Tag Archives: Consumer Reports

Foster Farms won’t budge. With nearly 300 sick so far, and antibiotic resistant salmonella strains linked back to particular Foster Farms processing plants, it’s time for a recall.

More than that, it’s long past time our nation’s food producers stop overusing antibiotics on food animals — a practice that makes our life-saving drugs less effective at fighting deadly bacteria.

Despite the government shutdown, we’ll get you heard on this important health issue! Send a message now, and we will get it into the right hands at USDA and FDA.

Demand an immediate recall and new rules for antibiotic use!

When antibiotic resistant strains make people sick, industry reminds us to cook the food more. Wipe everything with bleach. While these precautions certainly help, they don’t address the underlying problem.

Our nation’s meat and chicken industry relies heavily on the overuse of antibiotics to speed growth and help animals survive filthy, crowded conditions. Overuse spurs the emergence of antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’ on both the farm and in our communities.

That’s why we’re also asking that FDA finally take a strong stand for reduced antibiotic use in agriculture. The current outbreak should serve as a warning. Let’s make real progress before the antibiotics we need for human health no longer work.

Send your message now. We’ll get it to the right people, even with the shutdown.

And don’t forget — get rid of this chicken. Learn how to tell whether you have it in your house or if it’s for sale at your store.. Then forward this email to friends and family so they can check their fridge and join our movement to save our nation’s antibiotics for human health.

Sincerely,
Meg Bohne, NotInMyFood.org,
A project of Consumers Union, Policy and Action from Consumer Reports

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150 million wieners!

07/03/2013 Nativegrl77 1 Comment

Policy and Action from Consumer Reports

Hot dogs, apple pie and antibiotics.This Fourth of July, declare your independence! Sign our pledge, and join tens of thousands of consumers not buying meat from animals routinely fed antibiotics.

Did you pledge yet?

July 4th is just two days away, and you can still join tens of thousands of Americans pledging their independence this holiday from meat raised on drugs.

Why is this pledge so important? The Fourth of July holiday is one of the biggest weekends for meat sales (yes, 150 million wieners), and your pledge shows industry that consumers don’t want products from animals routinely fed antibiotics.

Take the pledge now, and declare your independence from antibiotics this Fourth of July!

You know enough not to take antibiotics everyday just to keep from getting sick, since it weakens their effectiveness for when you really need them. But most conventional beef, poultry and pork sold in our grocery stores come from animals routinely fed antibiotics to promote their growth or so they can survive in filthy feedlots, rather than just giving them medicine when they are sick.

All this overuse on livestock is contributing to the spread of antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’ in both animals and people. Unless we stop this practice, there may be a day when our antibiotics no longer work.

Congress has a bill before that would prevent routine dosing, reserving the drugs for when animals are sick. But ultimately, consumers like you can change the tide by not buying these products. And what better day to declare our independence than the Fourth of July?

Pledge this July 4th, and be part of the movement to save our antibiotics!

Thank you for pledging with us this Independence Day. And have a great holiday weekend.

Meg Bohne, Consumers Union Policy and Action from Consumer Reports

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This is crazy, Washington!

06/21/2013 Nativegrl77 1 Comment

Policy and Action from Consumer Reports

Here’s TJ’s number, call them maybe?

Their customers are calling, but Trader Joe’s still refuses to meet with us to discuss ending the sale of meat raised on antibiotics. The grocer says it listens to its customers, so we’re ramping up more calls. Can you call them, maybe?

To save our antibiotics, we can’t just wait for Congress to act. We have to go directly to grocery chains selling antibiotic-raised meat and get them to stop.

So we targeted Trader Joe’s, one of the nation’s most progressive grocers, to lead the way in the fight to save our antibiotics.

But after presenting a half-million of your signatures, sending thousands of emails, postcards and fliers – and running full-page ads in the hometown newspapers where they’re headquartered – Trader Joe’s management still refuses to sit down and talk with us about stopping the sale of this meat.

This is crazy! Now we need a little help from you to convince them.

Make a toll-free call to company headquarters today, and ask them to stop selling meat raised on drugs!

Trader Joe’s prides itself on listening to its customers. Since the company is headquartered in California, we recently put ads in the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle asking customers to call company execs and ask them to end the sale of antibiotic-raised beef, poultry and pork. The execs got a LOT of calls!

What did Trader Joe’s do? They dug in even deeper, telling callers they will keep selling meat raised on antibiotics. Pretty unbelievable for a company that claims to listen to its customers. The Pacific-Northwest is a major market for Trader Joes. Your call may be the tipping point.

We’re not giving up until they do. Help us keep the pressure on by making your own quick phone call — and let us know what the grocer tells you.

We’re tackling the overuse of antibiotics in our food animals on every front – including testing meat for drug-resistant superbugs, lobbying in Congress, and pushing industry and the marketplace to stop this risky practice. Join us in making a safer future for your family by making a call now.

Sincerely, Jean Halloran, NotInMyFood.org, a project of Consumers Union Policy and Action from Consumer Reports

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Top 3: Elizabeth Smart, “Lazy” Millennials,and Benghazi

05/14/2013 Nativegrl77

ELIZABETH SMART SPEAKS OUT AGAINST ABSTINENCE ED

THE BIG BENGHAZI DEBUNK

WHY TIME PUT A WOMAN ON THIS COVER

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There’s a reason industry doesn’t love us

05/13/2013 Nativegrl77

Policy and Action from Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports tests your food for serious risks like antibiotic-resistant superbugs on meat, and pushes industry to change. Your donation this week helps us do more of this work, and your tax-deductible gift is matched, increasing your impact!

We’re getting under their skin.

Consumer Reports latest investigation — supermarket ground turkey, and how birds that can be routinely fed antibiotics have more drug-resistant superbugs on their meat — made industry nervous, and made Congress pay attention.

We deluged Congress with more than a quarter-million messages demanding restrictions on antibiotics in food animals. We stood up to industry when they tried to debunk our findings. And we ran a full-page ad in Trader Joe’s hometown newspaper asking the grocer to lead the way and stop selling meat raised on drugs.

Now we need your help to do more! Every $10 you donate this week will be matched with another $5 to help us do more groundbreaking food testing.

Help us reach our goal with your tax-deductible donation. Whatever you can give this week will go further and get results!

As an independent nonprofit, we take no money from industry or government, and have no agenda other than your family’s health. With 80 percent of antibiotics sold in the U.S. used by beef, pork and poultry producers so animals can tolerate filthy, crowded conditions, we’re at real risk of losing the effectiveness of our antibiotics.

Your tax-deductible gift will help to research legitimate dangers like drug-resistant superbugs in your family’s food. It will help us push hard to stop these unnecessary risks to your health.

Now, a generous donor has agreed to help us raise more money for research if we can show consumers like you care!Your support today counts more than ever before.

Give your $10 tax-deductible donation, and we’ll get another $5 to do even more work.

If you can’t donate, we understand. But please forward this to friends and family so they can get involved with this important consumer movement. And thank you again for all your support!

Chris Meyer, Consumers Union
Policy and Action from Consumer Reports