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Issue | Consumer Protection

Consumer Protection

Looking out for consumers, from bank fees to toxic toys.

Issue | Budget, Food

Stop Subsidizing Obesity

Ending taxpayer subsidies for junk food.

Report | Food

Apples to Twinkies

America is facing an obesity epidemic – one that’s hitting children especially hard. Childhood obesity rates have tripled over the last three decades, with one in five kids aged 6 to 11 now obese.

Report | MoPIRG | Food, Tax

Apples to Twinkies: Comparing Federal Subsidies of Fresh Produce and Junk Food

America is facing an obesity epidemic – one that’s hitting children especially hard. The rise in childhood obesity has many causes, but one of the most important is the increased prevalence of high-fat, heavily sweetened junk food. And shockingly, American taxpayers are spending billions to subsidize junk food ingredients, making the problem worse.

News Release | MoPIRG | Food

Apples to Twinkies: Comparing Federal Subsidies of Fresh Produce and Junk Food

SAINT LOUIS, MO –The Missouri Public Interest Research Group (MoPIRG) show in a new report Apples to Twinkies, how taxpayers have been subsidizing junk food additives, like high fructose corn syrup, for decades.   Federal subsidies for commodity crops have flooded markets with cheap, nutritionally empty junk food.  These subsidies are enough to pay for 19 Twinkies per taxpayer every year.   Meanwhile, subsidies for fresh fruits and vegetables buy less than a quarter of an apple per taxpayer per year.

Report | MoPIRG | Consumer Protection, Food

Recipe for Disaster: Food Recalls Proliferated While Food Safety Fix Awaits Action in the Senate

The recall of more than 500 million eggs from two Iowa egg farms is the largest but not the last of 85 recalls that have taken place in the year since food safety reform moved to the U.S. Senate. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Food Safety Enhancement Act (H.R. 2749) on July 30, 2009. However, the Senate’s version of the bill – the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) – has languished while waiting for time on the Senate’s floor schedule.

News Release | MontPIRG | Consumer Protection, Food

USDA's New Performance Standards Should Bring Safer Poultry to Market

WASHINGTON, May 10 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced new performance standards (PDF) for Salmonella and Campylobacter—the most common disease hazards in the meat and poultry supply. USDA has cut the target levels for Salmonella in poultry by over 60 percent, and set the first-ever performance standard for Campylobacter.

Media Hit | Food

USA Today: 'Growing concern' over marketing tainted beef

Beef containing harmful pesticides, veterinary antibiotics and heavy metals is being sold to the public because federal agencies have failed to set limits for the contaminants or adequately test for them, a federal audit finds.

Resource | Budget, Consumer Protection, Democracy, Financial Reform, Food, Health Care, Higher Ed, Safe Energy, Solid Waste, Tax, Transportation

Beat High Bank Fees

Banks rely on consumer indifference when they raise fees. They count on consumers not shopping around. PIRG’s Big Banks, Bigger Fees reports routinely find that small banks and credit unions are not following the big banks’ lead; they still offer many free or low cost accounts.

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PRIORITY ACTION

Some of the nation’s best-known companies — including GE, Google and Goldman Sachs — have avoided paying the taxes they owe, costing us $100 billion last year.

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