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Is your New Year’s resolution to reduce your sodium intake? You’ll want to read this first.
You probably wouldn’t load multiple packets of salt into one dish, but that’s the equivalent of how much sodium could be in some of your favourite healthy-sounding restaurant meals.
That’s because sodium can sneak into all kinds of foods long before you pick up the salt shaker — like in marinades and seasonings, for example.
Marketplace looked at healthy-sounding meals from popular sit-down restaurants, and the amount of sodium content even surprised some dietary experts.
Take the chicken fajitas from Kelseys Original Roadhouse, for example. Lots of vegetables and grilled chicken may look healthy, but the dish contains nearly double the daily recommended maximum sodium intake.
Health Canada recommends the average person consume 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day — and no more than 2,300 milligrams per day, or equivalent to just over one teaspoon of salt. Too much sodium in our diets can lead to high blood pressure, a major risk factor for developing stroke and heart disease.
Marketplace contacted Kelseys to ask more about the sodium content in the chicken fajitas, but the company didn’t respond.
Experts say if you’re watching your sodium intake, words like “marinade,” “smoked,” “pickled” or “seasoning” may want to be on your radar. Read more
To see more about how much sodium is in some of your favourite restaurant meals, check out the episode on CBC Gem.
What to do if your baggage was lost in the chaos of holiday travel
The struggle is real for thousands of Canadian airline passengers who are still waiting on their luggage that went missing during the holiday travel chaos. While baggage is slowly making its way to some travellers, others are hoping for compensation.
It’s a familiar story to the thousands of passengers who tried to fly into, out of and around Canada over the holidays: they finally made it to their destination only to find their luggage did not.
Here are a few tips if it happened to you.
First, file a delayed baggage report with your airline as soon as you can, in writing. Include photos, descriptions of your luggage, your luggage tag and flight information, if you can.
Claims must be submitted within 21 days for delayed baggage and within seven days for damaged luggage. Baggage is considered lost if it has been delayed for 21 days or if the airline admits sooner to losing the luggage.
If you had to purchase new stuff, airlines can compensate passengers for basics, like a bathing suit for a beach vacation, toiletries or a stroller rental. But it’s up to the airlines to determine what’s “reasonable,” so maybe don’t splurge on that $250 jacket. Make sure to keep all your receipts, too. Read more
Here’s where we’re at with the Rogers-Shaw merger battle
The federal Competition Tribunal decided to clear the way for Rogers’ $26-billion takeover of Shaw Communications with one caveat: Shaw must sell its wireless division — Freedom Mobile — to Quebec-based Videotron.
But Canada’s Competition Bureau is now asking the Federal Court of Appeal to set aside the decision, saying the tribunal made a mistake in how it assessed the deal and alleging it made fundamental errors of law.
Now there’s a temporary suspension of the tribunal’s decision. So no merger yet.
The Competition Bureau had argued that the merger of Rogers and Shaw would reduce competition in Canada, triggering higher prices and leading to worsening service. The tribunal said the plan to sell Shaw’s Freedom Mobile would avoid that.
There’s no date set yet for the next hearing, but we’ll keep our eyes on it. Read more
Next Friday, we investigate the high cost of cellphone plans, and ask why Canada still pays some of the highest prices in the world. You can watch us Fridays at 8 p.m., 8:30 in Newfoundland, on CBC TV or CBC Gem.
A rental car company tried to charge this man $2,778 for damage he says he didn’t cause
When Ramy Osman rented a minivan from the Enterprise car rental company last August, he never dreamed it would end up costing him $2,778.
He says when he rented the van from a kiosk at the airport, no one inspected it with him, or gave him a written statement of any previous damage.
When Osman returned the van about a week later, he says, an employee there noticed a small tear in the front bumper below a headlight.
Even though Osman did a small inspection of the van before driving it, he said he couldn’t say whether he caused the tear or not, so he agreed to pay for the repair, thinking it would only cost a few hundred dollars.
The $2,778 bill was well over that. It included charges for a new radiator, an air conditioning condenser, an air deflector shield and an air pro scan.
The company also tacked on a $75 administration fee, a $441.29 loss-of-use fee and $205.61 for diminishing the value of the vehicle.
After CBC News reached out to Enterprise Canada, the company said it was dropping the charges.
“Maintaining a customer’s long-term loyalty is a top priority, so when a customer contacts us with concerns, we will do everything we can to properly investigate and resolve the claim as quickly as possible,” said a spokesperson.
Osman says he fought the charges because none of the interior damage was consistent with being associated with the tear in the bumper.
He says he drove the van to a college north of Toronto and parked it for about a week, then drove it home.
“It could have been a rock. It could have been anything. It could have been me. It could not have been me. It could have been anybody.” Read more
What else is going on?
You can skip the doctor and have these 13 conditions treated at Ontario pharmacies instead
Pharmacists can now assess and prescribe medication for oral thrush, some skin issues, pink eye and cold sores, among other conditions.
If you thought 2022 was bad, wait until you see what 2023 has in store for the economy
Forecasters are predicting a recession, persistent inflation and rising unemployment. Ugh.
B.C. now requires a 3-day cooling-off period for homebuyers
It’s the first province to do so, and gives buyers more time to arrange financing or home inspections.
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