hNew Heinz packet allows for dunking or squeezing

hNew Heinz packet allows for dunking or squeezing

For decades, there was only one way to use the humble ketchup packet, and it was messy. Now, fast-food lovers have a choice: the traditional squeeze play — or the option to dunk.

You want fries with that, in the minivan? No problem.

The new ketchup pack, unveiled Thursday by H.J. Heinz Co., is shaped like a shallow cup. The top can be peeled back for dipping, or the end can be torn off for squeezing. It holds three times as much ketchup as a traditional packet.

Customers at a McDonald’s in Covington, Ky., said they would welcome a redesign.

“You use up a lot of ketchup now with the packets, I always get extra ones,” said Skyler McDermott, 29. “Maybe now you won’t have to use your teeth to open them.”

Heinz struggled for years to develop a container that lets diners dip or squeeze and to produce it at a cost acceptable to its restaurant customers.

Stores pull necklaces containing cadmium

LOS ANGELES — The teen- fashion chain Aeropostale and outlet stores of upscale Saks Fifth Avenue have pulled from shelves necklaces that an environmental group’s tests showed have high levels of the toxic-metal cadmium.

Aeropostale Inc. went one step further, saying Thursday that from now on, no amount of cadmium will be acceptable in its jewelry — and that suppliers will have to prove products are clean with independent lab testing.

The announcements are the latest fallout from an Associated Press investigation, which last month reported some children’s jewelry is contaminated with cadmium, a known carcinogen that also can harm bones and kidneys.

In response to that reporting, the California-based Center for Environmental Health tested adult jewelry bought at stores including Aeropostale and Saks’ Off 5th outlets, and this week threatened to sue the retailers after lab results showed between 25 percent and 75 percent of the items’ total weight was cadmium.

NATO secretary-general: No plan to bribe Taliban

ISTANBUL — NATO does not intend to bribe Taliban guerrillas to defect to the Afghan government side as a way to end the war, alliance Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday, dismissing concerns over the latest plan to end the country’s growing insurgency.

His comments came amid a renewed push to make peace with moderate Taliban insurgents and draw them into the political process. The North Atlantic alliance has strongly backed an Afghan plan to bring the insurgents over to the government’s side.

On Wednesday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited Saudi Arabia, hoping the kingdom would help persuade Taliban militants to take part in a negotiated settlement to the war. Saudi Arabia has a unique relationship with the Taliban since it was one of the few countries to recognize its regime in Afghanistan before it was ousted in 2001.

5.9-magnitude quake hits off Northern Calif. coast

SAN FRANCISCO — Residents of Northern California’s Humboldt County were rocked by a magnitude-5.9 earthquake Thursday, but officials said there were no immediate reports of major injury or damage from the second large temblor to hit the area within a month.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported the quake struck at 12:20 p.m. about 35 miles northwest of the community of Petrolia and nearly 50 miles west of Eureka. The shaking was felt within a 150-mile radius, as far north as southern Oregon and as far south as Sonoma County, according to the USGS Web site.

Local officials and residents reported feeling a rolling sensation that caused items to fall from walls and shelves. Many said the movement didn’t feel nearly as severe as the magnitude-6.5 quake that struck the same region Jan. 9 and caused more than $40 million in damage and one serious injury — an elderly woman who fell and broke her hip.

Associated Press