Robocallers must offer consumers an out

You have a new weapon against telemarketers. The Federal Trade Commission is now requiring prerecorded telemarketing calls, also known as robocalls, from businesses or charities to include ways to opt out of future calls.

You're already supposed to be protected from unsolicited commercial calls if you're on the national Do Not Call registry, but calls from charities and businesses with which you have a relationship are permitted.

Under the new rules, a prerecorded message has to give the consumer a way to cut off the business or charity call -- and ban future calls from the same source -- by pressing a number or saying a word. If the recorded call is left on an answering machine, the message must include a toll-free number the consumer can use to stop future calls.

The new rule applies only to residential numbers. You can still be bugged by commercial or charity calls at the office. Also, robocalls for political purposes are still permitted to all land-line phones and aren't restricted by the new rules.

Consumers can report telemarketers that violate the new rules at the https:// www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ "> www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ ( www.ftc ) or by calling (877) 382-4357.

-- David Colker

TOYS

Group reports on chemical levels

Watch out for toxic toys: The Michigan-based Ecology Center tested more than 1,500 toys for lead, arsenic and other chemicals and found one-third of them contained medium or high levels of chemicals.

Researchers purchased the toys at chains such as Kmart, Target and Wal-Mart, as well as dollar stores and independent toy sellers. The results from the study were posted at www.healthytoys.org.

The Toy Industry Assn. was critical of the results, calling the findings "misleading to consumers at best."

-- Lori Kozlowski

FOOD

KFC returns to the grill

KFC plans to introduce a grilled chicken option nationwide next year to help lift lagging U.S. sales.

David C. Novak, chief executive of KFC parent Yum Brands Inc., said KFC was pinning much of its hopes for a U.S. turnaround on Kentucky Grilled Chicken. KFC introduced grilled products in the past but couldn't sustain an initial sales upturn because of operational or marketing factors, Novak said.