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Show Hard to believe! By DENNIS HINKAMP Consumer Information Writer Utah State University These are a few consumer odds and ends you might have missed. No more guinsu knives: hard to believe, but true, the Ginsu Products Pro-ducts Inc. which sold the "amazing slice-through-anything" Ginsu knife, has declared bankruptcy. Close observers of the Ginsu com mercials will recall that the company com-pany offered a 50 year guarantee. The knives may last longer than the company, but the guarantee is void. The knives that could cut through tin cans, shoe leather and tomatoes, couldn't quite cut the mustard. Doc in a box: It is true that few doctors make house calls these days, but you can head for your nearest pharmacy and bring home an armload of home test kits. Currently Cur-rently available are tests for pre- gnancy, unnary tract infection, urinalysis, uri-nalysis, colorectal cancer, blood alcohol levels, blood pressure and throat culture kits. Stressing a point: The maker of "Stresstabs" has agreed to stop implying in its advertising that the vitamins could reduce the effects of everyday psychological and physical stress. Experts have always al-ways contended that high levels of water soluble vitamins such as C and B are needed only by people recovering from severe physical, stress such as burns, surgery, prolonged pro-longed illness or fad dieting. Coming to a garage sale near you: Despite the warnings of most astronomy experts, many people rushed out and bought high-priced telescopes in hopes of a better view of Halley's comet. Not only did Halley's comet turn out to be not so spectacular, but it could have been viewed better with relatively inexpensive binoculars. Many of the "Halley's comet specials" telescopes should start showing up at garage sales this summer. You can't win: Caffeine may "make you nervous." as one of the advertisments says, but does the threat of cancer calm your nerves? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been asked to ban methylene chloride, a chemical used to decaffinate some brands of coffee. Studies have linked the chemical to lung and liver cancer in mice. The FDA is still investigating the claims. |