Consumer group asks FDA to halt ‘misleading’ nutrition ratings in grocery stores based on ‘secretive’ NuVal scoring system – National Consumers League

/in /by

May 10, 2012

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

Washington, DC— The nation’s oldest consumer group today filed a formal complaint with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about a nutritional scoring system – used in 1,600 stores nationwide – that gives Doritos Tortilla Chips and Ghirardelli “Carmel Turtle Chocolate Brownie Mix” higher nutritional ratings than canned peaches or mandarin oranges.

“The NuVal rating system is fatally flawed and should be discarded,” said National Consumers League Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “Its algorithmic formula – which is not transparent to consumers or the scientific community – results in snack chips, soft drinks, and desserts being given as high or higher nutritional scores than some canned fruits and vegetables. NuVal’s so-called nutritional ratings are a travesty that confuse, rather than enlighten, consumers. We need the FDA to step in and set industry-wide standards. Moreover, the FDA should not allow NuVal or any other flawed nutritional rating system to further confuse consumers who are trying to make healthy decisions for their families.”

The FDA wrote the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Food Marketing Institute in 2011 setting conditions for use of the trade associations’ “Facts up Front” labeling program. FDA, however, has not taken any public action in regards to NuVal, nor has it published any standard criteria for nutritional rating systems, resulting in a “Wild West” atmosphere that confuses consumers.

NCL’s letter to the FDA cites a myriad of mind-boggling NuVal scores; the higher the score, the more “nutritious” the product – according to NuVal:

  • Tostitos Light Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips made with Olestra (28)
  • Baked Lays Originals Potato Crisps (25)
  • Ghirardelli Caramel Turtle Chocolate Brownie Mix (22)
  • Raley’s Cut Green beans (22)
  • Chug Milk Shake Vanilla (21)
  • Doritos Tortilla Chips (20)
  • Diet Coke (15)
  • Edwards Singles Hot Fudge Brownie with Creamy Ice Cream (13)
  • Cracker Jack caramel coated popcorn (12)
  • Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies (10)
  • Raley’s Diced Pears in Light Syrup (10)
  • Dole Mandarin Oranges in Light Syrup (7)
  • S&W Yellow Cling Peach Chunks in Light Syrup (7)

NCL’s concern is magnified by the fact that the NuVal system is in widespread use. “These misleading ratings in stores nationwide call out for a response from federal regulators. We have to prevent systems like NuVal from spreading misleading nutritional information to consumers. If we don’t, we’re letting down the very people who need us most for nutritional advice: the parents, the seniors and the average consumers trying to get the most nutritional value for their dollar,” said Greenberg.

Read NCL’s letter to FDA, including examples of NuVal scores here.

###

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.

NCL comments submitted to Office of Surgeon General on the national medication adherence challenge – National Consumers League

/in /by

May 7, 2012 

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

Comments submitted by the National Consumers League to the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General

Washington, DC–The National Consumers League (NCL) developed and is leading Script Your Future, the first campaign to raise awareness among consumers, family caregivers, and health care professionals (HCPs) about the importance of taking medications as directed. Because of the variety of factors contributing to poor adherence and the complexity of the issue, a comprehensive, integrated campaign with broad public and private stakeholder cooperation is needed to provide consistent messaging and support to the consumer and HCPs.

The three-year campaign, which launched in May 2011 with more than 100 Partners, focuses on patients affected by three of the most prevalent chronic conditions—diabetes, respiratory disease and cardiovascular disease. The campaign includes a national communications initiative and targeted outreach in six pilot cities – Baltimore, Birmingham, Cincinnati, Providence, Raleigh, and Sacramento. 

To develop the campaign, NCL reviewed existing research and conducted a series of focus groups and interviews with consumers, HCPs, and family caregivers, to understand attitudes and beliefs about medication adherence, including reasons for poor adherence, and input on messages to promote adherence.

A common thread of communication resonated across patient types in the focus groups. Many patients do not understand their diseases or the consequences of not adhering to a medication regime, and may not recognize the benefits of their medications. Patients responded to the use of direct, factual language to detail the consequences of non-adherence, such as serious health complications and a restricted quality of life, as well as impact on family. While the reasons for non-adherence were varied – including the complexity of managing multiple medications, side effects, no discernible impact, and cost – realizing the consequences of non-adherence resonated with all patients.

Based on the research, Script Your Future is using direct language about the consequences of non-adherence, and provides practical tools and online resources that help patients and HCPs better communicate about ways to improve medication adherence. 

Periodic public opinion research both at the national and regional level is used to inform and evaluate the campaign. A national survey of 1302 adults and a survey of 1800 adults in the targeted cities conducted before the 2011 campaign launch found that:

  • Those who do not “always” adhere are less convinced of the importance of adherence and less likely to have had the consequences of not adhering fully explained.
  • Patients express a high willingness to ask questions and raise concerns about medicines with a HCP, but when asked directly, many admit communication is infrequent.
  • Patients view question lists, automatic refills, reduced co-pays, and pill boxes as the most useful tools to improve adherence

These survey findings confirm the campaign’s emphasis on communicating the consequences of poor adherence, promoting conversations between HCPs and patients, and providing practical tools to support adherence.

It is important that government continue to play an active part in the improvement of adherence, as this multi-faceted issue does not have a single organization “owning” the problem nor a single solution, thus requiring all stakeholders to come together and work collaboratively.

###

 

BOSS ACT promises transparency for live event industry – National Consumers League

/in /by

May 4, 2012

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

Washington, DC – The National Consumers League, the nation’s pioneering consumer advocacy organization, today released the following statement regarding U.S. Congressman Bill Pascrell for his plans to protect consumers by reintroducing the Better Oversight of Secondary Sales and Accountability in Concert Ticketing Act (“BOSS ACT”). The following statement is attributable to John Breyault, NCL Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud:

“Sunshine is the best antiseptic for an opaque industry where the lack of information has given rise to a variety of anti-consumer practices. The average consumer has mattered far too little for far too long to the powerful interests that control the live event industry. The BOSS ACT has a number of good provisions that empower the ticket-buying public.  Restrictive paperless ticketing, speculative ticket reselling, undisclosed ticket holdbacks, and ticket-buying ‘bots,’ are all issues that the BOSS ACT will address to the benefit of consumers. We applaud Congressman Pascrell for his continued leadership on this issue.”

###

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.

Child Labor Coalition: Withdrawal of Occupational Child Safety Rules Will Risk Children’s Lives on Farms – National Consumers League

/in /by

April 30, 2012

Contact: Reid Maki, (202) 207-2820, reidm@nclnet.org

Washington, DC–The 28 members of the Child Labor Coalition (CLC) and the millions of Americans they represent warn that the Department of Labor’s recent withdrawal of occupational child safety rules for agriculture will needlessly endanger children who work for wages in agriculture.

“Agriculture is by far the most dangerous industry that large numbers of teens are allowed to work in,” said Sally Greenberg, Co-Chair of the Child Labor Coalition and the Executive Director of the National Consumers League. “Nearly 100 kids are killed on farms each year. In 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 12 of the 16 children under age 16 who suffered fatal occupational injuries worked in crop production. For agricultural workers age 15 to 17, the risk of fatal injury is four times the risk for young workers in other workplaces. The Department of Labor’s sensible recommendations–based on years of research indicating the jobs in which teen injuries and deaths occur–sought to protect these hired farmworkers. Unfortunately, the proposed rules fell victim to misinformation and exaggeration from the farm lobby.”

“The U.S. Labor Department has caved in to Big Agriculture and its allies in Congress to abandon the most vulnerable working children in America,” said Zama Coursen-Neff, Deputy Children’s Rights Director at CLC member Human Rights Watch. “Instead of protecting child farmworkers, the Labor Department will look the other way when children get crushed, suffocated, and poisoned on the job.”

“We are profoundly disappointed the Administration will not be pursuing the proposed protections for children employed in agriculture,” said David Strauss, Executive Director of CLC member the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP). “These were common sense protections that would have saved many children’s lives.”

CLC members warn that the withdrawal will mean that one of the nation’s most vulnerable populations–migrant farmworker children–will continue to be exposed to farm dangers that other child workers do not face. “Farm work for many children is not a vocation,” said Norma Flores Lopez, Director of the Children in the Fields Campaign at AFOP. “The children of farmworkers will continue to be put in jeopardy to harvest America’s food. The rules withdrawal will leave them exposed and unprotected.”

“Children’s advocates expect better from national leaders than caving to political pressure from special interests and their lobbyists, when the facts are crystal clear and children’s lives are on the line,” said First Focus Campaign for Children President Bruce Lesley. “Members of Congress who are committed to putting children’s lives ahead of politics should overrule this decision by demanding legislation, like the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (H.R. 2234), that increases protections for children working on farms.” 

“We owe it to our children to give them every opportunity to thrive, and to keep them out of harm’s way,” said Lorretta Johnson, Secretary Treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers and Co-Chair of the CLC. “It is our responsibility to educate the whole child. This means looking after the wellbeing of our children in and out of the classroom. We can not afford to let political pressure keep us from fulfilling this responsibility.”

The CLC estimates that the withdrawal of hazardous work rules for agriculture will lead to the loss of 50 to 100 lives over the next decade. More than 150 advocacy groups, including numerous health and safety organizations, farmworker advocates, and labor unions, have endorsed the child safety rules (a list may be found at www.stopchildlabor.org).

### 

About the Child Labor Coalition

The Child Labor Coalition is comprised of 28 organizations, representing consumers, labor unions, educators, human rights and labor rights groups, child advocacy groups, and religious and women’s groups. It was established in 1989, and is co-chaired by the National Consumers League and the American Federation of Teachers. Its mission is to protect working youth and to promote legislation, programs, and initiatives to end child labor exploitation in the United States and abroad. For more information, please call CLC Coordinator Reid Maki at (202) 207-2820 [reidm@nclnet.org].

NCL: Withdrawal of Proposed Occupational Child Safety Rules for Agriculture Will Endanger Children Working on Farms – National Consumers League

/in /by

April 27, 2012

Contact: Reid Maki, (202) 207-2820, reidm@nclnet.org

Washington, DC–Those of us concerned with the safety and welfare of children and teens working in agriculture are deeply disappointed by the Department of Labor’s decision to pull back on its effort to protect kids on farms. “The all-out campaign of misinformation and distortion about the Department of Labor’s long overdue and important proposal to protect children working on farms will have an impact for years to come,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL’s executive director and a co-chair of the Child Labor Coalition, 28 organizations committed to protecting children from exploitative or dangerous work.

“Agriculture is by far the most dangerous industry that large numbers of teens are allowed to work in,” said Greenberg. “Nearly 100 kids are killed performing hazardous farm work each year. Many of those kids work for wages. The Department of Labor’s sensible recommendations–based on years of research indicating the jobs in which teen injuries and deaths occur–sought to protect them. Unfortunately, the proposed rules fell victim to misinformation and exaggeration from groups like the National Farm Bureau and others that should know better.” 

The reality is that agricultural work for teens is extremely dangerous:

  • Between 1995 and 2002, an estimated 907 youths died on American farms, well over 100 per year. (National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health)
  • Last year, 12 of the 16 children under age 16 who suffered fatal occupational injuries worked in crop production. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
  • Between 1992 and 2000, more than four in 10 work-related fatalities of young workers occurred on farms.
  • Half of the fatalities in agriculture involved youth under age 15.
  • Just this past August, Oklahoma teens Tyler Zander and Bryce Gannon, both 17, each lost a leg in a grain auger accident. This accident would have been prevented by the proposed rules.
  • For agricultural workers 15 to 17, the risk of fatal injury is four times the risk for young workers in other workplaces, according to DOL’s Bureau of Labor Statistics 

In the U.S., children who work on their parent’s farms are exempt from child labor laws. They can perform any task at any age. Other exemptions allow children to work for wages on other farms at the age of 12—and sometimes even younger. DOL’s proposed rules would have restricted youth from working in only the most dangerous tasks, allowing them to perform a wide array of farm jobs. Teens working in 4H or other educational and training programs were exempted under the regulations as well.

“The Department of Labor made every effort to be reasonable and flexible in proposing these safety regulations,” said Reid Maki, NCL’s Director of Social Responsibility and Fair Labor Standards and the coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition. “The rules continued to exempt kids working on their family farms and DOL indicated that the final rules would be expanded to exempt kids working the farms of relatives.” 

More than 150 groups supported the proposed child safety rules. A list of those organizations can be found at www.stopchildlabor.org. 

“We waited four decades for these badly needed safety updates and now they have been blocked by an overheated and exaggerated campaign of misinformation that trivialized critically-needed safety protections,” added Maki. “We estimate that 50-100 children could lose their lives without the added protections these rules provided.” 

### 

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.

NCL PRESS RELEASE: Withdrawal of Proposed Occupational Child Safety Rules for Agriculture Will Endanger Children Working on Farms – National Consumers League

/in /by

For immediate release: April 27, 2012
Contact: Reid Maki, (202) 207-2820, reidm@nclnet.org

Those of us concerned with the safety and welfare of children and teens working in agriculture are deeply disappointed by the Department of Labor’s decision to pull back on its effort to protect kids on farms.  “The all-out campaign of misinformation and distortion about the Department of Labor’s long overdue and important proposal to protect children working on farms will have an impact for years to come,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL’s executive director and a co-chair of the Child Labor Coalition, 28 organizations committed to protecting children from exploitative or dangerous work. 

“Agriculture is by far the most dangerous industry that large numbers of teens are allowed to work in,” said Greenberg. “Nearly 100 kids are killed performing hazardous farm work each year. Many of those kids work for wages. The Department of Labor’s sensible recommendations–based on years of research indicating the jobs in which teen injuries and deaths occur–sought to protect them. Unfortunately, the proposed rules fell victim to misinformation and exaggeration from groups like the National Farm Bureau and others that should know better.”

The reality is that agricultural work for teens is extremely dangerous: 

  • Between 1995 and 2002, an estimated 907 youths died on American farms, well over 100 per year. (National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health)  
  • Last year, 12 of the 16 children under age 16 who suffered fatal occupational injuries worked in crop production. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
  • Between 1992 and 2000, more than four in 10 work-related fatalities of young workers occurred on farms. 
  • Half of the fatalities in agriculture involved youth under age 15.
  • Just this past August, Oklahoma teens Tyler Zander and Bryce Gannon, both 17, each lost a leg in a grain auger accident. This accident would have been prevented by the proposed rules.
  • For agricultural workers 15 to 17, the risk of fatal injury is four times the risk for young workers in other workplaces, according to DOL’s Bureau of Labor Statistics

In the U.S., children who work on their parent’s farms are exempt from child labor laws. They can perform any task at any age. Other exemptions allow children to work for wages on other farms at the age of 12—and sometimes even younger. DOL’s proposed rules would have restricted youth from working in only the most dangerous tasks, allowing them to perform a wide array of farm jobs. Teens working in 4H or other educational and training programs were exempted under the regulations as well.

“The Department of Labor made every effort to be reasonable and flexible in proposing these safety regulations,” said Reid Maki, NCL’s Director of Social Responsibility and Fair Labor Standards and the coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition. “The rules continued to exempt kids working on their family farms and DOL indicated that the final rules would be expanded to exempt kids working the farms of relatives.”

More than 150 groups supported the proposed child safety rules. A list of those organizations can be found at www.stopchildlabor.org.

“We waited four decades for these badly needed safety updates and now they have been blocked by an overheated and exaggerated campaign of misinformation that trivialized critically-needed safety protections,” added Maki. “We estimate that 50-100 children could lose their lives without the added protections these rules provided.”

###

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.

NCL congratulates HSUS and Burger King on move to cage-free eggs – National Consumers League

/in /by

April 25, 2012

Contact: NCL Communications, (412) 945-3242, media@nclnet.org

Washington, DC–The National Consumers League (NCL), the oldest consumer advocacy organization in the nation, congratulates the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Burger King for reaching an agreement which would phase out cages in egg production over the next five years.

Research has shown that cage-free eggs have lower rates of foodborne illnesses, such as salmonella and campylobacter. This is due to several factors, including lower levels of stress for laying hens. “Consumers demand the highest levels of food safety available,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL’s executive director.

“Increasingly research is showing that cage-free is the best way to go,” said Teresa Green, the Linda Golodner Food Safety and Nutrition Fellow at NCL.

While Burger King has shown leadership on this issue, there are still many companies that have not switched to cage free-eggs. NCL urges these companies to follow the research of HSUS and leadership of Burger King on this issue and to consider switching methods of production. “All companies should work to make food as safe for consumers as possible,” added Greenberg.

###

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.

Maryland takes 2012 national LifeSmarts title – National Consumers League

/in /by

April 24, 2012

Contact: Carol McKay, (724) 799-5392, carolm@nclnet.org

Philadelphia, PA—The student team from Frederick, MD was crowned national LifeSmarts champions in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, April 24. After a tough final match against the second-place team from Jacksonville, FL, the teens from the Maryland Home Schoolers outscored their opponents and did it with great sportsmanship. Teams from Pennsylvania and Rhode Island placed third.

“We are so proud of these students from Maryland, who represented their state program with class and pride,” said LifeSmarts Program Director Lisa Hertzberg. “They played hard and demonstrated their consumer smarts throughout the four-day event. They are true LifeSmarts champions.”

LifeSmarts is a program run by the Washington, DC-based National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s oldest consumer advocate. It competitively tests high school students’ knowledge of coansumer awareness, with subjects including personal finance, health and safety, consumer rights and responsibility, technology, and the environment.

Teens from each of the 32 state champion teams represented at nationals competed as individuals, and the top five scorers received $500 scholarships from NCL. This year’s winners were:

 

  • Environment: Morgan Macumber, AZ

 

  • Personal Finance: Christopher Carsey, AZ

 

  • Health and Safety: Maura Taylor, MD

 

  • Consumer Rights and Responsibilities: Noah Shute, AZ

 

  • Technology: Nathaniel Anderson, TN

“NCL’s LifeSmarts program is allowing us to 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,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. In the 18 years that LifeSmarts has been educating high school and middle school teens on consumer issues, it has grown dramatically, with more than 3 million consumer questions at www.lifesmarts.org in the online competition during the 2011-2012 academic year.

Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden addressed the consumer savvy state teams and helped crown Maryland the 2012 National LifeSmarts Champions. “I’d like to start by congratulating the winners from the state of Maryland who I had the privilege of sitting with. Congratulations, Maryland.”

Biden applauded the state champion teams for “being so engaged and educated about your finances and how to be a good consumer and how to teach your brothers and sisters and classmates and sometimes your parents. You have to know what your rights are, and what you’re entitled to. We deal with people all the time who don’t feel empowered to question the negative answer or nonresponse. Behind the 10,000 or so complaints my office receives are, I’m confident, many times more citizens who don’t know what their rights are. That’s why what we do here is so critical, not just for young people but for old people.

For team photos, event schedules, grid standings, and more, log on to the official event blog.

All winners at the national LifeSmarts Competition received valuable prizes donated by sponsors to the National Consumers League, including scholarships, savings bonds, gift cards, and more. To learn more about the program, contact NCL’s Lisa Hertzberg at 202-835-3323. For a complete listing of this year’s prizes, visit www.lifesmarts.org.

###

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.

Saving Children’s Lives on American Farms – National Consumers League

/in /by

April 19, 2012

Contact: Ayrianne Parks, AFOP, parks@afop.org (202) 579-7445

Washington, DC—Today, the Child Labor Coalition (CLC) held a press conference to dispel some of the misinformation surrounding the Department of Labor’s recently proposed safety updates to the rules governing child labor in agriculture.  The updates would be the first change in 41 years. A panel of experts from the advocacy, education, health and agriculture communities discussed the rules’ potential impact on children’s health and safety. Testimony was also shared by Catherine Rylatt, the aunt of Alex Pacas, a young man who was killed in the 2010 grain engulfment that killed 14-year-old Wyatt Whitebread.

Ms. Rylatt recounted the details shared with her by a friend of her nephew who survived. She said that as the boys were working to break up the corn, “Wyatt started sinking; he was yelling ‘Help me, help me!’” His young coworkers tried to save him. Alex, her nephew, lost his life as well. She went on to note that after the tragedy, “Chris, the 15-year-old who witnessed the death of his 14-year-old friend, kept saying ‘I should have stayed; I should have stayed and helped.’ He doesn’t understand if he had stayed, he would have been dead, too.”

Other experts who provided insight on the proposed updates, included:  Lorretta Johnson, Co-Chair of the CLC and Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT); Norma Flores López, Chair of the CLC’s Committee on Domestic Issues and Director of the Children in the Fields Campaign at the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs (AFOP), and a former child farmworker; Dr. Sammy Almashat, M.D., M.P.H., Research Associate at Public Citizen; and Bruce Lesley, President of First Focus, a national children’s advocacy organization.

“The American Federation of Teachers believes that it is our responsibility to educate the ‘whole child,’” said Ms. Johnson, who opened the press conference. “This means looking after the well-being of our children, in and out of the classroom. The updates proposed by the Department of Labor are common sense changes that are designed to preserve the safety of children who work on America’s farms.” That sentiment was echoed throughout the press conference.

“As a child working in the fields, I was exposed to dangerous pesticides and machinery. While I was fortunate not to be seriously injured while working, that is not the case for many,” said Ms. Flores López. “That also doesn’t mean I’m in the clear. As a farmworker advocate, I know there are many other serious long-term health consequences associated with pesticides that may affect me in the future.”

Each of the speakers discussed the hazardous orders from their respective areas of expertise. Agriculture, which is consistently ranked as one of the three most dangerous industries for all workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is especially perilous for children.  In 2010, three-quarters of the children under age 16 who died while working for wages were killed while working on farms.

“From a medical perspective, we know that children are more vulnerable than adults to the myriad hazards encountered on a farm. A child’s mental capacity and judgment is not as fully developed as it is in an adult,” said Dr. Almashat. “As doctors well know, children are not little adults. Their bodies are structured fundamentally differently, leaving them uniquely vulnerable to a number of different hazards.”

The agribusiness and the farm lobby have voiced strong opposition to the protections, resulting in Members of Congress introducing legislation in the House and Senate to block the implementation of the protections. The bills, called “Preserving America’s Family Farm Act,” are not supported by all in the agriculture community though. In a press release the National Farmers Union, while not comfortable with all aspects of the proposed rules, has voiced support for the Secretary’s efforts to better protect farmworker children. At the end of the press conference, National Consumers League Executive Director and CLC Co-Chair Sally Greenberg read a statement prepared by Bryce Oates, a grower from Missouri who recently authored a post with a fellow family farmer Jake Davis, expressing disgust over the untruths being spread about the rules in Footprint Magazine.

“The longer we wait to finalize these protections, the longer kids’ lives are in danger. Children’s safety and well-being must be the number one priority,” said Mr. Lesley. “As children’s advocates, we can accept nothing less.”

###

About the Child Labor Coalition

The Child Labor Coalition is composed of 28 organizations, representing consumers, labor unions, educators, human rights and labor rights groups, child advocacy groups, and religious and women’s groups. It was established in 1989, and is co-chaired by the National Consumers League and the American Federation of Teachers. Its mission is to protect working youth and to promote legislation, programs, and initiatives to end child labor exploitation in the United States and abroad. A list of the CLC members may be found at www.stopchildlabor.org.

Leading national consumer groups urge FDA to promptly deny industry petition to call high fructose corn syrup ‘corn sugar’ – National Consumers League

/in /by

April 17, 2012

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

Washington, DC – In a letter sent to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today, the National Consumers League, Consumers Union, the Consumer Federation of America, and Shape Up America!, called on the agency to “promptly deny” the Corn Refiners Association’s (CRA) petition to change the name of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS).

The groups told the FDA that nearly 5,000 comments submitted to the agency oppose the name change on a ratio of 100:1. The consumer organizations’ letter also states that 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.

“The FDA has a statutory responsibility to ensure that consumers have the opportunity to exercise free choice in the marketplace without being misled by confusing name changes designed to hide the identity of a controversial ingredient,” stated Sally Greenberg, Executive Director of the National Consumers League.

The FDA warned the CRA last year not to encourage its members to use the term “corn sugar” to refer to HFCS while the Association’s petition is pending, but did not formally deny the petition.

“The FDA’s warning letter to the CRA is a step in the right direction, but the term ‘corn sugar’ continues to appear in national advertising within the jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FDA should ensure that it and the FTC can stop such deceptive advertising by formally denying the CRA petition,” stated Urvashi Rangan, Director of Consumer Safety and Sustainability at Consumers Union.

“Given the thousands of comments opposing the CRA petition and the continued misleading use of the term ‘corn sugar’ in marketing, FDA should act decisively and deny the CRA petition,” stated Chris Waldrop, Director of the Food Policy Institute at Consumer Federation of America.

“Honest food labeling and advertising is essential for Americans to improve their diets and reduce their risk of diet-related disease.  FDA and FTC should devote the necessary resources to ensure that consumers are provided with clear information” added Barbara Moore, President and CEO of Shape Up America!

To read the full letter, please click here.

###

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.