Consumers Union of U.S. Inc.

Consumer Reports Study Finds Pork Teeming With Bacteria

Oh, you dirty swine. A new and alarming Consumer Reports study found that pork chops and ground pork are teeming with nasty bacteria that cause food poisoning, CBS News reports. Urvashi Rangan, Consumer Reports' director of consumer safety and sustainability, told CBS, "We found potentially harmfu ... More >>

Molly Munger's Prop. 38 and Anti-GMO Prop. 37 Draw Reader Response

Toxic Chemicals in Lunchboxes, Canned Foods and Rice: A Summary Tips for Parents and Non-Parents

Three recent studies have left some parents wondering if the cards are stacked against them when it comes to protecting their kids. New research on dangerous chemicals in vinyl lunch boxes, canned foods and dozens of rice products suggests that what we don't know could hurt us. Children are most at ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 9/17 - 9/21

In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "Rice, seemingly so bland and innocuous, harbors the same deadly poison beloved by Victorian mystery writers." Consumer Reports Warns of Arsenic in Rice. "At most regular restaurants, the communal table is awkward at best, ... More >>

Consumer Reports Warns of Arsenic in Rice

Rice, seemingly so bland and innocuous, harbors the same deadly poison beloved by Victorian mystery writers. In a new study, Consumer Reports has found varying levels of arsenic in more than 60 rices and rice products. Among the consumer goods that contained "worrisome levels" of arsenic were organi ... More >>

Arsenic Found in Organic Brown Rice Syrup Baby Formula

Arsenic is totally bad for you. Even if it doesn't kill you a la the classic "old lace" cocktail, small amounts have been associated with raising the risk for cancer and heart disease. Chronic arsenic ingestion in the young appears to result in dumb children (low IQ and "poor intellectual function") ... More >>

Food News Roundup: Donut Robots, Gingerbread Typewriters What To Do With A Million Coffee Beans

Flickr/jazzylolobaking Christmas cookies​Consumer Reports: Ways to conserve energy in the kitchen during the holidays. BBC News: Does your kid like to watch Hayao Miyazaki movies more than eating actual food? Maybe if you spent 2 hours making your kid's lunch in the shape of Totoro (or Barac ... More >>

Arsenic Levels in Fruit Juice Cause Concern

Flickr/Ben Garney​Thanks a lot, Mott's. Dr. Oz threw down the gauntlet a couple months ago when he commissioned a study that found that 10 of three dozen apple juice samples had a total arsenic level exceeding federal safety standards of 10 parts per billion (ppb). Now a new study from Consume ... More >>

Friday Food News Roundup: The McRib is Bad For You! Stop the Presses!

The McRib.​Here's all the uber-important food news on this happy, rainy Friday. The McRib is bad for you. Duh. [Time]The McRib is made from the same stuff used to make the soles of shoes. [The Week]The McRib is made from pigs that are horribly mistreated. [NY Daily News]. Slash loves food truc ... More >>

Something's Fishy on Your Fish Plate

Guzzle & NoshSea bass at a fish market.​Maybe the latest crime show spinoff ought to be CSI: Seafood. More than one-fifth of the nearly 200 pieces of seafood bought at retail stores and restaurants in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut weren't what they claimed to be, according to an investi ... More >>

BPA Found in Kid-Friendly Canned Foods

Campbell'sDisney princesses may contain toxic chemicals​ Disney princesses may be toxic, and not just for sociological reasons. New testing by the Breast Cancer Fund has found BPA (bisphenol-A) in six brands of canned foods marketed to children, with the highest level in Campbell's Disney Prin ... More >>

The Thursday Edition: A Roundup of Newspaper Food Stories

SapphireBlue22stack of newspapers​What's the country reading today food-wise? Here's a roundup of some of the food-related stories from other newspapers, many of which print their food sections mid-week. And remember, even if you don't actually buy papers these days (or not; this paper is free ... More >>

Consumer Reports Ranks Best-Tasting U.S. Burgers

RachellebAmerica's Favorite Burger​ Turns out Burger King -- and McDonald's, Wendy's and Jack in the Box -- no longer rank among U.S. burger royalty. Consumer Reports recently published a list of our 18 favorite fast food burgers and local legend In-N-Out got top honors. While obviously proud ... More >>

Apple Schedules Special Press Conference To Address Problems With iPhone 4

Gizmodo​Apple scheduled a press conference Friday to address a growing roar of discontent with its iPhone 4, which this week was found by Consumer Reports to have serious issues with reception. The San Jose Mercury News called the last-minute conference "unprecedented" for the normally quali ... More >>

Is The New iPhone 4 An Epic FAIL? Consumer Reports Gives It A Thumbs Down

Gizmodo​Hold on to your Ray-Bans, Echo Park hipsters: The iPhone 4 has been declared a FAIL by Consumer Reports magazine (via LA Biz Observed). It wasn't AT&T's new reaming digital data plan that will certainly put most monthly iPhone bills above $100. It wasn't the fact that the new phone ... More >>

The 10 Foods Most Likely to Make You Barf, According to the CDC

​ With recent food-borne illness outbreaks linked to alfalfa sprouts and romaine lettuce, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has re-released its list of what the group calls the top 10 riskiest foods regulated by the FDA, based on cases of illness reported to the Centers for Diseas ... More >>

Toyota Suffers Another Blow As SUV Deemed A 'Safety Risk'

ToyotaLexus GX in L.A.​Toyota's having a bad 2010. A week after learning that 200 lawsuits over so-called "sudden acceleration" and other alleged Toyota defects would be heard here in Los Angeles, the carmaker's North American leaders in Torrance woke up to the headline that Consumer Reports m ... More >>

Toyota Suspends Sales Of SUV That Failed 'Consumer Reports' Test

Toyota​Toyota late Tuesday announced it was suspending sales of its 2010 Lexus GX 460 SUV after Consumer Reports magazine reported it was prone to rolling over and declared the vehicle a "Don't Buy: Safety Risk." "We are taking the situation with the GX 460 very seriously and are determined t ... More >>

Starbucks Raises Some Prices, Lowers Others

The Starbucks Stops HereStarbucks has apparently jumped the price of its drinks that take longer to make while lowering the cost charged to customers ordering easier to make brewed coffee, cappuccinos and lattes. (Prices for added expresso shots and flavor are also going up.) According to the L.A. T ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 7/27-8/2/2009

In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "You want Americans to eat less? I have the diet for you. It's short, and it's simple. Here's my diet plan: Cook it yourself." As quoted in "No One Cooks Here Anymore," by Michael Pollan. "They locked me in a hotel roo ... More >>

Consumer Reports Tells You How to Store Produce: They'll Rate Appliances AND What's Inside Them

ConsumerReports.orgAutomatic coffee makers, 1958​I don't know about you, but when I was a kid we read the Sears, Robuck catalog, the Farmers' Almanac and Consumer Reports like kids now read Harry Potter or Manga comicbooks. Okay, the windswept prairie circa 1960-whatever was not a cultural Mec ... More >>

Critic-o-Meter: Grading, or Degrading?

Theater blog brings all the reviews together, for better or worse

Stage Raw: Critic-O-Meter

CRITIC-O-METER In case you're wondering what Rob Kendt has been up to in New York City, since leaving his post as editor of Back Stage West, first look no further than his byline - now Rob Weinert-Kendt. That's what a wedding can do. He's also been having bowls of matzoh ball soup at the Polish ... More >>

Huggy Hertzberg

Smart and out to break up L.A. Unified, this Valley guy wants to touch every voter in L.A.

Arnold the Republican

And he doesn’t appear to be just acting the part

Preying for Money

L.A. considers law to slam door on unethical loans

Hang On

Let’s not do away with the summer ritual of drag racing

Endorsements

SHYLOCK 2000

New Hampshire Scramble

The McCain firestorm, the Bush bust and the new Democratic divide

Our selections in Tuesday's General Election (cont.)

Our selections in next week's primary