The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has issued an offer of settlement to Safeway Inc., claiming that it intends to sue the company if it fails to adequately notify its customers about the recall of contaminated foods. According to CSPI’s May 5, 2010, letter, Safeway has a club card membership program through which the retailer “can easily identify which Customers purchased products subject to Class 1 recalls, and then advise those Customers that they have purchased a product that puts them at risk of a serious health problem or death.” CSPI contends that Safeway’s competitors do this and that Safeway is engaging in “unfair and deceptive acts and practices by selling dangerous products and then failing to inform its Customers that they are at risk.” If the company does not agree to inform customers about food recalls by posting online warnings and in-store signs, as well as…
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This article details a new program in Baltimore that allows residents to order groceries online in two branch public libraries and pick them up there the next day. The Baltimore City Health Department launched the Virtual Supermarket Project to help combat the city’s lack of healthy, fresh food in communities where major supermarkets within walking distance are scarce. The libraries are apparently located in “food deserts” that lack access to healthy fare and where “the mortality burden from diet-related causes like diabetes, stroke and heart disease are among the highest in the city,” according to one epidemiologist. Patrons pay for the groceries with cash, credit or food stamps. The orders are filled and delivered by Santoni’s supermarket, a longtime Baltimore grocer. NPR reports that approximately two dozen people have so far signed up for the program, which is funded by a $60,000 grant from the federal stimulus package, and that…
U.S. Representative Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) is reportedly poised to introduce legislation authored by U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D N.Y.) that would provide $1 billion in loans and grants to help build nearly 2,100 grocery stores in areas around the nation that lack access to “fresh, nutritious” food. The Healthy Food Financing Initiative would reportedly create an estimated 200,000 new jobs nationally, including an estimated 26,000 in New York City. “Low-income communities face higher incidences of obesity and diabetes, and a big part of the problem is the lack of access to healthy foods,” Velázquez was quoted as saying. “This initiative is about empowering families to make healthier food choices so they live longer.” See Press Release of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, April 12, 2010.
Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey has announced to company employees that those meeting specific health-related criteria, including blood pressure, cholesterol, body mass index, and smoking status, will be eligible for an increased store discount. According to the announcement, the company spent more than $150 million in 2009 on employee health care, and the company is offering this “incentive” to lower its health care costs. Health screenings under the new program apparently began January 21, 2010, and discounts of up to 30 percent will be available to qualifying employees. The discount for those deciding not to participate in the program or those not qualifying is 20 percent. Meanwhile, Mackey, who voluntarily cut his annual salary to $1 in 2007, reportedly donated the after-tax compensation he received in 2009 from a previous incentive bonus plan to the Global Animal Partnership, a nonprofit organization developing new standards for the treatment of farm…
The U.S. Attorney in Sacramento, California, has announced that a former purchasing manager for Safeway Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of wire fraud “in connection with an ongoing federal investigation into various illicit activities in the tomato processing industry.” According to the announcement, Michael Chavez has admitted that “while working at Safeway, he received personal bribery payments” from a sales broker and director of SK Foods L.P. to steer contracts for processed tomato products to that company rather than industry competitors. Purchasing managers at other major food companies have also pleaded guilty to receiving illicit payments from the SK Foods broker. U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner further noted that the Justice Department’s investigation into SK Foods “has uncovered wide-ranging fraud with respect to the quality of tomato product that was produced, purchased and sold by the company.” Apparently, “SK Foods regularly shipped products which, while not a health…
The New York City Planning Commission has reportedly approved a proposal that would offer zoning and tax incentives “to encourage the development of full-service grocery stores that devote a certain amount of space to fresh produce, meats, dairy and other perishables,” according to a September 24, 2009, article in The New York Times. The plan would apparently relax zoning restrictions in some areas to permit supermarket construction and would include tax abatements and exemptions for approved stores in parts of northern Manhattan, central Brooklyn, the South Bronx, and downtown Jamaica in Queens. In addition, the regulations would require new store owners to display entrance signs stating that their establishments sell fresh food. Based on a similar Pennsylvania program, the proposal has purportedly garnered support from food policy experts, supermarket executives and City Council members, who must also vote on the plan. “This is about being able to walk to get your…
Whole Foods Market Inc. has reportedly announced a partnership with the Non-GMO Project to independently certify that its private label products do not contain genetically modified (GM) ingredients. A non-profit collaboration of manufacturers, retailers, processors, distributors, and consumers, the Non-GMO Project maintains a product verification program (PVP) “to scientifically test whether a product has met a set of defined standards for the presence of genetically engineered organisms,” according to a July 7, 2009, Whole Foods press release, which claims that “75 percent of processed foods in the United States may contain components from genetically modified crops.” Whole Foods products bearing the non-GMO seal must undergo a verification process involving “on-site facility audits, document-based review and DNA testing” for “any ingredient at high risk for genetic contamination,” such as corn or soy. “Since there is no regulation regarding disclosure on products manufactured with GMO ingredients, we are committed to helping our…
Reusable grocery bags and packages can apparently contain a high level of bacteria, yeast, mold, and coliform that can pose a significant food safety risk because of cross contamination, claims a new microbiological study funded by the Environment and Plastics Industry Council (EPIC). The study, reportedly the first of its kind in North America, looked at whether reusable grocery bags become an active bacterial growth habitat and breeding ground for yeast and mold after persistent use. Richard Summerbell, former chief of Medical Mycology for the Ontario Ministry of Health and research director of an environmental microbiology lab in Toronto called Sporometrics, was commissioned to evaluate the findings of the EPIC study. He claimed that swab testing of a scientifically meaningful sample of both single-use and reusable grocery bags by two independent laboratories found unacceptable levels of bacteria in the reusable bags, with some bags having detectable levels of fecal intestinal…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced its approval of a final consent order in its challenge to the merger of Whole Foods Market, Inc. and Wild Oats Markets, Inc. Under the agreement, Whole Foods will sell 32 of its supermarkets and give up unrestricted rights to the “Wild Oats” brand. When the agreement was announced in March 2009, FTC Chair Jon Leibowitz claimed, “As a result of this settlement, American consumers will see more choices and lower prices for organic foods.” Whole Foods and Wild Oats completed their merger before an appeals court finally agreed with the FTC that the merger could have anti-competitive effects and allowed it to move forward with administrative proceedings against the company. Thus, it was unclear until the consent order was filed what remedies could be ordered if the FTC proved its case. See FTC Press Release, May 29, 2009.
This article comprehensively summarizes the events and proceedings that led Whole Foods Market, Inc. to agree in March 2009 to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that its merger with Wild Oats Markets, Inc. violated antitrust laws. According to freelance journalist Jenna Greene, the two-year fight ultimately cost Whole Foods $28 million and resulted in a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision “that some fear will make it too easy for the FTC to effectively block future mergers.” She quotes an unnamed antitrust expert who opined, “so long as their lawyers don’t get up there and fall asleep at the podium,” the FTC will win is merger challenges. Apparently, a week after the Whole Foods settlement, a $1.4 billion merger between CCC Holdings and Mitchell International collapsed after it was enjoined by a federal district judge who cited the new Whole Foods standard.
