• ReachEverywhere announced that its Shopper iPhone application has added new functionality - the ability to access information from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about products pre-selected by the user. According to the statement, “If a shopper puts an item on their list that associated with a recall, she will automatically see the warning information for that product. ReachEverywhere is using proprietary keyword matching technology to automatically show relevant product recalls for the shopping list.”

• The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Kroger Personal Finance is out with a new product - health insurance for pets. This new insurance offers coverage for “emergencies and illnesses for dogs and cats. At $9.95 a month per pet, the insurance is priced much lower than the grocer's existing well-care offers - full coverage including annual visits and services at $29.95 a month for dogs and $24.95 for cats.”

The story notes that Kroger is one of only 11 US companies offering such insurance, despite the fact that there are 70 million pet owners in the US.