Customers have been contacting Kraft Heinz Foods about something unfortunate: their packages of turkey bacon were going bad long before the posted expiration dates. The company investigated these complaints, and the investigation has culminated in more than 2 million pounds of bacon being recalled because it too might go bad. [More]
Government Policy
CarMax Plays “Used Car Recall Roulette” By Selling Potentially Dangerous Vehicles
By 8.25.15
During the height of recallopalooza 2014, a coalition of consumer advocacy groups raised concerns about CarMax, alleging that the nation’s largest used vehicle seller was misleading customers with claims of “Quality Certified” cars and “125+ point” inspections while not revealing that some cars had been recalled for safety issues that had not yet been repaired. More than a year later, a new report shows that CarMax is continuing this practice, which one legislator has dubbed “used car recall roulette.” [More]
CEOs Of Chipotle, CVS, Discovery, Walmart Make The Most Compared To Employees’ Wages
By 8.25.15
Earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission finalized a long-delayed rule that will require many businesses to publicly disclose the ratio of their top executive’s pay to the earnings of the typical employee. If the data in a newly released report is accurate, then the CEOs of Chipotle, CVS, Walmart, and Discovery Communications are each making more than 1,000 times the average salary of the people they employ. [More]
Credit Bureaus, Bank Of America, Wells Fargo Top List Of Most Complained-About Financial Companies
By 8.25.15
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has released its latest report on the various complaints the agency has received about banks, lenders, debt collectors, and other financial services. Amid a sudden increase in the number of complaints involving credit report errors, the country’s largest credit bureaus now dominate the top of the CFPB’s list of most complained-about companies. [More]
FDA Warns Company Behind “Just Mayo” That Its Product Isn’t Actually Mayonnaise
By 8.25.15
What difference does a food label make? A whole heck of a lot, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Which means if your product doesn’t abide by federal guidelines, it can’t masquerade as something it’s not. As such, the FDA is warning the makers of “Just Mayo,” a vegan-friendly spread, that it can’t call itself mayo because mayonnaise contains eggs, which its product does not. [More]
Sallie Mae Spinoff Navient Could Face CFPB Lawsuit Over Student Loans
By 8.25.15
In the short time since Navient – the nation’s largest student loan servicing company – spun off from Sallie Mae, the company has come under scrutiny for it allegedly unfair practices of overcharging and imposing excessive fees on consumers’ loans. While those practices resulted in a $97 million settlement with the Depts. of Education and Justice, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, they could soon lead to a lawsuit from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. [More]
Wyndham Hotels Loses Legal Battle With Feds Over Lax Security Practices
By 8.24.15
If a consumer-facing company, like say a massive hotel chain, touts its dedication to the security of customer information and then does something to repeatedly put that information at risk — like storing unencrypted credit card data on barely secure networks — can they be forced to share some of the blame when hundreds of thousands of credit card numbers are stolen? The hotel chain says that would be blaming the victim, but a federal appeals court has affirmed the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to go after businesses that fail to live up to their security promises. [More]
9-Out-Of-10 GM Ignition Switch Compensation Claims Denied
By 8.24.15
The fund set up by General Motors to compensate victims of the carmaker’s long-ignored ignition switch defect ultimately acknowledged that GM was responsible for 124 deaths and 257 injuries, but these confirmed instances only represent a small portion of the thousands of claims rejected by the fund. [More]
Apple Offers To Fix Cameras That Take Blurry Photos On Some iPhone 6 Plus Phones
By 8.24.15
Can’t take a photo on your iPhone 6 Plus that doesn’t come out blurry? You’re not alone: Apple says it’s recalling a select batch of the Plus phones to fix an issue with the iSight camera that can make even your best efforts come out wobbly. [More]
5 Ground Beef Labels To Look Out For & What They Mean
August 24, 2015
So you’re eating burgers at a cookout with some friends. One pal asks the host, “Hey, is this ground beef organic?” The host smugly answers, “Of course, I only buy grass-fed.” “Oh, so it’s antibiotic free?” queries another buddy, to which the host replies, “Didn’t you hear me? I said it’s grass-fed.” What the host apparently doesn’t know is that he may be very mistaken. [More]
NHTSA Denies Second Petition To Open Investigation Into Unintended Acceleration Of Toyota Vehicles
By 8.21.15
For the second time this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced it would not open a probe into millions of Toyota vehicles regarding possible unintended acceleration. [More]
Madewell Recalls 50,900 Pairs Of Shoes That Could Cause Wearers To Trip And Fall
By 8.21.15
You’re just strolling along, feeling fine and looking good in your new, $60 Madewell sandals when suddenly, you trip and fall. It’s not you — or at least, it might not just be your own personal clumsiness — the J. Crew-owned company says 50,600 pairs of sandals it sold in the U.S. and Canada have a metal shank that can dislodge from the inside of the shoe and break through the bottom of the outsole, posing a fall hazard. [More]
FDA To Hold Public Meeting, Seek Comments On Antibiotic Overuse In Farm Animals
By 8.20.15
For decades, livestock farmers inadvertently encouraged the development of drug-resistant bacteria by providing a continuous stream of medically unnecessary antibiotics to their cows, pigs, and chickens — primarily to end up with bigger animals — while the Food and Drug Administration kept the issue on the back-burner. Meanwhile, antibiotic-resistant pathogens sicken more than two million people in the U.S. each year, resulting in at least 23,000 deaths. Now that everyone from consumers to lawmakers to public health advocates to McDonald’s and even Walmart are starting to care about the topic, the FDA is starting to listen. [More]
Regulators Sue Pension Advance Companies Over Deceptive Marketing Of Loans
By 8.20.15
Five months after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warned that pension advance loans could be the new payday loan – leaving consumers who are already struggling to make ends meet in dire financial situations – the agency announced it had teamed up with the state of New York to shut down two companies that allegedly deceived retirees about the risks and costs associated with the loan products. [More]
Makers Of Ultraviolet “Disinfectant” Devices Penalized $1.3M For Making False Germ-Killing Claims
By 8.20.15
A bit of advice to gadget-makers out there: If you’re going to claim that your ultraviolet light product can ” kill 99.9% of germs and bacteria in 10 seconds or less” or eradicate disease-spreading fungus and drug-resistant MRSA, then you should have the science to back these claims up. [More]
Senators Call For Recall Of All Vehicles With Takata Airbags
By 8.20.15
Because it could take some time for federal investigators to determine the cause of a ruptured Takata airbag in a Volkswagen — a carmaker that hadn’t been part of any earlier exploding, shrapnel-shooting airbag recalls — some lawmakers are calling for a recall of all vehicles equipped with airbags made by Takata. [More]
Dept. Of Education Plans To Overhaul Loan Forgiveness Program For Students Defrauded By Schools
By 8.20.15
As thousands of former Corinthian College students continue to wait to learn whether or not they’re on the hook to repay billions of dollars in student loans they took out to attend the now defunct for-profit college, the Department of Education announced plans to overhaul the loan forgiveness process for students who believe they have been defrauded by their colleges. [More]
Regulators Open Investigation Into American Airlines Flight’s Rough Landing Because Of Wind Shear
By 8.20.15
Federal regulators will investigate an incident in which an American Airlines flight collided with approach lights at the Charlotte Douglas Airport in North Carolina while attempting to land during a sudden change in wind patterns on Saturday. While dramatic shifts in wind are exceedingly rare when it comes to affecting an aircraft’s landing, it turns out the incident last week is the second in less than two months for the carrier. [More]
