“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]
Government Policy
Security Breach At JFK Airport Leads To Delays, Evacuations
By 1.16.10
Thousands of passengers were evacuated from the American Airlines terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport after an unidentified person opened a door restricted to airline personnel and TSA officers. Like the Newark incident of a few weeks ago, the offender was caught on camera but has not yet been found. It remains unknown whether he was a criminal or a moron. [Reuters] [NYDN] (Thanks, GitEmSteveDave!) [More]
Why A Pint Of Ice Cream Is Never Labeled "1 Serving"
By 1.16.10
“Serving size: 1 serving,” a bag of frozen ravioli I bought recently read. A pasta Zen koan. It wasn’t a single-serve bag, so could they give me the serving size in ounces? Number of ravioli? Just how arbitrary is this “serving size,” anyway? Slate’s Explainer explains: more so than you’d think. [More]
Are Corporate Boards Ruining American Businesses? This Book Says Yes
By 1.15.10
The new book Money for Nothing looks at corporate boards: how they’re frequently hand-picked and ruled by the CEOs they’re supposed to keep in check, how they’re sidelined by various conflicts of interest and lack of accountability, and how the worst ones have massively screwed shareholders. [More]
FDA Is Mad: Funky, Smelly, Barfy Tylenol Has Been A Problem Since 2008
By 1.15.10
The FDA is @#$%# pissed off at McNeil, the company that makes smelly, barfy Tylenol and other products, because apparently this problem has been going on since 2008. [More]
Tylenol Recall Now Includes A Bunch Of Other Products
By 1.15.10
Some batches of a certain type of Tylenol had an unusual moldy, musty, or mildew-like odor that is associated with non-serious nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, or diarrhea. The smell is apparently from a chemical that was on the wood pallets the pills were stored on. Originally, the recall was just for one type of Tylenol. Now there is a big ass list, which includes some types of Motrin, Rolaids and St. Joseph brand products. [More]
New, Better Website For Complaining To The Government About Airlines
By 1.15.10
The Department of Transportation yesterday announced a new revamped website that will help you complain to them about your various terrible airline experiences. [More]
Consumer Financial Protection Agency On The Chopping Block
By 1.15.10
According to the Wall Street Journal, Senator Chris Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, has offered to abandon the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) proposal in exchange for Republican support on other legislation. Nobody is saying anything official right now, but the WSJ reports that “the offer is conditional on the creation of a stronger consumer protection division within another federal agency.” [More]
Tyson Chicken Settles Class-Action Suit, Will Pay $4.4 Million To Consumers
By 1.14.10
If you bought Tyson chicken from 2007 to 2009, you may want to start keeping tabs on the new settlement being considered by Tyson to settle the class-action suit against it. The agreement was filed earlier this week, and a review is scheduled for tomorrow. If approved, approximately $4.4 million will supposedly be available to disburse to consumers. [More]
Menacing 8-Year-Old Is Repeatedly Frisked By TSA
By 1.14.10
Mikey Hicks has the same name as someone on the “selectee” list, a group of 13,500 names that trigger additional security measures at our nation’s airports. The TSA says it’s a “myth” that an 8-year-old is on a list and being frisked. His mother doesn’t agree. [More]
Friday Is The Cutoff To Pay Estimated '09 Taxes Without Penalty
By 1.13.10
January 15th is the last day you can pay estimated taxes for 2009 without worrying about the IRS’s 4% interest penalty. For most people, you need to have paid 90% of what you owe for 2009 or have a good reason why you didn’t (e.g. casualty, retirement). Kiplinger notes that even if you can’t pay the full amount, pay whatever you can by January 15th to reduce the amount that’s penalized. [More]
Debate Airport Security In The Playmobil Security Check Point Amazon Review Section
By 1.13.10
After more knuckleheads tried to kill us, debate over airport security procedures has spilled over into all facets of lite, from the news to the diner counter to the the Amazon.com review section for the Playmobil Security Check Point. “I was a little disappointed when I first bought this item, because the functionality is limited. My 5 year old son pointed out that the passenger’s shoes cannot be removed,” quips one. There are dozens more. [Amazon] (Thanks to GitEmSteveDave!) [More]
States To Consider Labeling Requirements For Printer Ink Cartridges
By 1.11.10
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]
Slim-Fast Thinks Its Shakes Are Worth About 29 Cents A Can
By 1.11.10
Daniel agreed to throw away 35 cans of Slim-Fast after the company announced a recall last month over fears of contamination. He called the number provided by Unilever and provided his address, and then waited for the full refund they promised. What he got was a check for $10.20. [More]
Gov To Hit Banks With New Fees
By 1.11.10
The White House could be planning to start charging banks new fees as a way to trim the deficit, get paid back for the bailout, and teach bankers a lesson they hasn’t sunk in yet. What?! A fee on banks? You’re crazy. Only banks are allowed to make up fees. [More]
Palm Coast Travel Sues Customer And A Blogger
By 1.11.10
Travel blogger Elliott is not having a good year. First Homeland Security showed up on his doorstep with a subpoena demanding he name his sources, and now a travel agency is suing him for his reporting about their unauthorized sale of travel insurance. [More]
Acer Recalls 22,000 Defective Laptops
By 1.10.10
22,000 Acer laptops have been recalled by Acer and the CPSC because of a wiring defect. The computers can short circuit, melt the casing, and theoretically burn users. [More]
Idiot Disrupts Everyone's Air Travel For Goodbye Kiss
By 1.10.10
The man who went through security the wrong way, disrupting airline traffic at Newark and thus nationwide, was neither a terrorist nor a dumbass, as we had speculated last week. He was a romantic fool who wanted a kiss from his girlfriend. Okay, maybe that falls under “dumbass.” [More]
