Washington state this week banned trendy and controversial energy drinks that contain alcohol, a week after Michigan took similar action.

The decision by the Washington State Liquor Control Board comes after nine Central Washington University students were hospitalized after drinking Four Loko, one of the most popular types of those beverages, last month. Law enforcement officers reported the students had blood alcohol levels ranging from 0.12% to 0.35%, more than four times the legal limit. A blood alcohol content of 0.3% is considered potentially lethal.

If you're having a problem with a business, Consumer Ally can help. Write us at HelpMe@WalletPop.com.

Q. I'm trying to get some consumer information and thought you might be able to help me. Long story short: I have a personal bankruptcy that was discharged on Jan. 8, 2001. I know it has been on my credit record all this time and should, as I understand, drop off the credit records after 10 years ... which would be January 8, 2011. My question is this: Should I send a certified letter with a copy of the discharge to all three reporting agencies explaining what I've just told you and not just rely on their "alertness" to see that it drops off?
Ron Chappell

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said its tests confirmed the presence of the dangerous bacteria Listeria at a San Antonio produce plant shut down last month after it was linked to at least four deaths in Texas.

The agency recently released its findings as part of an investigation into the SanGar Fresh Cut Produce plant closed Oct. 20 by the Texas Department of State Health Services. Lab tests showed chopped celery was contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, which can cause a severe and sometimes fatal illness. Those tests were part of a probe into 10 cases of Listeria infection, seven of which have now been linked to the celery.

Mauri Gorgonzola cheese sold in Costco stores in Colorado is being recalled because a sample showed it was contaminated with E. coli, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA said the E. coli strain differs from the one that sickened 25 people in a five-state outbreak. It was during the probe into that outbreak that Colorado officials discovered the contaminated Gorgonzola. Authorities are still investigating how it became contaminated and if any consumers fell ill.

Don't believe a cell phone text message saying there's a problem with your bank account, said the Delaware Attorney General's office in a consumer alert.

The state's Consumer Protection Unit issued the alert recently on what it calls a new scam -- actually a new twist on the more common e-mail "phishing" scam. Here's how it works: A text message, also called an SMS (for short message service), arrives on your cell phone with the news there's a problem with a bank account. The text message also includes a toll-free number to call.

The message looks legitimate, but the phone number will connect you with a scammer who tries to get your personal information. The scam is known as "SMiShing."

The agency recommended consumers contact the customer service number of the company that sent the message to verify if it's legitimate, instead of trusting that the number is real. The Consumer Protection Unit urged Delaware residents to file a complaint with the state if they fall for the scam.

SMiShing is common enough that it made Consumer Ally's Top 10 scams to watch out for in 2010.

The Product: Big Top Cupcake bakeware
The Price: Online $19.95, plus $6.95 shipping and handling
The Claims: Bakes giant cupcake 25 times bigger than a normal cupcake
Buy-O-Meter Rating: 4 out of 5

Deep-fried turkey on Thanksgiving may be tasty, but it's not worth burning down the house, Underwriters Laboratories warns.

The consumer product safety group has refused to endorse any turkey fryers this holiday season -- which means consumers won't see the familiar UL tag on the cooking gadgets used to cook an untold percentage of the estimated 45 million turkeys on U.S. tables this Thanksgiving.

Manufacturers have made improvements to fryer designs, including non-heat conducting handles and sturdier stands, UL concedes. But the 116-year-old, Illinois-based non-profit said its tests showed the fryers are still dangerous.

If the thought of getting another cable-knit sweater or basket of bath products this Christmas makes you roll your eyes, know that Amazon.com is in your corner. The online retailer has just patented a technology for converting unwanted gifts into things consumers actually want without letting the giver know.

The system works by allowing people to set up gift conversion rules to determine the way gifts purchased online for them might be changed. For example, a rule could say "No clocks," or "Convert all clocks to red wine." "Convert all gifts from Aunt Mildred" could work if a giver traditionally has different tastes, in which case presents come as gift certificates. "Not another XYZ comic strip calendar" could intercept specific unwanted items and convert them to more wanted gifts.

Rules can also be set up at specific times of the year, such as birthdays and holidays, and for specific dollar values. For example, a user can ask that a gift be converted if valued at more than $500 and in the product category of "clothes."

The Federal Trade Commission wants to update the rules on how debts from the deceased are collected, after some states allowed other people besides spouses to pay creditors.

The amended policy statement is designed to clarify circumstances under which the FTC will take action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the FTC Act against companies trying to collect debts from deceased consumers.

The proposed policy statement explains how the FTC will enforce federal law regarding:

• Whom debt collectors are allowed to contact to discuss a decedent's debt.
• How collectors can contact and identify the right party to discuss a decedent's debt.
• How collectors should avoid giving relatives the misleading impression they are personally obligated to pay the debt from their own assets, rather than from the decedent's estate.

Illinois' attorney general is suing a company for allegedly operating debt relief and mortgage rescue scams that targeted the Chicago area's sizable Polish community - allegedly bilking more than a dozen customers out of $300,000.

Attorney General Lisa Madigan said the Omega Business Center company solicited customers through print and radio ads in the Polish community. They promised to help reduce mortgages and lower credit card debt. But they allegedly charged upfront fees for the services -- services that never happened.

If you're an environmentally conscious shopper -- as more and more people say they are -- now you have a way to sort out the products you'd want to buy and the ones that don't fit the bill.

Consumer Ally is working with GoodGuide.com, whose science team evaluates a wide array of products and ranks them according to how environmentally friendly the product is, how it affects consumers' health, how they treat their employees and the company's commitment to the community. We've already introduced you to SiteJabber.com, which gives consumers a place to check out what fellow consumers have to say about a wide range of web sites.

Two companies have recalled horse toys after two young children got the reins caught around their necks, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said.

The children were freed by their parents and neither child was hurt. The CPSC said young children are in danger of strangulation from the reins on Big Ideas Marketing's Horse-on-a-Stick toy as well as three different style horses from Rocking Horse Depot. Consumers should immediately remove or cut the reins on all the recalled toys.

A long-running scam by insiders has defrauded a Holocaust survivor's fund out of tens of millions of dollars.

Six employees of the nonprofit group The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, along with 11 other conspirators, have been charged in a decade-long scheme to defraud the organization and legitimate Holocaust victims out of more than $42 million, the FBI announced.

Victims of this scheme were "those who had already suffered at the hands of Nazi persecution only to have their experiences exploited again -- this brazen miscarriage of the compensation program is, in its own way, a kind of crime against humanity," the FBI's New York Assistant Director in Charge, Janice Fedarcyk, said in a statement.

A payment processor that illegally debited more than $200 million in charges from consumers' bank accounts in a massive nationwide scam has been fined $3.6 million, says the Federal Trade Commission.

According to a December 2007 complaint filed by the FTC and seven states, Your Money Access, LLC and its subsidiary, YMA Company, LLC, processed unauthorized debits on behalf of deceptive telemarketers and Internet-based schemes in violation of the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule and state consumer protection laws. The states joining the FTC's complaint were Illinois, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, and Vermont.

Defendants included Your Money Access, LLC d/b/a Netchex Corp., Universal Payment Solutions, Check Recovery Systems, Nterglobal Payment Solutions, Subscription Services, Ltd.; YMA Company, LLC, Derrelle Janey, and Tarzenea Dixon.