adjustments to control production costs.
In the interest of consumers, the Consumer Council, therefore, hopes that close co-operation between the educational authorities and the publishers in the planning and development of curriculums and textbooks may keep down the costs of textbook production.
The Council further recommends the following:
- Publishers should sympathetically consider the burden of students and parents when setting textbook prices, for instance, by separating the cost of teaching aids from textbooks.
- In textbook selection, teachers should duly consider the textbook price and the usage rate.
- Schools and social service organizations should actively undertake to organise more sales of secondhand textbooks.