To quote Sir James Paul McCartney (CH, MBE), “Can’t buy me love, everybody tells me so / Can’t buy me love, no no no, no.” You also can’t, according to the Food and Drug Administration, list “love” as an actual ingredient in your granola. [More]
labels
What’s In That Smell? P&G Will List All Fragrance Ingredients Online
By 8.30.17
If you’ve ever looked at the list of ingredients on a can of air freshener and wondered what, exactly, is involved in that “sea breeze” scent, you’ll have some more answers soon: Procter & Gamble is joining other companies in the push for transparency with a promise that eventually all of its smelliest home and personal care offerings will detail exactly what substances make up “fragrance.” [More]
Discount Retailer Stein Mart Selling Ivanka Trump Clothing Relabeled Under New Name
By 4.24.17
A number of higher-end retailers, including Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, recently stopped selling Ivanka Trump’s clothing and apparel line, citing slow sales. Now some Ivanka items are showing up on the less-glamorous racks of discount retailer Stein Mart, but without the Ivanka name. [More]
For Pepsi, “Guilt-Free” Means Diet Soda And Baked Chips
By 2.16.17 — Updated: 3.1.17
Like many other food companies these days, PepsiCo is trying to figure out how to appeal to consumers who have shifted toward healthier products. But while Pepsi is touting higher global sales, with 45% of the company’s revenue coming from “guilt-free” products — what exactly does that term mean? [More]
A Watch Made With Swiss Cheese Exists
By 1.16.17
There are many forms of protest out there, from songs to marches to sit-ins. But crafting a timepiece out of cheese? That’s one we’ve never heard of — until today: a Swiss watchmaker has created a watch made out of Swiss cheese as protest to show how easily the “Swiss-Made” label can be earned. [More]
Walmart Sued For Selling Mislabeled Welspun Egyptian Cotton Sheets
By 11.8.16
Two months after textile manufacturer Welspun was sued for allegedly fraudulently labeling its bedding as premium Egyptian cotton, Walmart — which sold and then pulled the products — is facing a lawsuit of its own. [More]
If You Bought Egyptian Cotton Sheets From Target, You Might Be Getting A Refund
By 8.19.16
Target is breaking up with one of the world’s biggest textile manufacturers, claiming that the company was sending it sheets labeled as “Egyptian cotton” that were actually made with cotton of the non-Egyptian sort. That means refunds for customers who bought the bedding in question. [More]
What Do Those Seals On A Dietary Supplement’s Label Actually Mean?
July 27, 2016
When you pick up a dietary supplement with a “seal of approval” from some organization or other, you might think, “Hey, someone vetted this, so it’s totally fine for me to take!” But despite words like “verified, “certified,” or “approved,” those seals shouldn’t be confused with any sort of official approvals granted by the Food and Drug Administration, and they don’t necessarily mean the product is effective and/or safe to take. [More]
19 Adult Beverages With More Calories Than A Snickers Bar
By 7.20.16
Many of the largest players in the beer industry recently agreed to finally start including calorie counts on their bottles and cans. While some some fans of these adult beverages might have an idea of how many calories they’re drinking down, others may be in for a surprise. [More]
Walmart Still Reportedly Misusing “Made In U.S.A” Labels
By 6.28.16
The Federal Trade Commission may have dropped its probe into Walmart’s misuse of “Made in U.S.A.” labeling last fall, but an advertising watchdog group says a more recent analysis of the retailer’s website found it continues to label products with the designation even though they were manufactured in other countries. [More]
Personal Care Companies Say It’s Not About What’s In Beauty Products These Days, It’s About What Isn’t
By 5.26.16
We’re used to seeing beauty product labels that tout special ingredients — this one has added vitamins for soft skin, that one uses a certain oil to calm frizz — but the new trend these days is focused more on what isn’t in those items. [More]
What Should I Do If The Prepackaged Produce At The Store Is Priced Incorrectly?
By 5.19.16
Some days it’s just easier to pick up a prepackaged meal from the grocery store; whether it’s grabbing a container of pre-cut fruit for a picnic or a plate of shucked corn for the grill, the pre-measured and individually packaged items can be convenient. But what happens when the weight of the container you snatched doesn’t match the price and weight on the label? [More]
Companies Agree To Stop Promoting Beauty Products With Synthetic Ingredients As “All Natural”
By 4.12.16
One would assume when buying a product marketed as “all-natural” or “100% natural” that said product wouldn’t contain synthetic ingredients like phenoxyethanol or polyethylene, right? Wrong. At least, that’s the cases for five companies facing action by federal regulators for allegedly making false claims about their products’ ingredients.
Judge: Beer Drinkers Can’t Sue Red Stripe For “Jamaican Style” Beer Brewed In The U.S.
By 4.11.16
Just because something is made in another country’s style, does that mean it has to actually be produced in that foreign land? Not necessarily, a judge said recently in dismissing a potential class action lawsuit accusing Red Stripe of false advertising, among other things, because its “Jamaican style lager” has been made right here in the United States since 2012. [More]
Would You Still Eat That If You Knew How Much Exercise It’ll Take To Burn It Off?
By 4.7.16
There are times when we feel like throwing caloric caution to the wind and just chowing down on whatever we darn please. But if the evidence is staring you right in the face, with cold hard facts about how much exercise it will take to burn off that food or beverage, would you change your eating habits? [More]
FCC, CFPB Announce Nutrition-Like Labels For Broadband
By 4.4.16
When the FCC narrowly approved the Open Internet Order a year ago, most of the discussion involved “net neutrality” — the rules against Internet service providers being able to block, slow down, or prioritize access to specific sites and content. However, the Order also contained new transparency rules requiring broadband providers to, well, be more transparent with consumers, which is why today the FCC announced a new labeling system to help keep consumers informed. [More]
Judge: Nestlé, Hershey Don’t Have To Put Child Slave Labor Disclosure On Chocolate Labels
By 3.31.16
While it might matter to some consumers that slave labor was involved in making that chocolate bar on the grocery store shelf, food companies like Nestlé and Hershey don’t have to disclose what kind of workers are involved in the production process on product labels, a judge ruled this week. [More]
Whole Foods Asks Judge To Put The Kibosh On Lawsuit Over “Natural” Label On Baked Goods
By 3.11.16
When it comes to products with labels reading “all natural,” are you willing to pay more than you would otherwise? Whole Foods customers who have filed lawsuits against the grocery chain said they paid a premium price for baked goods that were falsely labeled as natural, as they actually contained synthetic ingredients. [More]
