A year after the Food and Drug Administration laid out the rules for food manufacturers who want to label their products gluten-free, the new labeling requirements will go kick in this week. [More]
Quality & Safety
Should Food Companies Tell Consumers How Much Sugar They Add To Products?
By 8.4.14
Looking at the label of any food product on grocery store shelves and you’ll find the total amount of sugar in that item. But does it matter how much of that sugar is from a food’s raw ingredients, and how much sweetener was added? [More]
Great Fruit Recall Of 2014 Expands, Becomes Even Greater
By 8.4.14
Wawona Packing Company in California has expanded its recall of fruit that it processed and packaged during the months of June and July that may be contaminated with the foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. The company has alerted consumers and retailers that all fruit packed at the facility between June 1 and when it shut down operations on July 17 are potentially contaminated, and that all fruit that has passed through the plant is potentially contaminated. [More]
USDA Changes Up The Way It’s Been Inspecting Poultry Plants For The Last 50 Years
By 8.1.14
In an effort to stem the tide of foodborne illnesses hitting the country every year via chicken and turkey, the Obama administration has announced new rules for poultry plants, revamping the rules its used for inspections for the first time since 1957. But critics are crying foul, calling the government out for failing to address the role antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria plays in the poultry industry. [More]
Surgeon General’s Report: “We Need To Do Something” About Climbing Skin Cancer Rates
By 7.29.14
Summer might be half-over, but there’s still plenty of time left to go tanning on the beach before fall madness sets in. But before you head out to catch some rays before Labor Day, the Surgeon General has some advice for you: don’t. [More]
Nissan Expands Recall For Vehicles With Possibly Defective Takata Airbags
By 7.28.14
In a year marred by vehicle recalls, Nissan remained relatively under the radar with fewer than 500,000 cars recalled. But that changed on Saturday when the car company expanded a previous recall over defective Takata-produced airbags, bringing its total to more than 664,000. [More]
Former GM CEO Thinks Congress Would Have Gone Easier On Him Over Ignition Recalls
By 7.28.14
In the short time that she’s been CEO of General Motors, Mary Barra has repeatedly been called before federal lawmakers and investigators to answer for the car company’s record-shattering recalls, including the ignition-related problems that went ignored for more than a decade. But her predecessor at the GM CEO gig says he probably wouldn’t have received such tough interrogations from Congress. [More]
CPSC: Best Buy And Its Closeout Stores Sold Electronics And Furniture After Recall
By 7.25.14
Once an item has been formally recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, it becomes illegal to sell that item. Yet the CPSC reports that Best Buy, Magnolia, Best Buy Private Auction, CowBoom, and TechLiquidators continued to sell products that had already been recalled in 2012 and 2013. [More]
Local And Regional Grocery Stores May Have Sold Recalled Fruit
By 7.24.14
While Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s get the headlines, Wawona Packing Company sold fruit that’s potentially contaminated with Listeria to wholesalers, who then sold it to local and regional grocers. According to Food Safety News, reports in the media indicate that contaminated fruit may have been sold at Food 4 Less, Foods Co., Giant Food Stores, Martins, Hannaford, BJ’s Wholesale, Dillons, Save-a-Lot, Fry’s Food Stores, King Soopers, Raley’s, Stop & Shop, Big Y Foods, and Ralphs. [Food Safety News] [More]
GM Expects To Pay Upwards Of $600 Million To Victims Of Ignition Switch Defect
By 7.24.14
Last month General Motors detailed its plan to compensate victims of crashes resulting from the long-ignored ignition defect, saying individual payouts could range anywhere from around $20,000 to the double-digit millions. Today, the car maker revealed how much it expects to pay in total when all this compensating is done. [More]
Appeals Court Allows Farmers To Keep Feeding Unnecessary Antibiotics To Animals
By 7.24.14
More than 35 years ago, the FDA acknowledged that feeding medically unnecessary antibiotics to farm animals may encourage the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which poses a huge health risk to humans. In 2012, a federal court ruled that the FDA is required by law to hold hearings in which the drug makers would need to prove the safety of non-medical use of these antibiotics. But today, a the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the lower court’s ruling, saying it’s up to the FDA to decide if it wants to hold such hearings. [More]
Whole Foods Recalls Dozens Of Products Containing Potentially Listeria-Ridden Fruit
By 7.24.14
Fruit from California’s Wawona Packing Company tested positive for Listeria contamination, and now consumers get to look on in horror as we learn how widely that fruit was distributed. Items like fruit tarts and mango-peach salsa made in-store at Whole Foods using the affected fruit were sold between June 1 and July 21, 2014. [More]
GM Recalls Another 718,000 Vehicles, Including Your Bitchin’ Camaro
By 7.23.14
Not to be outdone by Chrysler’s recent recall-a-thon, GM has announced six new safety recalls covering more than a dozen models, for a grand total of 717,949 vehicles. [More]
Now Chrysler Is Recalling 800K Jeep SUVs For Ignition Problems
By 7.22.14
The faulty ignition flu of 2014 is spreading among the car makers of greater Detroit. Months after General Motors began recalling millions of vehicles for defective ignitions that resulted in at least 13 deaths, and a month after NHTSA began looking into possible similar problems at Chrysler, the company has announced a recall of around 800,000 Jeeps to fix ignition switches that might turn off inadvertently. [More]
Possible Listeria Contamination Leads To Recall Of Fruit, Fruit Pies
By 7.21.14
There have been no recorded illnesses yet from batches of yellow peaches and nectarines, white peaches and nectarines, black plums, and pluots that may be contaminated with the nasty foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. The company has announced a recall, and Northeastern grocer Wegmans has also recalled pies made with affected fruit. [More]
From Bread Crumbs To Worcestershire Sauce: How Long Will All That Stuff In Your Pantry Last?
By 7.20.14
Regular readers of Consumerist likely know there’s a big difference between the “use-by” date and the “sell-by” date on food labels. But while most people take note of this information on highly perishable items like meat, eggs, and dairy, we often ignore those dry goods stashed in our pantries. And these unrefrigerated items are often allowed to sit around until we go to use them and realize, “Oh no… that went bad back when Bush — the first one — was president.” [More]
The FDA Asks That You Please Not Ingest Pure Powdered Caffeine
By 7.18.14
People have been drinking caffeinated beverages for centuries, and popping caffeine pills for decades, and the Food and Drug Administration currently puts no hard limit on caffeine content in food. But the recent death of an Ohio teen who ingested the pure powdered form of caffeine has the FDA warning consumers against the incredibly potent stimulant. [More]
Kia Recalls 52,000 Kia Soul Hatchbacks Because Loss Of Steering Can Cause A Crash
By 7.18.14
Not even the adorable – and now buff – Kia hamsters would be able to maneuver the 2014 Kia Soul if the steering system failed. But that shouldn’t be the case much longer, now that the car company has issued a recall of nearly 52,000 vehicles. [More]
