In a kind of weird labeling paradox, this Turkey Hill Homemade Vanilla ice cream is simultaneously “New Flavor” AND “Original Recipe.” Reader GR scratched his head over it and sent it in using The Consumerist Tipster App. It’s new, but it’s original, but it’s new, but it’s the original… The logic loop continues ad infinatum until all worlds collapse and the universe reaches a state of perfect entropy. I’m afraid for GR to open it; he might find Schrödinger’s cat inside. [More]
Organic, Natural Meat May Have More Preservatives Than Label Says
By July 5, 2011
If you avoid standard processed meats because of labels indicating they’re packed with potentially damaging preservatives including nitrate and nitrite, your efforts may be in vain. The “organic” and “natural” alternatives may include similar chemicals, despite what their labels say. [More]
FDA Announces New Labeling Standards For Sunscreen
By June 14, 2011
Earlier today, the Food and Drug Administration announced new labeling guidlines for sunscreen in an effort to make it clear to consumers which products offer the best chance of keeping your skin from turning into shoe leather. [More]
The Blueberries In Your Food Could Be Fake
By January 21, 2011
Here’s something to choke on. The “blueberries” inside that muffin or cereal you love so much might not actually have ever been blueberries. Instead, they are a composite of sugars and starches that have been dyed blue. Check the label. If it says “blueberry flavored chrunchlets,” for instance, those are actually sugars, soybean oil, red #40 and blue #2. Reached for comment, Kellogg’s told NPR that the stuff is “labeled in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.” Well that takes care of that. If it’s not illegal and is profitable, do it. [More]
Ben & Jerry's Dropping "All Natural" From Labels
By September 28, 2010
After the Center for Science in the Public Interest complained last month that “all natural” doesn’t include things like alkalized cocoa and hydrogenated oil, Ben & Jerry’s announced yesterday that it will stop using the phrase on its ice cream cartons. [More]
Whole Grain Wheat Thins Are No Healthier Than Regular Ones
By August 4, 2010
Here’s a perfect example of why you should ignore what’s on the front of a product package and go straight to the nutritional info instead. Kraft’s Wheat Thins now come in a “100% Whole Grain” variety, which you might think translates into more fiber for your digestive tract. It even says on the front that one serving packs 22g of whole grain versus 11g for regular Wheat Thins. It turns out, however, that both crackers provide the same amount of dietary fiber and fat–and the whole grain version also has more sodium and is made with high fructose corn syrup. [More]
FDA Wants To Know Which Labels You Read When You Shop
By May 7, 2010
The Food and Drug Administration is looking into adjusting labeling regulations and wants to know what you’re looking for to ensure a food item’s healthiness when you’re digging through supermarket shelves. [More]
Study Finds Consumers Want Their Food Labeled As Inspected For Safety
By March 1, 2010
A Michigan State University study found the majority of consumers look for labels that signify products they’re buying were inspected for safety, and that about a third are willing to pay more for such labeling. [More]
FDA Wants Tobacco Companies To Submit Ingredients List By June
By January 18, 2010
“Tobacco products today are really the only human-consumed product that we don’t know what’s in them,” the director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products said to the Associated Press. To address that, the agency has told tobacco companies to provide a list of the ingredients in their cigarette brands by June 2010. The FDA says it won’t publicize a lot of the data in order to protect trade secrets, but that by June 2011 it will publish a list of “harmful and potentially harmful” ingredients, at which point tobacco companies will have to start listing the amounts of each one on their products. [More]
States To Consider Labeling Requirements For Printer Ink Cartridges
By January 11, 2010
At the National Conference on Weights and Measures later this month, some states are planning to talk about printer ink cartridge labeling and whether it should be more standardized. “It’s time to sort all of this out,” the Florida Weights & Measures chief told the Kansas City Star. Of course, printer companies aren’t about to go along with any changes quietly–Lexmark has already submitted a letter saying that displaying any information on the cartridges will only confuse consumers, because the cartridges are micro-machines and not just ink containers. [More]
Diet Dr. Pepper Cans Say It Isn't
By January 11, 2010
Jenny the Bloggess was confused when she spotted these cans of Diet Dr. Pepper, as to the amount of diet-ness to the product, which claims there’s “nothing diet about it.” [More]
Oregon Set To Require Menu Labeling For Chain Restaurants
By June 2, 2009
Oregon has passed legislation requiring that chain restaurants post calorie information on menus. Oregon’s governor is expected to sign the bill.
The Truth Behind Healthy Supermarket Foods
By May 6, 2009
The Wall Street Journal takes a good look at items marketed as “healthier for you” on supermarket shelves, and as you can probably imagine, any actual health benefits vary greatly from product to product. Take all natural chicken, for example: if you buy “enhanced” or “plumped” chicken—it will say somewhere on the label that water, salt, and/or carrageenan has been added, but it will still be labeled natural—the sodium per 4 oz serving jumps from 45-60 mgs to 200-400 mgs.
Snapple's Acai Drink Just Pear Juice And Corn Syrup
By January 23, 2009
Of all the ridiculous Acai schemes we’ve seen involving overpriced miracle elixirs, Snapple wins hands down—their Acai Blackberry drink is high fructose corn syrup, pear juice, and “natural flavors,” which Consumerist reader LS points out could be “a spoonful of blackberry jam from Aunt Sally’s root cellar and a puff of acai-laced breath from the health food girl in accounting.” Or more likely, just some flavoring extracts from a company similar to this one.
Big Pharma Goes Before Supreme Court To Get State Lawsuits Banned
By October 7, 2008
“Pre-emption” is a legal doctrine that says the federal government can claim all regulatory power over an area or subject, barring states from acting on their own. The drug maker Wyeth has brought a case before the Supreme Court arguing that a woman in Vermont, who lost her arm due to a drug complication that Wyeth knew about but did not publicize, cannot sue them in state court because of pre-emption. Wyeth says that only the FDA has the power to regulate it—and since the FDA approved Wyeth’s drug label, it’s the FDA’s responsibility. We think Wyeth is pretending to care about federal-versus-state power in an attempt to weasel out of any responsibility.
By September 18, 2008
MisterJalopy over at BoingBoing has put together a rough outline of a cheat sheet when shopping for eggs, based on an article in yesterday’s New York Times on how to interpret egg carton labeling. [BoingBoing]
Mott's Will Help You Water Down Your Juice If You Like
By September 9, 2008
Here’s a perfect example of why you should always approach “healthy” labeling on food products with a skeptical eye. Summer did a quick side-by-side comparison of regular Mott’s apple juice with new Mott’s Plus Light. What she found was that except for a few added vitamins, the Light product was just Mott’s juice diluted by 50% with water—but selling for the same price as the 100% juice.
'No Need To Stir' Skippy Natural Peanut Butter Requires Stirring, Or A Straw
By September 2, 2008
As any convenience-seeking American knows, the bane of natural peanut butter is its tendency to separate into an unspreadable sludge of crushed peanut and an eager-to-spill pond of oil. You have to stir the two together to get back to the peanut butter texture you’ve come to expect from the hybridized brands. Skippy says they’ve solved the problem, but based on the two jars one customer bought, they’re plain nuts (wocka wocka!).
