Consumer Protection

Pomegranate Juice Not All It's Cracked up to Be

The Federal Trade Commission is forcing POM Wonderful to stop exaggerating claims on their advertisements (see above). POM's main marketing campaign has showed that drinking the elixir from a bulbous, blood-red bottle can help treat heart disease, prostate cancer, and erectile dysfunction.

New York AG: Bronx Gas Station Charged $10 For Gallon Of Gas After Sandy

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman just announced that his office has notified 12 additional gas station owners of his intent to "commence enforcement proceedings" against them after he claims they jacked up prices after Hurricane Sandy.In one case, the A.G. says, a gas station in the Bronx ... More >>

Sorry Guys, POM Does Not Cure Erectile Dysfunction

Pom Wonderful Pomegranate products have long claimed that they can "treat, prevent, or reduce the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer, and erectile dysfunction." It may be loaded with antioxidants, but according to a recent judge ruling -- the claims simply do not hold up. The judge ordered POM ... More >>

Sen. Chuck Schumer Champions Push To Protect Privacy Of Smartphone Sexters

​Bad news, smart phone users: those penis private pics you snapped with your iPhone aren't as private as you'd probably hoped.Senator Chuck Schumer to the rescue.Schumer today announced that he's asked the Federal Trade Commission to launch an investigation into whether smart phone apps on Apple a ... More >>

Cop Shooter's Gun Could Have Been Bought For As Little As $30

​The revolver used in the shooting of Police Officer Kevin Brennan has a controversial history, and a reputation as a poorly made street gun that was likely passed from hand to hand over a period of many years and may have been used in other crimes before it got to would-be killer Luis Soto. ... More >>

Introducing 'Uptown Restaurant Month'; The 20 Worst Kids' Foods in America

​Jamawn Woods, the creator of Soul Daddy, which was the winning concept on America's Next Great Restaurant but failed miserably weeks after opening, plans to reopen in his hometown of Detroit. [Nation's Restaurant News] Tyson is recalling about 131,300 pounds of ground beef after a family in ... More >>

Government Subsidizes Junk Food; Ferran Adrià Goes from Molecular to Home Cooking

​A new report has found that a significant chunk of federal subsidies for commodity crops go toward supporting high fructose corn syrup and three other common food additives used in junk food. [LA Times] Food donated for a nutrition program became contaminated with pesticides in Peru, poisoni ... More >>

McDonald's to Add Fruit to Happy Meals; Now Even Our Dogs Have Fancy Butchers

​McDonald's is changing its Happy Meals to include a serving of fruit or vegetable and fewer French fries. The new meals will begin to be rolled out in September and should be implemented nationally by April. [LA Times] Dickson's Farmstand is one of the high-end butchers providing grass-fed a ... More >>

The Feds Confiscate Kinder Eggs, Putting Our Tax Dollars to Work

​The Consumer Product Safety Commission is taking the Kinder egg threat very, very seriously. Following its ban of the dastardly chocolate eggs, the CPSC spent last week raiding stores that carry them.

Olive Garden Remodels to Look More Tuscan; Hunts Point Produce Market to Relocate After Losing Lease

​Gwyneth Paltrow is everywhere these days and might be coming to a newsstand near you. The actress is rumored to be [groan] planning a food magazine. [NY Post] Olive Garden is remodeling 400 of its more than 730 locations over the next two years to look more like Tuscan villas. [Nation's Res ... More >>

Comfort Food Scientifically Proven to Chase Away Blues; Veggie Burgers Upgrade

​Comfort food is shown to chase away feelings of loneliness, according to a new study, which suggested that just thinking about foods from childhood can make people feel better. [Telegraph] Del Monte is recalling nearly 5,000 cartons of cantaloupes that may be contaminated with a form of sal ... More >>

Too Much Lead in Our Tap Water; Trader Joe's Recalls Cilantro

​City officials have advised residents to run their tap water for at least 30 seconds before drinking or cooking with it due to elevated levels of lead. [NY Times] Some tips for shopping at the local farmers market: go early, talk to farmers but don't try to haggle with them, bring enough cas ... More >>

Essex Street Market Soybean Sprouts Recalled Due to Listeria Contamination

Beware.​Government food recalls often seem to involve big, faceless industrial food monoliths, but here's one that feels a bit more personal: the New York State Agriculture Department has issued a recall for packaged soybean sprouts sold at Essex Farm, one of the produce vendors in the Essex S ... More >>

Ants on Happy Meals; Deli Meats Recall

​Brooklyn artist Elizabeth Demaray is feeding her red harvester ants McDonald's Happy Meals for 30 days instead of their usual seeds as part of an installation at Exit Art. [NY Times] Albany is starting to enforce a state tax law that calls for sliced bagels to be taxed (whereas whole bagels ... More >>

Purdue Calls for New Chicken Labels; Dairy Queen Seeks to Stop Blizzard Infringement

​The latest addition to the ever-growing list of food recalls: frozen mice. MiceDirect, which provides mice as snake food for pet owners, is recalling millions of frozen mice due to potential salmonella poisoning. [NY Times] Katie Holmes is flying in her favorite cupcakes, made by Todd Englis ... More >>

Sen. Chuck Schumer Declares (Booze-Funded) War on Hipster Booze-Juice

​You've seen them in your local bodega, deli, or drug store. They sit there, those brightly-colored cans containing malt liquor, sugar, caffeine, and mystique, waiting for the young and not-sober-for-long masses waiting to pick them up and drain them down their thin, thirsty gizzards. Sparks. ... More >>

E. Coli Tracking: There Is Now a Product Recall App

Follow E. coli here, there, any everywhere!​Can't keep track of whether it's spinach or peanut butter that's tainted with salmonella, or which industrial food product E. Coli's worked its way into week? The FDA wants to help. It's teamed up with the Department of Agriculture, the Consumer Prod ... More >>

Picky Eaters Get Some Attention; New Yorkers with Small Kitchens

​Picky eaters, who have long stumped medical experts because their behaviors don't fit the traditional eating disorder profile, can now report on their unusual eating habits with the first national public registry of picky eating. [Wall Street Journal] A new study reveals that children are se ... More >>

Uh-Oh: SpaghettiOs Recalled

First salmonella in the frozen foods aisle, and now undercooked beef in cans of squishy pasta: The Campbell Soup Co. is recalling 15 million pounds of SpaghettiOs with meatballs thanks to a malfunctioning cooker in its Paris, Texas, plant that failed to thoroughly cook the meat. The thing apparent ... More >>

Heidi Montag Gets Wet and Wild for Consumer Protection

Heidi Montag Says No to Plastic from Heidi Montag Heidi Montag doesn't want you to go through the same thing she did. She doesn't have a problem with you getting plastic surgery, however. She just doesn't want you to pay for that surgery with a credit card. What a heart of gold! In an effort to ge ... More >>

Pediatricians Want Hot Dogs, Other Foods "Redesigned" So Kids Won't Choke On Them

The Food of the Future! ​The American Academy of Pediatrics has determined that, despite the enormous number of frequently risible warning labels on everything, parents are still undereducated about the risk of choking ordinary foods pose for their small children. To address this, they have re ... More >>

Pediatricians Call for Hot Dog Warning Labels, Redesign

Robert SietsemaBark's pickle dog: little more than a heat-seeking torpedo bound for a child's airway.​ The American Amademy of Pediatrics wants warning labels slapped on hot dogs. Not because they contain sodium, fat, preservatives, and a variety of substances that may not actually be meat. No ... More >>

Sietsema and Others Muse on the Future of Food Journalism

In this month's Columbia Journalism Review, Robert Sietsema pens a feature on the history of restaurant reviewing; the importance of anonymity; the increasing number of writers not only identifying themselves, but also accepting free meals; and how food blogs and sites like Yelp have changed the lan ... More >>

The Future Is Bleak for Foodies; Forget Jared. Meet Christine, Taco Bell's Diet Poster Girl

​The latest food recall comes from National Steak and Poultry in Oklahoma, which is recalling some 248,000 pounds of beef that might be contaminated with a strain of E. coli. The meat could be linked to illnesses in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, South Dakota, and Washington. [ABC News] Wh ... More >>

New York to Get FoodWorks Food Plan Today; Rachael Ray Doles Out Illegal Food Smuggling Tips

​Babycakes' Erin McKenna uses garbanzo bean flour to replace white flour, coconut milk as a substitute for butter, and agave nectar as a low-glycemic sugar substitute. [NY Daily News] City Council speaker Christine C. Quinn will unveil a long-term plan on food policy today. The initiative, du ... More >>

Death Crib for Cutie: 1.2 Million Cribs That Suffocate Babies Recalled

​The biblical plague begun by The Strollers That Chopped Off Fingers continues with the Cribs That Suffocate Babies. Four infants have been killed by Stork Craft cribs, the side panels of which apparently and unexpectedly drop by themselves sometimes and suffocate their inhabitants. The U.S. ... More >>

Potheads Beware: Nestle Raw Cookie Dough Is Back

​Following the nationwide recall of Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough due to salmonella contamination earlier this year, the company is now putting its raw cookie dough product back on supermarket shelves. The new packages feature a special blue seal that identifies the cookie dough ... More >>

Small Fancy Foods & Big Spoiled Food

Spoiled food alert: The latest in food safety scares is JBS Swift Beef's expanded recall of 380,000 pounds of meat products potentially contaminated with E. coli. Some 24 illnesses in multiple states prompted the investigation in the products. [Newsday] Oh, no they didn't! The Nestle plant at the c ... More >>

More Food Recalls--Watch Out for Frozen Pasta and Alfalfa Sprouts

Another food product recall has been announced. Frozen meat and poultry pasta from Mucci's Food Products were prepared without federal inspection and sold in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. No illnesses have been reported. [AP via Google] Meanwhile, the FDA is n ... More >>

Peanut Board Funds Subway Ads; Food Safety Regs Remain Unsatisfactory

Spotted on the D train: one of the National Peanut Board's ads bearing its new slogan, "Peanuts: Energy for the Good Life." The ad could be for cell phones or anti-depression medication. It depicts a young man in a suit slumped on what appears to be a New York subway bench, clutching his phone as h ... More >>

Another Food Scare: Now it's Pistachios

More fodder for those who believe the FDA needs a total overhaul--another food recall! This time, it's pistachios. The recall involves one million pounds of the nuts, possibly contaminated with salmonella, produced by Setton Pistachios in California. The FDA recommends avoiding all pistachios and pi ... More >>

Fat Duck To Reopen

Heston Blumenthal's Michelin-starred restaurant, the Fat Duck, will reopen tomorrow after being closed for over two weeks following a health scare. The restaurant closed on February 24th after some 40 customers complained of being sick following meals there. The number of customer complaints has sin ... More >>

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Like this version of Tartuffe or get your money back

Moms Protest Toys "R" Us and Toxic Greed

Yaeger on the End of Bleecker Street

Bad Beef Eyed in Staten Island E. Coli Case

A Loan and Afraid

Times Squared

Beware the deals in NYC's land of lights, where bargains bite back

Paper Thin

Are Computer Warranties Rip-Offs?

Sticker Shock

The FTC Markets Censorship as Consumer Protection

The Incredible Shrinking Internet

When Cable Monopolies Rule the Web, Everyone Loses

Click Back

Privacy Hounds Bring DoubleClick to Heel—for Now

Crisis In Family Court

The City Gets Tough On Child Abuse and Neglect, And The Judicial System Staggers Under The Load