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It seems like there have been a lot of food poisoning outbreaks from fresh produce. Is it safer to buy frozen vegetables?

THE OVERALL RISK of getting sick from properly handled produce—fresh or frozen—is low, says Sana Mujahid, PhD, manager of food safety research and testing at CR. But both types have been involved in outbreaks of illness due to salmonella, listeria, and other bacteria in recent years. Produce can be contaminated at the farm during harvesting, or while being packaged at a processing plant. And even though most frozen vegetables undergo an additional process of being blanched in hot water or steamed before freezing, they may still contain bacteria. Those at highest risk for food poisoning—young children, the elderly, and people who are immunocompromised—may want to cook their veggies, which kills bacteria. Staying informed can minimize your risk, too. Sign up for CR’s Food Safety Alert at CR.org/ foodalert, which will send you text messages about multistate food outbreaks or recalls.

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... and watch for the answers. I’ve heard that at-home COVID-19 tests aren’t accurate. True?

“AT-HOME ANTIGEN TESTS are quite accurate, especially if you have symptoms when you take them,” says Nathaniel Hafer, PhD, an assistant professor in molecular medicine program at the UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, Mass. Though di erent brands of rapid antigen tests on the market have di erent levels of accuracy and can vary in real-world use, several are above 90 percent accurate when used by a symptomatic person, according to test manufacturer data compiled by the Medical Letter, a publication for physicians. The tests, however, are more likely to return a false negative if you’re infected with COVID-19 but don’t yet have symptoms. That’s because the test might not detect the smaller amount of the virus in your body, typical of an early or waning COVID-19 infection.

When testing at home, keep your area’s infection rates in mind, too: When COVID-19 infection rates are very low in your area, a positive result on an antigen test is more likely to be a false positive, according to a 2021 research review. When COVID-19 is running rampant in your area, the risk is greater that a negative result on an antigen test could be wrong. So if your antigen test is negative but you think you’ve been exposed or you aren’t feeling well, it’s best to avoid being around others, and consider con rming that negative result with a PCR test—which is highly accurate and usually takes one to two days for a result.

Can I unfriend someone on Facebook without them knowing?

WHEN YOU UNFRIEND a person, they won’t be noti ed, but you’ll disappear from their friends list and they won’t be able to see your private posts. If you’ve been out of touch with that person, they might not notice. But they’ll still be able to look up your pro le (just like any other nonfriend Facebook user) and send you a message or friend request, depending on your privacy settings. If you no longer want a friend to be able to see your pro le or contact you at all, you can block them. That person won’t get an alert, but they’ll be able to gure it out pretty easily, says CR tech reporter Yael Grauer, because they won’t be able to nd your pro le or message you. (You won’t be able to see the pro le you’ve blocked.) Keep in mind that if you want to unblock that person, you won’t automatically be friends again; you’ll need to send a new friend request.

If you’re just tired of seeing a friend’s posts, you may prefer to unfollow them instead of unfriending or blocking them. Unfollowing a friend prevents that person’s posts from appearing in your feed, but the person won’t know that they’ve been unfollowed. You’ll still be friends on Facebook, so you can still view their pro le and posts when you wish, and they can still view yours. To unfollow, click the three dots in the top right corner of the person’s post in your newsfeed and select “Unfollow.”