Canned Dog Food, Musical Record Disposal, Water Purification and Fluoride Removal, Washing Airlines Pillows and Blankets, Closing Unused Bank Accounts: 3/11/05

Q: What's the shelf life for canned dog food?

A: We went to Iams and Petsmart to get your answer. Both say canned dog food generally has a shelf life of 24 months from the date of manufacture. Many dog food manufacturers will put an expiration or "best used by" date on their cans.

Iams says once opened, dog food should be placed in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for no more than 3 days. And if there's no expiration date on the can, you can call the manufacturer and tell them the number codes on the can and find out when it was manufactured.

Q: I have a lot of record albums. What is the environmentally friendly way to dispose of vinyl albums?

A: We went to the Environmental Protection Agency to get your answer. Unfortunately it did not have any formal recommendations on recycling vinyl LPs. But it did suggest an organization called freecycle.org which connects people with donateable items to people who may want them. The EPA says you should also contact your local trash collector to see what it's policy is for your vinyl records.

Q: Do home water purification systems remove fluoride from water?

A: We went to Brita and Pur to get your answer. Both manufacture home water purification systems. Brita says both its pitcher and faucet mounted systems leave 99-percent of fluoride in the water and remove only 1-percent.

Pur says its system also leaves the fluoride in your drinking water. But the American Dental Association warns that some home purification systems do remove fluoride from water, thus reducing the tooth decay preventative effects of fluoridated water.

Q: What are the 8 grades of beef, and where can he buy prime beef?

A: We went to the Agricultural Marketing Service for your answer. It says the beef grades are prime, choice, select, and standard, and 4 lesser grades of commercial, utility, cutter and canner.

As for where to purchase prime meat, Whole Foods Markets sell prime beef, Giant does not carry prime but will order it for you, Safeway does not classify its meats, it's all called Rancher's Reserve, and Shoppers Food Warehouse does not sell prime.

Q: How often do airlines wash the pillows and blankets they hand out on flights?

A: Each airline has its own policy so we contacted several.

American has removed pillows from domestic flights, but says it replaces everything that has been used during foreign flights. Delta replaces pillows and blankets daily. Northwest has removed pillows from domestic flights but says it changes blankets and pillow cases on international flights after every flight segment. Southwest replaces pillows and blankets each night. Each night United replaces any pillows or blankets that are soiled or dirty.

Q: Can a bank can close accounts for no activity without notifying the account owner?

A: We went to the American Bankers Association with your question. It says if your account is dormant for an extended period of time, about 5 years, the bank considers the account abandoned. The money is handed over to the State as unclaimed property. However the bank will try to alert the account holder to make them aware of the situation.