Safety advocates were deeply disappointed earlier this year when the news came that another child was killed that the very popular Malm dresser from IKEA fell on top of him. It’s horrible every time that an ordinary household object kills someone, but this model of dresser was part of a voluntary repair program that IKEA wouldn’t call a recall. Now the dressers have been officially recalled, but that should have happened before another child died. [More]
Government Policy
Does Knowing The Calorie Count Change What Food You Decide To Order Online?
By 6.28.16
When the Food and Drug Administration’s new calorie labeling rules go into effect next year, consumers will not only see calorie counts on menu boards in stores, but in online menus as well. But will coming face-to-face with your caloric decisions change what you order when you order food online? [More]
Walmart Still Reportedly Misusing “Made In U.S.A” Labels
By 6.28.16
The Federal Trade Commission may have dropped its probe into Walmart’s misuse of “Made in U.S.A.” labeling last fall, but an advertising watchdog group says a more recent analysis of the retailer’s website found it continues to label products with the designation even though they were manufactured in other countries. [More]
CDC Figured Out The General Mills Flour Recall Because Some People Leave Flour In Bags
By 6.28.16
When you buy a new bag of flour, what do you do? Do you dump the bag out into a bin or canister in your kitchen, or do you scoop it out of the bag it came in? Both methods work fine, but it was the members of Team Bag who helped the Food and Drug Administration solve the mystery of a recent nationwide E. coli outbreak. [More]
Regulators Close Investigation Into Confusing Gear Shifter Linked To 68 Injuries, 266 Crashes
By 6.28.16
A week after the death of Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin was potentially linked to the confusing gear shifter in recalled Jeep, Dodge, and Chrysler vehicles, federal safety regulators revealed they have closed an investigation into the issue following Fiat Chrysler’s recall of vehicles now tied to 68 injuries and hundreds of crashes. [More]
Small Store Owners Say Proposed SNAP Regulations Would Send Customers To Supermarkets
By 6.28.16
SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is what has replaced what were once called food stamps with debit cards. Not all stores are authorized to accept food stamps, and proposed new regulations would change the requirements to accept them. While the foods that recipients can use their balance on wouldn’t change, the food that retailers are required to stock before they can accept SNAP would. [More]
Senator Holds Up Intelligence Authorization Bill Over FBI Digital Surveillance Provisions
By 6.28.16
Two kinds of bills run the world, or at least the American slice of it: appropriations acts, which give agencies their budgets, and authorization acts, which tell them how to use them and what they are allowed to do. The bill that authorizes all of the United States’ intelligence activities has been making its way through Congress all year, but now has hit a major roadblock in the Senate, as one Senator has taken a stand against some of its surveillance provisions. [More]
IKEA Will Stop Selling Dressers Prone To Tipping Over, Recall 29M Units
By 6.27.16
IKEA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission are taking an unusual and perhaps unprecedented step, recalling tens of millions of top-heavy Malm dressers and chests. While IKEA offered repair kits and wall anchors to customers, the message clearly wasn’t getting out that they have been recalled in the United States. [More]
14 Excuses AT&T Gave Customers For Not Blocking Robocalls
By 6.27.16
A few weeks back, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson inaccurately claimed that his company can’t offer free robocall-blocking technology because it needs permission from the FCC first. With that explanation debunked, a number of AT&T customers tried to give Darth Randy their permission to install these call-blocking services. As you might expect, the responses from AT&T were a mixed bag of fictions and excuses. [More]
Senators Trying To Strike Down Vermont GMO Labeling Law At Last Minute
By 6.27.16
Two years ago, Vermont became the first state to pass a law requiring clear disclosures of foods containing genetically modified/engineered ingredients. A number of packaged food giants — including PepsiCo, Mars Inc., General Mills, and Campbell Soup Co. — have already made the decision to label their products on a nationwide basis in advance of the July 1 start of the new rules. With that deadline approaching, a pair of agribusiness-backed senators have introduced legislation that would kill the Vermont law, prevent other states from enacting similar regulations, and give companies two years to create a label with little to no information. [More]
Here’s A Big (Updated) List Of The Foods You Can Bring Through Airport Security
By 6.27.16 — Updated: 3.9.17
Inching your way through airport security is already a stressful and time-consuming process. The last thing you want to worry about is having that snack you packed to enjoy mid-flight thrown in the trash because of seemingly arbitrary rules on what can and can’t be carried through the checkpoint.
[More]
HP And Sony Recall Laptop Batteries Due To Possible Overheating And Fires
By 6.27.16
Lithium-ion batteries are part of items that we use every day and we hardly think about them, but they can cause explosions and fires if they’re prone to overheating. That’s the case for batteries that are part of laptop computers sold in the last few years by HP and by Sony, and now those batteries have been recalled. [More]
Three Flavors Of Raw Cat Food Recalled Over Listeria, Salmonella Contamination
By 6.24.16
In general, it’s not a good idea to feed food potentially tainted with salmonella or listeria to anyone, let alone your favorite pets. That’s why Radagast Pet Food, makers of the Rad Cat line of raw cat foods, is recalling three of its flavors.
[More]
Advisory Panel Votes To Revoke Troubled College Accreditor’s Recognition
By 6.24.16
A week after staff with the Department of Education recommended the termination of federal recognition for the accrediting body that ignored red flags at failed for-profit educator Corinthian Colleges and allowed billions in federal aid to go to schools under investigation, the panel on the receiving end of that recommendation voted to sever ties with Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools. [More]
Yuengling To Pay Nearly $10M To Settle Pollution Allegations
By 6.24.16
Facing federal allegations of violating the Clean Water Act, D.G. Yeungling and Son, the country’s oldest brewing company, has agreed to pay nearly $3 million in penalties and invest $7 million for improvements to its two breweries in Pennsylvania.
[More]
Accused Of Violating Clean Air Act, Trader Joe’s To Spend $2M To Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions
By 6.23.16
Trader Joe’s will spend $2 million over the next three years to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases leaked from the refrigeration systems at its 453 stores nationwide in order to resolve federal allegations that the company violated the Clean Air Act. [More]
4 Things We Learned About Why Mortgage Servicers Continue To Stink
By 6.22.16
More than two years ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enacted rules about the ways mortgage servicers could operate and interact with borrowers, but a new report finds that many of these servicing companies continue to go about (bad) business as usual, using failed technology that has already harmed American homeowners.
[More]
Now There’s An Even Longer TSA Line For PreCheck Registration
By 6.22.16
Long Transportation Security Administration lines aren’t just for airports anymore. The government agency has encouraged members of the public to sign up for its PreCheck program to speed things along as security lines got longer, and the problem is that the public listened. Now they’re facing long waits for approval in the program, which requires a background check when you first enroll. [More]
