If you’re planning to shop for a pair of boys light-up shoes you might want to skip Payless ShoeSource, as the retailer has pulled the footwear while fire officials in Texas investigate a fire that may be linked to the sneakers. [More]
Government Policy
The Staples-Office Depot Merger Is Dead
By 5.10.16
The opinion issued today by U.S. District Court judge Emmet Sullivan doesn’t actually say that the country’s biggest office supply chain, Staples, can’t acquire the #2 office supply chain, Office Depot. As the Federal Trade Commission requested, the judge granted a preliminary injunction stopping the merger. That prevents the companies from merging until the FTC is done with their administrative antitrust case, but representatives of the two companies previously said that they would break the engagement if the FTC prevailed. [More]
New Rules Will Shed Dim Light On Antibiotics Overuse In Farm Animals
By 5.10.16
Even though three-quarters of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are used on farm animals, there is very little information available about how much of which drugs are being fed to cows, pigs, chickens, and turkeys. Newly finalized rules hope to provide more details on how these drugs are being used, but critics say the new data is only a small part of the bigger picture. [More]
FDA To Reconsider Definition Of “Healthy” On Food Labels
By 5.10.16
When you see a some food marketed as “healthy” or “natural,” do you know exactly what, if anything, those terms mean? The Food and Drug Administration has decided to rethink its requirements for what it takes to market a product as “healthy,” while advocates and lawmakers are pushing the agency to define “natural” in a way that more people would understand. [More]
Frozen Vegetable Recall Expands Again, Covers 16 More Products Sold Nationally
By 5.10.16
The massive frozen vegetable recall linked to a listeria outbreak that has so far resulted in two deaths and eight illnesses, has once again expanded. According to notices posted with the Food & Drug Administration, NORPAC Foods recalled Natural Directions Organics Mixed Vegetables and Natural Directions Organic Green Peas, while Picsweet issued a recall of 14 varieties of frozen vegetables that contain green beans or green peas from supplier CRF Frozen Foods. The vast vegetable recall kicked off two weeks ago when CRF announced the voluntary call back of frozen organic and traditional fruit and vegetable products manufactured or processed at its Washington facility since May 1, 2014 after finding traces of listeria in the food. [Food & Drug Administration] [More]
New York, New Jersey Airports Threaten To Ditch TSA, Hire Own Security Screeners
By 5.10.16
The fight over long lines at security checkpoints got a bit more intense late Monday, as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey threatened to hire its own security staff to replace Transportation Security Administration screeners unless something is done to combat excessive wait times. [More]
Airline Group Asks Travelers To Snap Photos Of Unending TSA Lines At Nation’s Airports
By 5.9.16
In an effort to add more voices to an already insistent chorus, an airline industry group has launched a campaign to enlist travelers in the fight against super long security lines at the nation’s airport. [More]
Company Recalling 180K Pacifiers & Clips Due To Choking Hazard
By 5.9.16
As any parent knows, pacifiers have a way of disappearing from the mouths of babies and winding up lost or coated in a fine layer of yuck under the couch. So clips that tether the soothing devices to their users can be very convenient — as long as all the pieces involved in the clip stay where they should. [More]
Pilgrim’s Pride Expands Recall Of Contaminated Chicken Products
By 5.9.16
If you’ve already checked the list of products affected by a recent Pilgrim’s Pride recall involving chicken items possibly contaminated with bits of plastic, metal, wood, and rubber, you might want to check it again. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety & Inspection service has expanded the nearly five million-pound recall list to include additional products. Check the full list here. [More]
Government Asks Wireless Manufacturers & Carriers About Device Security Updates
By 5.9.16
At the same time as their counterparts at the Justice Department are trying to circumvent smartphone security, the folks at the FCC and the Federal Trade Commission are talking to manufacturers about how to make these devices more secure. [More]
Cruise Ship Norovirus Season Begins: 252 Passengers Sick On Ship Docked In Maine
By 5.9.16
When the cruise season kicked off in Portland, ME this weekend, it didn’t exactly get off to a great start. The first ship to dock in the city’s port is under surveillance for norovirus after more than 250 passengers reportedly became sick. [More]
FCC Officially Gives Green Light To Merger Of Time Warner Cable & Charter
By 5.6.16
A couple weeks back, both the FCC and the Justice Department made it clear that they were not going to challenge the massive merger of Time Warner Cable, Charter Communications (and the third wheel of the merger á trois Bright House) after putting some conditions on the deal. Today, the FCC officially confirmed that it has given its blessing to this marriage of inconvenience. [More]
Massive Frozen Vegetable Recall Linked To 2 Deaths, 8 Illnesses
By 5.6.16
Federal health and safety regulators have opened an investigation into a listeria outbreak related to the recent recall of more than 350 different varieties and brands of frozen vegetables after eight people from three states — two who later died — became infected with strains of the bacteria. [More]
U.S. Government Used Fake University To Catch Visa Brokers, Swept Up Students Too
By 5.5.16
To root out the education brokers who guide international students to fake colleges that are only visa mills, the Department of Homeland Security set up its own fake university. Yet should the institution’s students, most of whom came from China and India, have known that the school wasn’t legit when it had full government approval and accreditation? [More]
Defunct Beauty School Settles Whistleblower Suit Accusing It Of Falsifying Records
By 5.5.16
Two months after abruptly closing its doors as a result of losing access to federal student financial aid, the for-profit Marinello Schools of Beauty has settled a whistleblower case that accused the school of engaging in various schemes to defraud the government of federal financial aid dollars. [More]
FCC Trying To Minimize Annoyances From New Robocall Debt Collection Loophole
By 5.5.16
Last fall, a rider to a must-pass federal budget bill kicked down the barricade that has prevented government debt collectors from annoying hundreds of millions of consumers with auto-dialed, pre-recorded robocalls. Lawmakers hate the bill, but they won’t consider any legislation to close the loophole. The White House’s own analysis of the loophole shows that it won’t really bring in any more money, and could actually be a revenue loser, but the administration isn’t doing anything to roll back the changes. Attorneys general hate it too, but they enforce laws instead of writing them. With an August deadline looming, the Federal Communications Commission has no choice but to move forward with making the loophole as palatable as possible. [More]
FDA Bans Sale Of E-Cigarettes To Minors; Requires Health Warnings
By 5.5.16
After a prolonged, seven-year process of drafting regulations for e-cigarettes, the Food and Drug Administration has finalized rules that treat e-cigs, hookah tobacco, pipe tobacco, and premium cigars the same as traditional cigarettes and cigars. [More]
Proposed Rules Would Take Away Banks’ “Get Out Of Jail Free” Card
By 5.5.16
Many bank accounts, and almost all credit cards, wireless services, private student loans, and payday loans contain clauses in their contracts that strip consumers of their right to sue these companies, and their right to join others in a class action, effectively allowing businesses to sidestep the legal system. While lawmakers in Congress debate the issue, and the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly given its approval to these practices, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is making good on its pledge to restore consumers’ constitutional right to having their day in court. [More]
