Buffet chain Golden Corral is feeling the heat after this holiday weekend, when a man claiming to be an employee at a GC in Florida posted a YouTube video showing food allegedly being temporarily stored by the dumpsters while the restaurant was undergoing an inspection. [More]
Quality & Safety
Pepsi Scolded For Continued Use Of Controversial Caramel Coloring Considered A Carcinogen In California
By 7.3.13
A couple years back, the state of California declared that a caramel coloring agent, 4-methylimidazole (or 4-MEI), was a carcinogen and said that any beverages containing certain levels of 4-MEI would have to carry a warning label. With the most populous state in the nation effectively telling them to find another coloring agent, both Coca-Cola and Pepsi promised to change their respective formulas. But while Coke has made the switch nationally, Pepsi has only stopped using 4-MEI in California, says a new report. [More]
Can I Legally Light Off Fireworks In My State? What About Sparklers?
By 7.2.13
Though some of you will mark the July 4th holiday by illegally tossing cherry bombs off your roof, we know that most of you want to do things the safe and legal way. Of course, the particulars of what you’re allowed to set off depends a lot on where you live. [More]
If You Need To Wash Your Floors, This Could Be The Dishwasher For You
By 7.2.13
If you’re up for some multi-tasking and have both dirty dishes and floors, man, has our sibling publications Consumer Reports got the dishwasher for you! They loaded up a Fagor dishwasher with dirty dishes and let it run, and five times the filter clogged with food, causing the dishwasher to add extra water that spilled out of the door. [More]
Soleus Air And Kenmore Dehumidifiers May Catch Fire, Pulled From Stores
By 7.2.13
Our venerable sibling publication Consumer Reports gave a dehumidifier from Soleus Air their “Best Buy” rating. Now it’s off the list and off store shelves after the manufacturer sent a stop-sale notice to retailers. There’s no consumer recall yet, but Amazon did reach out to customers and let them know about the issue. [More]
That’s Not Extra Butter Inside This Microwave Popcorn Bag
By 7.1.13
Mike is pretty laid-back about the curious substance that he found inside a bag of Pop Secret popcorn. “Things happen. When one makes millions of something, there will be issues with a few,” he observes. That’s true. He’s disappointed, though, because Pop Secret hasn’t kept him updated him on what the heck it was. [More]
Ford Recalls 13,100 Vehicles Because Child Locks Don’t Keep Children Locked In
By 7.1.13
Some model year 2013 Explorer, Taurus and Lincoln MKS vehicles manufactured in late 2012 have a little problem: the child safety locks don’t always safely lock children inside. Child safety locks prevent passengers in the back seats from opening car doors from the inside. In the affected vehicles, these locks can turn themselves off. [More]
June Recall Roundup: Not Even Buff Baby Can Save Us Now
By 6.28.13 — Updated: 12.18.13
In this month’s recall roundup, we bring you a chicken dance that will hurt your ears, buff babies, toppling bath seats, and machetes so sharp that they slice through their own sheaths. [More]
FDA Okays Two New Cigarettes Because They Are Just As Harmful As What’s Already Available
By 6.25.13
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009 gave the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco products. Since then, no new tobacco products have been released on the U.S. market, but that’s about to change with the FDA giving the green light to a pair of new cigarette offerings that the agency says are no better or worse for you than what’s already legally available. [More]
If An NYC Restaurant Isn’t Showing Its Health Inspection Grade, It Probably Failed
By 6.24.13
Three years ago, New York City began requiring that all of its 24,000+ restaurants post huge letter grades representing their most recent health inspection results, but more than 1,000 eateries that didn’t make the desired A grade are balking at going public with their report card. [More]
11 Tons Of Maybe Contaminated Ground Beef Recalled In Midwest And South
By 6.21.13
National Beef in Kansas shipped out 22,737 pounds of beef (about 11 tons) that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, a nasty strain that’s particularly dangerous to the elderly. Meat from the affected packages may have ended up at retailers and food service establishments in eleven different states. [More]
USDA Approves Label That Will Identify Products From Animals Fed A Non-GMO Diet
By 6.21.13
There will be a bit more transparency in the grocery aisle soon, at least for some products. The United State’s Agriculture Department has given the go-ahead to a label that will tout meat and liquid egg products as being free of genetically modified ingredients. This doesn’t mean, however, that the USDA is requiring all meat and poultry processors to do so, but it’s the first time the department has approved a non-GMO label. [More]
Chrysler Finally Agrees To Recall 2.7 Million Jeeps, Insists Vehicles Are Safe
By 6.18.13
Earlier this month Chrysler responded with a big fat “No” to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s request that it formally recall 2.7 million older model Jeeps, over regulator concerns that the vehicles could catch on fire when hit from behind. Today the car company announced that it’s relenting, and will in fact, institute the recall the NHTSA wanted. [More]
June Food And Drug Recall Roundup – Sulfites, Plastic Fragments, And Salmonella
By 6.18.13
Our monthly Recall Roundups have grown so expansive that we’ve had to separate them into two separate roundups: one for consumer goods, and one for consumables. In this edition of the Food and Drug roundup, dangers lurk everywhere, from coconut candy bars to sugary cereals. [More]
Burger King Customer Claims She Found Razor Blade In Cheeseburger
By 6.12.13
A California woman appears to have gotten lucky, noticing that her Burger King cheeseburger contained an unpleasant surprise before she took too many bites. [More]
Okay, Juice Box Mold Is Gross, But It’s Disturbingly Common
By 6.11.13
We can’t say for sure, but it’s a fair guess that the anxious parent who headed straight to the emergency department after finding a dollop of slimy mold in her daughter’s juice box is not a regular Consumerist reader. If she were, she would know that terrifying mold blobs are a regular occurrence in packaged food, especially juice. [More]
Costco Offering Free Hepatitis Vaccines To Customers Who Purchased Recalled Berries
By 6.7.13
We told you earlier this week about a hepatitis A outbreak in several states that authorities had linked to a berry mix sold at Costco stores. Now comes news that the warehouse chain is offering free vaccines to those who have eaten the recalled berries. [More]
Court Gives Females Of All Ages Permission To Buy Generic Emergency Contraception
By 6.6.13
There’s been a bit of a back and forth between the courts and the White House recently over who can buy what kinds of emergency contraception, or the morning after pill. The Food and Drug Administration had approved the one-pill brand name Plan B for any women 15 or older, which didn’t apply to other forms. But now a federal appeals court says girls of any age can buy two-step generic versions without prescriptions while the federal government appeals a judge’s ruling that any females can get Plan B, regardless of age. [More]
