From our president: Cause and effect

Everyone likes a compliment, and we loved a recent one praising Consumers Union's "street cred" and its "popular and trusted Consumer Reports magazine and untarnished image" (Supermarket News blog) following our report on antibiotics in meat. Here are a few more ways we helped make things better for consumers in 2012:

Arsenic: A Consumer Reports investigation published this fall found troubling levels of arsenic in many of the 60-plus rice products we tested. No federal limit exists for arsenic in most foods; we believe one should be set for rice. The Food and Drug Administration acknowledged concern and said it will do a risk assessment when its own testing is completed.

Days after our report was made public, three members of Congress introduced a bill to limit the amount of arsenic permitted in rice and rice-based products, crediting Consumer Reports for prompting the move.

Health insurance: The 170 million people who buy private health insurance will find it easier to compare and understand their options, thanks in part to significant input from Consumers Union's experts during the development of new disclosure forms.

The "Summary of Benefits and Coverage" will, for the first time, lay out the details of all private health insurance plans in a standard format, much like a nutrition label does on food. Insurance companies will be required to present specifics to their customers in a clear, readable way.

Strollers: Our tests of the Bumbleride Indie and Indie Twin strollers showed that an adjustable bar left in the wrong position could pose a risk of strangulation for an unharnessed child if he or she slipped under it. The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a "consumer alert" and announced a recall based on a different problem: The front wheel could break and tip the stroller over.

The manufacturer maintained that when used correctly, the multi-use bar was safe, but it removed the bars from the strollers because "we can understand there could be confusion" about their safe use. Newer versions of the stroller don't come with that bar.