Entries by Lisa McDonald

CDC Guts Food Safety Net: A Dangerous Gamble with American Lives

September 2, 2025 in , , /by

September 2, 2025: Washington, DC – In 1736, Benjamin Franklin advised the people of Philadelphia that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Our famous forefather was talking about fire prevention but his words should now be directed to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which recently cut its Food Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) to track only infections from two foodborne pathogens, Salmonella and Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC).  

Guest Blog: What Protections Generation Z Needs from Artificial Intelligence

August 4, 2025 in , /by

August 4, 2025: Artificial intelligence is not on the way; it’s already here. It’s recommending your next playlist, filtering your job applications, deciding what shows up on your feed, and even answering your Google search. As AI gets smarter, faster, and more prominent in our lives, it raises the question: What is protecting my generation, Generation Z, from AI? 

Advertising sports betting with smartphone notifications: what NCL learned and how regulators can act.

July 28, 2025 in /by

July 28, 2025: Following the growth of online sports betting and increased data documenting associated harms, NCL has released its first report on sports betting companies’ advertising practices. The report focuses on sports betting apps and how they use smartphone notifications to advertise to consumers. After concluding its study, NCL believes that sports betting companies’ use of push notifications for marketing purposes may violate federal law as a prohibited unfair practice. The full report is available here.

NCL Report Finds Largest Sports Betting Apps Overwhelmingly Use Push Notifications to Advertise

July 28, 2025 in , , /by

July 28, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind report, NCL has found that 93% of smartphone notifications sent by the three biggest sports betting companies during a 4-week period contained advertising material. The findings are based on the collection of more than 100 notifications. To stop the flood of marketing, NCL is advocating for a prohibition on sports betting advertising, especially the use of push notifications for this purpose. NCL is not advocating for a ban on sports betting.

100 Stakeholders Call on the Trump Administration to End Assault on the Independence of the CPSC 

July 22, 2025 in , /by

July 22, 2025: Washington, DC— The National Consumers League, Consumer Federation of America, and Consumer Reports led a letter signed by 100 stakeholders calling on President Trump to rescind the unlawful attempted removal of the Democratic Commissioners at the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).  On May 8th, the Trump administration attempted to illegally fire Commissioners Alexander Hoehn-Saric, Richard Trumka, and Mary T. Boyle, who were later reinstated by court order.