Foodborne illness outbreaks have dominated the news in recent months: E. coli and norovirus at Chipotle, listeria in prepackaged Dole salad mixes, and salmonella in cucumbers. These outbreaks have sickened — and in some cases killed — consumers, and one food safety expert says that inadequate safety oversight is at least partly to blame. [More]
Government Policy
You Can’t Claim Your Glue Is “Made In USA” If It’s Made From Imported Chemicals
By 2.2.16
While there’s no official pre-approval process for products labeled “Made In U.S.A,” there are federal standards for what that phrase means, and a company can get into trouble for slapping “Made In U.S.A.” on imported products — like the glue company accused of misleading consumers about where its sticky stuff comes from.
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Two For-Profit College Chains Lose Government Funding Over Misrepresentations, Inflated Job Placement Rates
By 2.2.16
If you hear a for-profit college touting its high job-placement rate, you’ve got good reason to be skeptical. Federal regulators have cut of government funding to two more for-profit education chains caught inflating placement stats.
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Mazda Recalls, Stops Sales Of CX-5 Vehicles Over Fuel Leak Concerns
By 2.1.16
If you’ve got a 2014-2016 Mazda CX-5 sitting in the driveway — or you were planning on buying one anytime soon — here’s some bad news for you. The carmaker has recalled and stopped the sale of more than 260,000 of these vehicles over fuel leak concerns. [More]
Feds Order Debt Relief Schemes To Cease Misleading Use Of Government Logos
By 1.29.16
Even though it’s incredibly easy to slap a government agency’s logo on your website, that doesn’t make it okay. Just ask the two debt relief companies that have been ordered to stop using Department of Education logos to mislead student loan borrowers. [More]
Stanford Law Professor: T-Mobile’s ‘Binge On’ Violates Net Neutrality Rules
By 1.29.16
Last fall, T-Mobile introduced Binge On, an optional program that lets users stream certain video streams without counting the data against their monthly allotments. YouTube and others have accused the company of throttling data in order to make this happen, and a new report from Stanford University claims that T-Mo’s actions are in violation of federal “net neutrality” rules. [More]
In Comcast Country, Set-Top Box Competition Will Hurt Innovation, Raise Prices
By 1.29.16
Earlier this week, FCC Chair Tom Wheeler proposed new rules intended to increase competition in the pay-TV set-top box market. Rather than paying hundreds of dollars a year to your cable company for a device you can’t get anywhere else, the idea is that you would be able to buy your own box and save money in the long run. Amazing, Comcast — which stands to potentially lose billions of dollars if this happens — is crying foul. [More]
VW Buyback Plan Seems More Likely As Company Struggles To Find Fix For Emission-Cheating Vehicles
By 1.29.16
Since Volkswagen admitted last year to using “defeat devices” in certain cars to cheat on emissions tests, some owners and consumer advocates have pushed for the carmaker to buy back affected vehicles from customers. VW had resisted this idea, but without any other resolution in the offing, a mass buyback offer is beginning to look possible.
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Nissan Recalls 846,000 Altimas Over Hood Latch Issues For The Third Time
By 1.29.16
For the third time in the past year and a half, Nissan is recalling hundreds of thousands of Altima vehicles because of fears the cars’ hoods will fly open while on the move. [More]
People Are Still Getting Sick From Cucumber Salmonella Outbreak
By 1.27.16
When the strain of Salmonella making people sick was traced to batches of cucumbers imported from Mexico back in September, it seemed that the cucumber outbreak was solved. Only people are still getting sick with that same strain, suggesting either that people keep cucumbers around for a while or that there’s another food source still out there infecting people. Since we last updated you, hundreds of more people have become sick, and authorities reported three more deaths. [More]
New York City Bans Hoverboards On Buses, Trains
By 1.27.16
If you live in New York City and plan to ride the subway or hop on a city bus, you better leave your “hoverboard” at home. The state’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Wednesday that it is banning the self-balancing scooters from public transportation over fire safety concerns. [More]
DeVry University Accused Of Deceptive Advertising & Misleading Students On Job Prospects
By 1.27.16
Federal regulators continued a crackdown on allegedly unscrupulous for-profit college companies Wednesday, filing a lawsuit against DeVry University. The popular chain of schools stands accused of deceiving prospective students about their employment potential after graduation. [More]
Staples Cuts Jobs In Preparation For Life With Or Without Office Depot Merger
By 1.26.16
It appears that Staples is adhering to the adage, “hope for the best, prepare for the worst,” when it comes to their challenged billion-dollar merger with rival Office Depot. This week, the retailer took steps to streamline its operation, changing its management team and reportedly laying off hundreds of employees at its headquarters. [More]
After Takata Airbag Death, Ford Recalls 391K Ranger Trucks
By 1.26.16
Just days after federal regulators said another five million vehicles would be recalled because of defective, shrapnel-shooting Takata airbags, Ford has stepped up to announce that this recall now includes 391,000 Ranger trucks. [More]
Whole Foods Recalling Frozen Pork Pepperoni Pizzas For Masquerading As Beef Pepperoni Pizzas In New England
By 1.26.16
Labels are very important when it comes to food, considering most of us do not have X-ray vision that allows us to scan products with our eyes and know exactly what ingredients those items contain. That’s why Whole Foods is recalling a bunch of frozen pizzas on the East Coast: some pies labeled as containing “uncured beef pepperoni” are actually covered in pork pepperoni. [More]
Cheese Company With Leaky Roof, “Uncleanable Surfaces” Pleads Guilty To Selling Listeria-Tainted Food
By 1.22.16
Perhaps you’d like to think that your shrink-wrapped ready-to-eat cheese was made in something resembling a science-fiction movie — stark white walls, spotless machines, a few doctor-like employees supervising the sterile process behind surgical masks. You certainly don’t imagine the conditions that got one Delaware cheese company shut down. [More]
