It’s American Heart Month (some sort of Valentine’s-related synergy, we suppose) so the Centers for Disease Control has issued its latest report on how much sodium — a big contributor to high blood pressure — we’re eating and where we’re getting it from. [More]
groceries
The Most Shoplifted Food In The World? That's Right, "Cheese."
By 10.26.11
The First WorldWide Shrinkage Survey is not about taking a scientific approach to a Seinfeld plot line. Instead, it measures shoplifting around the globe. “Shrinkage,” in retail parlance, is when people take things from stores without paying for them. And according to their study, the most shoplifted item in the world in 2011 was cheese. [More]
Save Money On Groceries By Avoiding Baskets, Carts
By 5.14.11
If your cupboards are anything like mine, they’re filled with food you have no intention of eating anytime soon and enticing snacks that you wish weren’t there. The reason you’ve got too much food is you were able to mindlessly toss too many extra items into your cart or basket. [More]
Walmart Says Vast Majority Of Its Products Are Made In USA; Experts Are Skeptical
By 5.12.11
The CEO of Walmart recently announced that a majority of the products it sells are made in America. But retail industry experts say that, assuming it’s even true, this fact is not a sign that the nation’s largest retailer is making a greater shift toward purchasing American-made products. [More]
Barilla Redesigns Pasta Package To Let Consumers Know That Pasta Package Is About To Be Redesigned
By 3.24.11
The redesign of a familiar package is apparently a frightening and confusing time for consumers. That’s why Barilla was kind enough to redesign its whole-grain pasta package in order to let us know that the package is about to be redesigned. [More]
4 Foods That Jumped In Price Last Year
By 2.9.11
Inflation can hit your refrigerator the hardest. Rising food prices amid stagnant salaries and a stiff job market can make it tougher to make ends meet. [More]
Walgreens To Get Into The Grocery Game
By 1.13.11
For years, Walgreens has been the place where you could grab some milk, chips or soda while picking up a prescription but now the drugstore chain wants to be more than an afterthought in the fresh food market. [More]
6 Painless Ways To Cut Your Grocery Bill
By 10.22.10
Grocery shopping takes a big bite out of most budgets. The average family of four spends nearly $6,000 a year at the supermarket. But you don’t have to. It’s easier to trim your grocery bill than to cut back on most other household expenses. Here’s how: [More]
Suss Out Fakers At Farmers Markets
By 10.12.10
As an undercover hidden camera investigation recently revealed, not every bearded and overall-wearing guy behind the stand at farmers markets is selling food he grew himself. Some of them just load up a local produce warehouses and sell it to you at a feel-good-about-saving-the-earth premium. So how do you tell who’s real and who’s shoveling you fertilizer? [More]
Los Angeles Farmers Markets Full Of Lies, Warehouse Produce
By 9.27.10
If you’re in California and need to make a little extra cash, why not buy a bag of baby carrots from the supermarket, throw some potting soil on them, and sell them at your local farmers market as fresh-from-your-farm organic treats? Okay, maybe technically that’s not permitted, but who’s going to stop you? An NBCLA investigation found vendors at several farmers markets were lying to customers about their produce, and sourcing it from local warehouses instead of their own farms. [More]
Consumer Reports Tastes Store Branded Foods, Finds Some Are Just As Good
By 9.7.10
Name brands exert a strong power over shoppers: 17% of us think name brand foods are more nutritious, even though there’s little nutritional difference between the two categories. Consumer Report performed taste tests on several food categories to determine whether name brands tasted better than store brands, and found that in some cases the store brands actually won. [More]
Don't Try To Price Match Online Deals At Walmart
By 9.3.10
Tony tried to get Walmart to drop its price for a car stereo by getting the store to price-match the item, which he found for much cheaper online. His Idaho Walmart, which Tony says has signs outside declaring it will “match any price,” turned him down flat, saying the ad needs to be printed in a newspaper. [More]
Does A Sliced Bagel Count As "Prepared Food"?
By 8.25.10
It’s generally understood among bagel buyers in New York that you won’t be charged tax on a sliced, untoasted bagel with no butter, cream cheese or any other sort of spread. But with the state desperately trying to deal with budget shortfalls, it is now expecting bagel sellers to charge taxes on these often-untaxed items. [More]
190 Tons Of Walmart Deli Meat Recalled Over Potential Listeria Contamination
By 8.24.10
A New York company called Zemco Industries has recalled 380,000 pounds of deli meat that it distributed to Walmart under the Marketside label, because it might be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Although nobody has reported any illness and healthy people aren’t usually in danger, listeriosis can kill old people, infants, and others with weak immune systems. [More]
Shopper: I Was Banned From Safeway Because I Asked For Large Chicken Breasts
By 8.23.10
A man in Colorado claims he was given the boot — and a trespassing notice that bans him from the property for one year — from his local Safeway. But it wasn’t over shoplifting or anything like that; he says it was all because of a misunderstanding about his poultry order. [More]
Barcode Scan Items To Your Shareable Grocery List With GroceryIQ
By 8.23.10
The GroceryIQ app for iOS and Android lets you scan product barcodes to add them to your grocery list, and even share them with roommates or family members. [More]
Whole Grain Wheat Thins Are No Healthier Than Regular Ones
By 8.4.10
Here’s a perfect example of why you should ignore what’s on the front of a product package and go straight to the nutritional info instead. Kraft’s Wheat Thins now come in a “100% Whole Grain” variety, which you might think translates into more fiber for your digestive tract. It even says on the front that one serving packs 22g of whole grain versus 11g for regular Wheat Thins. It turns out, however, that both crackers provide the same amount of dietary fiber and fat–and the whole grain version also has more sodium and is made with high fructose corn syrup. [More]
Coupon Use At Record High
By 7.22.10
According to a new report from coupon marketing company NCH, the volume of coupons redeemed rose about 8% from a year ago, and marked the seventh consecutive quarter of growth. The report also indicates that manufacturers are increasing the value of coupons but moving up the expiration dates. [More]
