Archive for 2009

Tagged.com: Add Sexual Assault Claim to Email Harvesting?

September 5th, 2009. By AbiK

“Tagged and Shagged?” could’ve been the headline for this one—but that would’ve been in really poor taste. Still, it’s at the heart of the story…

After posting about the Tagged.com lawsuit that was filed in California, along with NY State Attorney General Cuomo’s stating that he planned to sue Tagged.com for false advertising, invasion of privacy and egaging in deceptive business practice, seems Tagged.com has just been linked to a sexual assault case in Pennsylvania.

The Pittsburgh Tribune Review reported that a 51-year old Hempfield woman met some 33-year old guy on Tagged.com and they started corresponding via email and had actually met on two occasions. But the third time wasn’t a charm. Seems for the third hook-up, the man called her Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Tagged.com
Posted in Emerging Issues | No Comments »

Flies, Frogs or Rodent Hair in food? Here’s what to do…

September 4th, 2009. By AbiK

The recent news of frog (toad?) remains in Fred DeNegri’s Diet Pepsi sounded less than appetizing. But I imagine “alarming” would be the more appropriate word for it if you were sitting in Fred’s shoes sipping back that fizz-laden refresher and…WHAM! Frog in your face!

Most of us (ok, me) would’ve hurled the can across the lawn and screamed a few high-pitched obscenities. But, let’s step back a moment—just what are you supposed to do? Who do you call? How do you call Pepsi (or its bottler) to task? The DeNegri’s had enough sense to do the right thing, but many of us don’t.

Here’s a little primer on “who you gonna call?” when something’s in your food or drink that shouldn’t be… Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: FDA, food safety, Pepsi
Posted in Defective Products | No Comments »

Hopping Mad at Pepsi Over Frog in Can

September 4th, 2009. By Hunter West

Amy DeNegri is hopping mad at Pepsi. You would be too, if you found the remains of a disemboweled frog (or perhaps a toad) in your can of soda. Imagine the feeling, the taste, and the horror of popping open a can of something that has been hermetically sealed so that not even an organism can get in, let alone a frog, and finding more than you bargained for? 

That’s what happened to Amy’s husband. Fred cracked open a fresh can of his favorite refreshment in the backyard while tending the BBQ. Something any of us would do. And no one would expect what greeted Fred when he took that long, first swig. 

What did it taste like? He didn’t say. But it was bad enough that he gagged. You would too, given that the Diet Pepsi he took into his mouth had, for an incalculable period of time, been working to corrode and decompose a frog that had somehow wandered or was pushed into the can.  Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Frog, Pepsi
Posted in Defective Products | No Comments »

Alli Damage Control: Maybe it’s those extra pounds?

September 3rd, 2009. By AbiK

After recently posting about the FDA’s early communication on its safety review of Alli (aka orlistat) things seemed kind of quiet. The communication indicated that there had been reports of liver-related serious adverse events.

The Alli adverse event reports were low in numbers—especially when you consider that it was over a 9 year period. Regardless, there have been serious reports of liver injury. And once word came out about them via the FDA, Alli manufacturer GSK needed to respond.

So, GSK has begun its damage-control campaign—starting with yesterday’s press release that was carried on reuters.com with the following headline: “FDA states consumers should continue to use Alli”. That is a true statement—but it’s also standard operating procedure as far as FDA Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alli, Orlistat, orlistat-side-effects-orlistate-liver-damage-alli, Xenical
Posted in Drugs/Medical | No Comments »

Aurora Dairy: Either Moo-ve Out of Organic Market or Comply with Standards

September 2nd, 2009. By janem

Most everyone knows that buying organic anything is pricier, including milk. And we know how difficult and expensive it is for family dairy farmers to convert their farms to organic.

The big guns have also jumped on the organic wagon– much to the dismay of small, indie farms because a national surplus of organic milk largely created by these factory farm dairies has been driving down prices paid to farmers. And what we didn’t know is that they aren’t all playing by the rules.

This week the Cornucopia Institute, an organic industry watchdog, filed a formal legal complaint with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) alleging that one of the five industrial-scale dairies operated by Aurora, its High Plains dairy near Kersey, Colorado, is failing to graze their dairy cattle as required by the federal organic standards.

According to Cornucopia Institute, Aurora is allegedly primarily confining their dairy cows in giant barns and pens instead of being allowed to graze on fresh forage, and exhibit their natural instinctive behaviors, as the federal law mandates. When the cows are let outside they often only have access to substandard crops that are planted on an annual basis, and wither in the desert-like heat, instead of more hardy perennials that stand up to continual grazing throughout the growing season.

In response to a previous legal complaint filed in 2006 by The Cornucopia Institute, the USDA found that Aurora was in violation of 14 tenets of the organic regulations including confining their cattle to feedlots, instead of grazing.

Wake up, USDA! If I were buying Aurora Dairy’s supposed organic milk, I’d want my Moo-ney back.

Tags: Aurora, Organic
Posted in Emerging Issues | No Comments »