Sweet victory for advocates: ‘Corn Sugar’ rejected by FDA – National Consumers League

Consumer advocates are claiming a victory today, as the Food and Drug Administration has rejected a bid by the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) to change the name of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) to “corn sugar.”

“This is an important victory as it upholds the principle of ‘truth in labeling’ for consumers,” said Sally Greenberg, Executive Director of the National Consumers League. “We applaud the FDA for acting as the ‘cop on the beat’ to ensure consumers aren’t misled by changing the name of High Fructose Corn Syrup to something it is not.”

Consumer groups signed a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg in April asking that the agency reject the anti-consumer name change.

The consumer letter called on the agency to “promptly deny” the CRA petition for the name change and noted that the FDA had received “nearly 5,000 comments submitted to the agency opposing the name change on a ratio of 100:1.” The groups urged the agency to act quickly because “FDA’s failure to promptly deny the CRA petition allows the trade association to continue to run deceptive marketing campaigns calling HFCS ‘corn sugar’ and confuses consumers who wish to avoid the ingredient.”

Sweet victory for consumer advocates: FDA denies Corn Refiners’ petition for High Fructose Corn Syrup name change – National Consumers League

June 1, 2012

Contact: Carol McKay, NCL Communications, (412) 945-3242, carolm@nclnet.org

Washington, DC—Consumer advocacy organizations today welcomed the decision by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reject a bid by the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) to change the name of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) to “corn sugar.”

“This is an important victory as it upholds the principle of ‘truth in labeling’ for consumers,” said Sally Greenberg, Executive Director of the National Consumers League (NCL). “We applaud the FDA for acting as the ‘cop on the beat’ to ensure consumers aren’t misled by changing the name of High Fructose Corn Syrup to something it is not.”

The groups—NCL, Consumers Union (CU), Consumer Federation of America (CFA), and Shape Up America! (SUA)—signed a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg in April of this year asking that the agency reject the CRA’s proposed name change.

The consumer letter called on the agency to “promptly deny” the CRA petition to change the name of HFCS and noted that the FDA had received nearly 5,000 comments submitted from the general public opposing the name change, at a ratio of 100:1  and urged the agency to act quickly because “FDA’s failure to promptly deny the CRA petition allows the trade association to continue to run deceptive marketing campaigns calling HFCS ‘corn sugar’ and confuses consumers who wish to avoid the ingredient.”

FDA rejected the CRA petition in a letter to the trade association made public yesterday stating that “we conclude that your petition does not provide sufficient grounds for the agency to authorize ‘corn sugar’ as an alternate common or usual name for HFCS.”

The FDA letter further stated, “The use of the term ‘sugar’ to describe HFCS, a product that is a syrup, would not accurately identify or describe the basic nature of the food or its characterizing properties. As such, using the term ’sugar’ would not be consistent with the general principles governing common or usual names.”

CRA’s petition, filed in 2010, asked the FDA to do several things, including amend the generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status of HFCS to designate “corn sugar” as an alternate name for the product.

“We agree with the agency’s assessment that changing the name of HFCS to ‘corn sugar’ would not accurately reflect the product’s composition and would mislead consumers,” said Urvashi Rangan, Director of Consumer Safety and Sustainability at Consumers Union. “Traditional sugar and HFCS are distinct and very different products.”

“Thousands of consumers wrote to the FDA urging the agency to deny the petition,” said Chris Waldrop, Director of the Food Policy Institute at Consumer Federation of America. “FDA’s decision preserves information on the ingredient label that consumers want to know.”

“Honest labeling is an essential part of reducing diet-related illnesses and diseases,” added Barbara J. Moore, President and CEO of Shape Up America! “We congratulate FDA for making a decision that serves to protect consumers.”

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About the National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

True cost of healthy eating – National Consumers League

By Teresa Green, Linda Golodner Food Safety & Nutrition Fellow

The Economic Research Service (ERS) has recently released a study entitled “Are Healthy Foods Really More Expensive? It Depends on How You Measure the Price.”  This study dispels a common myth: the myth that it is in fact more expensive to buy healthy foods than it is to buy junk food.

The authors of the study looked at price in several ways.

  • Price per calorie
  • Price by weight
  • Price by serving

Previous studies have shown that when price is measured the first way, that is by how much you pay for each calorie, healthy foods like fruits and vegetables are more expensive that foods like cookies and chips. However, this new study by ERS shows that when price is measured by weight and serving size, healthier foods are actually more affordable.

And really, price per calorie is a misleading way to think about this. Who, after all, can easily consume 500 calories of broccoli? It is much easier to eat 500 calories worth of sweets or salty snack foods. Unhealthy foods have more calories per serving than do food like fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Looking at average serving size, while still not perfect, presents a clearer picture of cost than does cost per calorie.

The major takeaway from this story is that it is possible to eat healthy foods and not break the bank. Even those with lower incomes can feed their families in accordance with MyPlate recommendations in a cost-effective way. The real problem is that, according to a new study done by the International Food Information Council, 52 percent of Americans think “figuring out what you should and shouldn’t eat to be healthier” is more difficult than doing their taxes.

Right now many people don’t know what to eat to be healthy and even if they do know, they don’t think these options are affordable. Education about healthy foods is the place to start if we want to conquer the growing obesity epidemic.

NCL files formal complaints with USDA about modernization act: bad news for consumers and workers – National Consumers League

May 29, 2012

Contact: NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Washington, DC—Today the National Consumers League (NCL), whose mission is to promote the interests of both workers and consumers, filed formal comments with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regarding the agency’s proposed rule “Modernization of Poultry Slaughter Inspection.”

In its comments, NCL expressed serious concerns over the proposed changes. Today, USDA officials inspect each bird that is slaughtered, checking for visible defects that could indicate food safety concerns. The agency’s proposed rules would alter this system, privatizing some functions and increasing line speeds to up to 175 birds per minute.

“We are concerned about several aspects of this proposal,” said Sally Greenberg, Executive Director of NCL. “First, that faster line speeds will result in decreased safety, for both food safety and worker safety.” One major concern is that the proposed rule does not mandate any training for plant employees. “While the agency has indicated it will issue guidance on training, the lack of standards for training could well result in uneven implementation and inconsistent levels of safety,” said Greenberg.

“With line speeds approaching an astonishing 200 birds per minute, we are also concerned about the safety of men and women working on the line, slaughtering and inspecting these birds,” Greenberg added. “Already at current line speeds, close to sixty percent of workers suffer from carpel tunnel syndrome. Increased line speeds will undoubtedly lead to even higher rates of injuries.”

“Because of our strong reservations over both the worker and food safety implications of this proposed rule, we urge the agency to withdraw the proposed rule,” said Greenberg. The National Consumers League joins other consumer groups, several unions and the National Council of La Raza in opposing the proposed rule and asking that it be withdrawn.

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About the National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

Happy anniversary, Script Your Future! – National Consumers League

Poor medication adherence is a $290 billion problem annually, with three out of four Americans reporting that they do not always take their medication as directed, and causing more than one-third of medicine-related hospitalizations and nearly 125,000 deaths in the United States each year.

This month, NCL, the United States Surgeon General, and health care allies are celebrating the first anniversary of the national medication adherence campaign, Script Your Future, launched in May of 2011. The Script Your Future campaign addresses the need for tools and resources to support improved medication adherence across the country and to open dialogue between health care professionals and patients about the health consequences of non-adherence.

To date, through its dynamic Web site, public service announcements, materials distributed directly to consumers and health care providers across the country, social media communities, text message alert services, local field organizers on the ground in six regional target markets, and its Student Pharmacist Challenge, the Script Your Future campaign has seen more than 300 million media impression and interfaced directly with tens of thousands of health care professionals and patients, many of whom have taken the pledge to take their medicines as directed at www.ScriptYourFuture.org.

If you haven’t already taken the pledge, there’s never been a better time! Celebrate the first anniversary of Script Your Future by taking a moment with a loved one to pledge to take your medicines and do your part to improve your personal – and our nation’s – health!

Pop on the decline – National Consumers League

By Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director

It’s hard to know whether there’s good news about American eating habits –actually, make that drinking habits, and not the alcoholic kind. It seems that consumption of sugary sodas – what I grew up calling “pop,” is on the downswing. A New York Times article featured one school in South Dakota that has banned sugary soft drinks entirely.

Americans now drink under two sodas a day, a drop in per capita consumption of about 16 percent since its high in 1998. Apparently a slow decline has accelerated in recent years because of health concerns and the variety of non-fizzy alternatives. As a result, the big soft drink makers – Coke and Pepsi – are busy at the food labs looking for alternatives, including several new versions of sodas that have half or less than the usual amount of sugar.

This decline in soda consumption ought to be good news, because soft drinks are the number one source of calories in the diets of Americans – more than cake, cookies, or pizza. And convenience stores and fast food outlets have huge cups – like “The Big Gulp” that encourage consumers to ingest hundreds of calories  in one sitting.

Experts are warning that 42 percent of Americans will be obese by 2030, rising from 36 percent today.

But nutrition gurus like our colleague Margo Wootan at Center for Science in the Public Interest are worried that soda will be replaced by high-sugar sports drinks and energy drinks, which offer their own problems. My teenage son has been warned by his dentist to stop drinking Gatorade, for example, because the combination of high acid on the tooth enamel and sugar is a nightmare on the teeth.

My cynical side believes that, despite the encouraging trends on reduced soda consumption, beverage makers will find ways to entice Americans to drink equally caloric or high sodium or high sugar and high sodium drinks. I hope I’m wrong and that the American love affair with empty calories in what I used to call “pop” is truly waning.

Ticketing gift guide for dads and grads – National Consumers League

Tickets are a popular gift as Father’s Day, graduations, and summer concert series fill the calendar. However, many consumers may be unaware that restrictions – and scams – could make giving tickets as gifts a big headache. To help prepare consumers, NCL and the Fan Freedom Project have teamed up to warn consumers about the most common online ticket-buying risks.

“Too often consumers meet with unpleasant surprises – from scams to restrictions – when they try to buy or give away event tickets. The last thing we want to happen is someone buying a thoughtful present for Father’s Day or a new grad only to find out they ended up with fraudulent tickets, or tickets that can’t be given as gifts, such as non-transferable paperless tickets,” said John Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud at NCL.

Tips for buying tickets as gifts
Use reliable sellers: Beware of fly-by-night ticket sellers. If you’re unsure whether a company is legitimate, check its ratings with the Better Business Bureau. If purchasing from a ticket broker, check to see if they are members of the National Association of Ticket Brokers, whose Code of Ethics requires members to adhere to basic consumer protections

Check your ticket vendor’s guarantee policy: For example, Web sites like Stub Hub, TicketsNow, Ace Tickets and All-Shows guarantee every ticket sold on their sites and will replace them or provide refunds to consumers if they receive the wrong tickets, their tickets are invalid or an event is cancelled. Craigslist and other online classifieds sites do not offer such guarantees; it’s “buyer beware” when shopping there.

Pay attention to URLs: When buying tickets directly from a venue, check the Web site’s URL to ensure that you don’t get duped by an imposter. For example, a Bruce Springsteen fan was recently tricked by a Web site he thought was for the Times Union Center in Albany, but was actually a resale site. Remember, even if a Web site looks like the official site, it may be bogus.

Read the fine print: Just because you bought a ticket doesn’t mean you can give it away. Some concerts and sporting events sell restricted paperless tickets, requiring the buyer to show up at the venue and present the purchasing credit card and photo ID. With such tickets, the buyer does not receive a physical ticket and cannot easily transfer these tickets. When buying paperless tickets as a gift, Ticketmaster recommends that you pay with the recipient’s credit card and reimburse them.For a list of artists and sports teams that use restricted tickets, visit Fan Freedom Project’s FAQ

Know the rules: Some venues limit the number of tickets you can buy. A Radiohead fan recently reported purchasing a block of tickets to share with friends. When she ordered more tickets as a wedding gift, the venue threatened to cancel both orders because she was over the four-ticket max. Some events may also require the ticket purchaser to attend the show to pick up their tickets at the “will call” window. If you purchase tickets for such shows but don’t plan to attend, the gift recipient could be denied admittance to the event.

Buy with a credit card: Regardless of where you buy tickets, be sure to use a credit card so you can dispute any unfair or unauthorized charges. Before entering your credit card information online, be sure the site has “https://” at the beginning of the Web site address. This means the site is encrypted and safer for use.

Be prepared to pay additional fees: Unlike airline tickets, which are now required by law to disclose all taxes and additional fees upfront, the ticket price listed at the start of the purchasing process will likely not be your final price.

Watch out for scholarship scams – National Consumers League

92_graduates.jpgGraduation season means optimism about a bright future ahead. Unfortunately, scam artist know how stressful paying for college can be and they’ve tailored a fraud to separate eager students and their families from their money: scholarship scams. As millions of college graduates don their caps and gowns this spring, advocates are warning them of the signs of too-good-to-be-true aid offers.Congratulations, graduates! Prospective college students often look to scholarships as a way to lessen the financial burden on parents and to avoid taking out student loans. Unfortunately, scam artist know how stressful paying for college can be and they’ve tailored a fraud to separate eager students and their families from their money – scholarship scams.

Scholarship scams prey on consumers’ eagerness to find ways to pay for higher education. They come in a variety of guises, but a common thread is that usually there is need for the victim to pay money or provide a credit or debit card number up front before a supposed scholarship or grant is awarded. A good rule of thumb is that if you have to pay money to get money, it’s probably a scam.

Other red flags when it comes to scholarship scams are offers that promise “guaranteed” scholarships or pressure to act quickly in order to secure money. Consumers should also be wary of services that offer to match grant seekers with scholarships (sometimes known as financial aid advice services), especially if they offer to apply for you or require a big fee. Some scholarship scams ask you to pay money for information you can get for free, such as the federal FAFSA form. There are any number of free sources of financial aid information, including school counselors, state education agencies, the U.S. Department of Education and the Federal Student Aid Information Center. Be careful, too, when you receive unsolicited offers to help with financial aid from people or organizations you’ve never heard of or can’t find reliable information about.

Resources

For more information about scholarship scams and other resources you can use, visit StudentAid.Ed.gov, the U.S. Department of Education’s site for free information on preparing for and funding education beyond high school. You can complete the FAFSA here, and learn about other FAFSA filing options here. You also can call 1-800-4-FED-AID.

If you think you’ve been scammed, file a report via:

National medication adherence campaign marks first anniversary – National Consumers League

May 17, 2012

Contact: NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Washington, DC—The National Consumers League (NCL), the United States Surgeon General, and health care allies are celebrating the first anniversary of the national medication adherence campaign, Script Your Future, launched in May of 2011. The Script Your Future campaign addresses the need for tools and resources to support improved medication adherence across the country and to open dialogue between health care professionals and patients about the health consequences of non-adherence.

Poor medication adherence is a $290 billion problem annually, with three out of four Americans reporting that they do not always take their medication as directed, and causing more than one-third of medicine-related hospitalizations and nearly 125,000 deaths in the United States each year.

At an event in Washington, DC today, the National Consumers League is convening the more than 100 Committed Partners of the campaign to celebrate the reach of the first year, honor Partners’ ongoing support for the Script Your Future campaign, and call for renewed commitment to expanding the campaign’s efforts. Rear Admiral Scott Giberson, Chief of the U.S. Public Health Service Pharmacy Category and Assistant Surgeon General, will represent U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, who will congratulate campaign staff and supporters for their successes via pre-recorded video greeting.

To date, through its dynamic Web site, public service announcements, materials distributed directly to consumers and health care providers across the country, social media communities, text message alert services, local field organizers on the ground in six regional target markets, and its Student Pharmacist Challenge, the Script Your Future campaign has seen more than 300 million media impression and interfaced directly with tens of thousands of health care professionals and patients, many of whom have taken the pledge to take their medicines as directed at www.ScriptYourFuture.org.

“Our national challenge is to prevent poor health outcomes and to become a healthy and fit nation. One way is for the health care community and patients to come together to address the serious issue of medication non-adherence,” said Dr. Benjamin. “As a family physician, I know that conversations between clinicians and their patients are key to patients understanding why taking their medication correctly is so important, particularly in chronic health conditions such as diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure. The tools offered through NCL’s Script Your Future campaign empower patients to talk with their health care teams about their medication questions and concerns. “

“Patients often have understandable reasons for not taking their medicine as directed, from concerns about side effects to the out-of-pocket costs of prescriptions to difficulty finding time to call or visit the doctor to get a prescription renewed, but the more a patient understands the impact medication has on their health, the more likely their adherence will improve. Script Your Future is working in communities across the country to encourage more conversations about the health consequences of non-adherence and to provide patients and their health care professionals with tools and resources to help improve adherence among patients with chronic conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, and asthma,” said Rebecca Burkholder, Vice President of Health Policy for the NCL.

Script Your Future has brought together stakeholders in health care advocacy, business, and government to help health care professionals strategize about better communication with patients and to offer practical tools for patients themselves to help them better adhere to their medication. The campaign has focused its efforts both nationally and in six regional target markets (Baltimore, Birmingham, Cincinnati, Providence, Raleigh, and Sacramento), where it is piloting interventions, outreach activities, research and advertising.

Script Your Future tools include free text message reminders, sample questions for patients to ask health care practitioners, medication lists, condition management sheets, and fact sheets on common chronic conditions. All of these materials can be found on the campaign website, www.ScriptYourFuture.org.

The Script Your Future wallet card, which provides a medication list, and questions for patients to ask a pharmacist or doctor about their medication, has proved popular with more than a quarter of a million disseminated to consumers to date.

“We give Script Your Future wallet cards to everybody we sit down with, every time we conduct a medication review. They’re perfectly convenient, simple to use and such a great tool to help many of our patients begin making a conscious effort to not only take their medications as prescribed, but live the healthy lifestyle they need,” said Patrick Devereux, PharmD. FMS Pharmacy, Birmingham, AL.

In the next two years, Script Your Future will continue to build on the partnerships developed and extend the reach of the campaign, on the strength of its 100-plus partners, and the on-the-ground outreach of field organizers in target markets.

To learn more about Script Your Future, visit www.ScriptYourFuture.org, or to get involved, contact Mimi Johnson at mimij@nclnet.org.

To view NCL’s digital report about year one of the Script Your Future campaign, visit www.ScriptYourFuture.org/YearOne.

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Script Your Future is a campaign of the National Consumers League (NCL), a private, non-profit membership organization founded in 1899. For more information about the Script Your Future campaign, visit www.ScriptYourFuture.org. For more information about NCL, please visit www.nclnet.org.

Hawaii teacher from ‘Iolani High School named 2012 LifeSmarts Coach of Year – National Consumers League

May 17, 2012

Contact: NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Washington, DC—The Board of Directors of the National Consumers League has announced the outstanding teacher, student, and volunteer coordinator of the 2011-2012 season with its annual “Of the Year” awards. Coach James Rubasch, a math and personal finance teacher at ‘Iolani High School in Honolulu, HI, was named the 2012 Coach of the Year, nominated by his students for his enthusiastic support and motivation. A student from Texas and the Kansas State Coordinator took the other awards.

LifeSmarts is a program run by the Washington, DC-based NCL, the nation’s oldest consumer advocate. It competitively tests high school students’ knowledge of consumer awareness, with subjects including personal finance, health and safety, consumer rights and responsibility, technology, and the environment. The 2011-2012 LifeSmarts season recently came to a close with the national competition in Philadelphia, PA, in April, where the NCL Board of Directors honored deserving individuals for their exemplary work and commitment to the program.

In his third year coaching LifeSmarts teams from Hawaii, Rubasch was nominated by his students for pushing them to learn LifeSmarts materials both for the competition and for the knowledge itself and for his emphasis on encouraging good sportsmanship.

Rubasch’s belief in the program’s value is apparent: “Lifesmarts is valuable for all young people.  All of the categories have critical information that help young people understand the world around them,” he said. “I would like to see it expand to more schools in our state and across the country. It begins with the adults – because the kids love it.”

“James is one of those LifeSmarts coaches whose success in making it to the National Championship is clearly due to his enthusiasm for and dedication to the program – and the way he uses that to motivate his students,” said Lisa Hertzberg, LifeSmarts Program Director.

2012 Coordinator of the Year: Angela Howdeshell, Kansas

Angela Howdeshell, with the Kansas Council on Economic Education, has been named the 2012 LifeSmarts Coordinator of the Year for her long-standing commitment to growing the program in her state. Howdeshell, who has been with LifeSmarts since 1999, has grown her program to be one of the states with the highest participation rate. Her annual state competition is an exciting event, and she adopted the Junior Varsity program when LifeSmarts launched it in 2007.

“We have now had students who have participated in LifeSmarts since 6th grade.  It has been fun seeing some of these students grown up and become great LifeSmarts fans,” said Howdeshell, who says her current goal is to expand the Kansas program to have a presence in each of the state’s 105 counties.

“Howdeshell’s state champion coach has credited her with being ‘the reason LifeSmarts is alive and well in her state,’” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “It’s people like Angela who enable NCL’s LifeSmarts program to successfully rear a generation of consumer-savvy teenagers who often outsmart their parents on issues related to avoiding fraud, credit and debt, and complicated health care decisions.”

2012 Student of the Year: Marissa Lozoya, FCCLA team

Marissa Lozoya, a junior from Friona High School in Friona, Texas, and captain of the national Family, Career and Community Leaders of America team, was selected as the 2012 Student of the Year at the National Championship in Philadelphia. Nominated by her coach as a leader on her team, in her FCCLA organization, and at her school, Lozoya was credited with organizing team practices, gathering research and study materials, and helping to spread the word about LifeSmarts to new audiences including her local school board and via workshops at an FCCLA leadership conference.

Lozoya says her three years participating in LifeSmarts has made her into the student she is today. Her determination and commitment to being successful in the competition has pushed her team towards success: “We decided as freshmen that we wanted to make it to Nationals. We finished second last year at the state contest and we were the runner-up in the FCCLA challenge,” said Lozoya. “We trained from the day school started until the day before we left for Philadelphia. We were happy that we qualified in the challenge.”

“Marissa stood out to judges as highly deserving of the 2012 Student of the Year award,” said Hertzberg. “She is a leader on her team, going above and beyond the role of captain. She has also been invited to join the LifeSmarts Student Advisory Board for the upcoming year, and we look forward to working with her and her coach Gayle Murdock, the FCCLA Advisor at Friona, in that capacity.”

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About LifeSmarts and the National Consumers League

LifeSmarts is a program of the National Consumers League. State coordinators run the programs on a volunteer basis. For more information, visit: www.lifesmarts.org, email lifesmarts@nclnet.org , or call the National Consumers League’s communications department at 202-835-3323. The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.