How not to lose weight: CBC's Marketplace consumer cheat sheet

If you haven't had a chance to catch up on consumer news this week, here are some stories you may have missed.

Also: Push-button booze, zero-waste groceries and how to complain about your phone

CBC News Posted: Feb 05, 2017 9:00 AM EST | Last Updated: February 5, 2017

A Marketplace investigation discovered more than 60 documented cases worldwide of liver failure associated with weight-loss supplements containing green tea extract. (CBC)

If you haven't had a chance to catch up on consumer news this week, here are some stories you may have missed.

Who you gonna call?

When the CRTC invited Canadians to comment on wireless issues, many griped about unlocking fees. (Dann Verner)

Got an issue with your cellphone company? Yeah, you're not the only one.

But if you're not getting anywhere with customer service, there's an independent consumer body specifically for you: the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services.

Even better: the group will soon take on complaints about your TV service.

Paper or plastic? How about neither?

The owner of the Green grocery store only buys one brand of each item, and it must be made in Canada. (Wayne Stadler)

"I woke up at 4 a.m. and I thought, what if you could go to a grocery store and there was no plastic?"

Forget, for the moment, all the food we throw away; a B.C. store is taking on food packaging waste.

The store sells the food, but you bring your own bags, jars, baskets, and whatever else you want to use to haul it all home.

Heads up, parents

Young children exposed to the highly concentrated detergent in pods risk serious injury, including chemical burns to the eye. (CBC)

We know that laundry pods aren't candy or squeeze toys. Little kids? They don't always know that. The number of wee ones in the U.S. who have ended up with chemical burns linked to the pods has gone way up.

So keep curious children away from laundry pods, or stick to scooping out soap the old-fashioned way. Here's what you need to know.

Push-button booze

Single-cup coffee, make your own soda: It looks like booze may be the next frontier of DIY beverage machines. A couple of companies are working on at-home alcohol dispensers.

Just don't mix up the machines when you're making your morning cup of joe to go.

Unhealthy media diet

Kids are bombarded by ads for junk food online and in video games, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation wants it to stop. Most of the offending ads are for stuff that's high in sugar, salt or fat.

The group points to Quebec, where a 1980 ban on ads to kids under 13 was associated with fewer people buying fast food. More food for thought.