Police in Dallas added insult to injury when they arrested a woman in a leg brace for a shattered knee on charges of forging her painkiller prescription, even though her doctor says no one ever checked with him to see if the ‘scrip was legitimate. [More]
Food & Personal Care
Burger King Promises To Stop Using Caged Pigs & Hens
By 4.25.12
Burger King says they’re going cage-free and proud to be, promising to stop using cramped chicken and pig cages. It says it’ll use 100% cage-free eggs in all U.S. restaurants by 2017 and buy pork from suppliers who show proof that they’re ending the use of gestation crates for breeding sows. [More]
USDA: "No Cause For Alarm" In California Mad Cow Case
By 4.24.12
You may have heard that officials have confirmed one case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, better known by its headline-friendly nickname “mad cow disease,” in California; the first such incident since 2006. And even though BSE can be fatal to humans that eat tainted meat, the USDA says they have found no cause for mass concern. [More]
Whatever This CVS Has Planned Tonight, Count Us Out
By 4.24.12
It makes sense for a store to place small impulse-buy items on the shelf next to related merchandise. Say, cereal and bananas. Beer and Ping-Pong balls. Cold medicine and tissues. Tampons and chocolate. Those choices all make sense, but this impulse buy found at a New England CVS left us, and tipster Jena, scratching our heads. [More]
Starbucks & Disney Form Overly Cheerful, Caffeinated Alliance
By 4.23.12
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum — and also a grande nonfat caramel macchiato with extra whip, please. A new joint venture between Starbucks and Disney means visitors to the theme parks will be able to get their caffeine fix in cafes designed to blend in with their surroundings. [More]
Walgreens To Pay $7.9 Million To Make Prescriptions Controversy Go Away
By 4.20.12
Walgreens owes a pretty penny to the U.S. Department of Justice, specifically, $7.9 million to make a little prescription controversy to go away. The government said Walgreens illegally tried to get federal health care beneficiaries to switch their prescriptions to Walgreens pharmacies. [More]
Starbucks Stops Using Bug Extract In Products
By 4.19.12
Cochineal extract has the vague name one would come to expect from a food ingredient. And for years, it’s been used as a food coloring option for people looking to get a nice red hue in their edible items. But what some folks don’t know is the “cochineal” in cochineal extract is a tiny insect that is pulverized to make the red dye. [More]
Starbucks Can't Serve Me Coffee Unless They Misspell My Name First
By 4.19.12
Some people would say that Carrie is making a big deal out of nothing. That she is being unnecessarily difficult on principle regarding something that isn’t all that important. Well, of course. This is The Consumerist. That’s our thing! Carrie’s battle was against Starbucks, and she fought against employees’ insistence that she give them her name with her order so they can misspell it on her cup. She declined, which threw the employees’ entire worldview into chaos. [More]
Pepsi: Mountain Dew Isn't Just For Suburban Teens Playing Video Games, Really!
By 4.17.12
If Mountain Dew brings up images of your older brothers hunkered down in the basement with said soda and bags of Cool Ranch Doritos, during marathon sessions of Dungeons & Dragons or World of Warcraft, you aren’t the only one. Pepsi acknowledges that their “dew message” isn’t reaching big cities, and is trying to spread the bright green liquid love to “cooler” places than the suburbs. [More]
Consumer Groups Ask FDA To Stop This "Corn Sugar" Silliness Already
By 4.17.12
It’s been nearly two years since the Corn Refiners Association began running ads referring to High Fructose Corn Syrup as “corn sugar,” in spite of the fact that the Food & Drug Administration hadn’t yet approved this name change for food labels. The FDA still hasn’t gotten around to making a decision on the matter, and a number of consumer groups are tired of waiting for a decision. [More]
Anarchists Deliver A Message With Metal Pipes On A New York Starbucks
By 4.16.12
Burned coffee gets my duff up, too — but taking out your rage using metal pipes on a Starbucks? That’s just impolite. Cops say pipe-wielding protestors and so-called anarchists had at it on a Starbucks in New York city’s East Village Saturday night, in an attempt to shatter the store’s floor-to-ceiling windows. [More]
We Now Live In A World Where Hot Dogs Are Stuffed Into Pizza Crust
By 4.11.12
It’s already unfair that the United Kingdom gets to brag about David Beckham, having a queen and lots of old castles, but now they’ve got another one up on the rest of us with a new offering from Pizza Hut: Pizza crust stuffed with a hot dog. Bring it on over here and let us Americans take a closer look. [More]
Cops Say CVS Employee Planted iPhone In The Bathroom To Film Women
By 4.10.12
Looking back on it all, perhaps it was a bit suspicious to have a male CVS employee insist on checking out a bathroom to make sure it was “all clear” before a female customer used it. Cops say a man working the pharmacy counter used that excuse to plant an iPhone in between rolls of toilet paper, and subsequently film dozens of women. [More]
DEA Searches Six Florida Walgreens Pharmacies
By 4.5.12
As part of its investigation into whether chain drug stores with higher than usual sales of prescription painkillers are actually feeding those drugs to the black market, the DEA has served administrative inspection warrants at six Walgreens stores and one of the chain’s warehouses, all in Florida. [More]
Dunkin' Donuts Breaks Up With Pepsi To Go Steady With Coke
By 4.3.12
If your world actually does run on Dunkin’, you may notice a bit of a change at your local chain. The company announced Monday that they’re switching from offering PepsiCo products to Coca-Cola in all Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins in the U.S. [More]
Burger King Reveals Its Big Makeover Efforts With New Menu
By 4.2.12
Burger King is trying to change its image — no more dudes cramming fries and Whoppers in their mouths. It’s time to cater for moms, families and older people snacking and drinking smoothies. The company is going to shell out lots of cash over the next year to complete this magical makeover, with changes to the stores, marketing campaign and of course, the menu. [More]
FDA Decides Against Banning BPA In Food & Beverage Containers
By 3.30.12
Bisphenol A — better known as “BPA” — is a chemical used in the epoxy resin linings of a lot of food and beverage containers. Studies have linked BPA to everything from increased risks of certain cancers to diabetes, reproductive abnormalities, and heart disease. But the Food and Drug Administration says there is not enough evidence yet to ban its use in food packaging. [More]
Starbucks Is Trying Really Hard To Fit In With The Cool European Kids
By 3.30.12
Now that Americans basically use Starbucks as a public restroom where you can also buy burned tasting coffee, it seems the mega chain is trying its best to impress our cool kindred across the pond. They’re spending millions in a new campaign to convince the Europeans that they aren’t just “impersonal,” “mediocre” and “expensive” coffee. [More]
