Uber Expands Food Delivery Service UberEATS To Chicago, New York City

Uber expanded its food delivery service UberEATS to New York City and Chicago today.

Since opening for business, ride-sharing company Uber hasn’t been content with simply giving customers rides from point A to point B. After dabbling in all kinds of pilot programs including on-demand drop-offs of everyday essentials and courier services, the company seems to have found a second niche: food delivery. And so, Uber plans to expand UberEATS to Chicago and New York this week.

Uber said today that the positive response to the pilot of UberEATS (previously known as UberFRESH) in Barcelona and Los Angeles, led the company to take its competition for GrubHub, Seamless and other delivery services to a larger customer base.

The service delivers customers their choice of meals from a specially curated and rotating menu that features “local flavors that you crave the most” from the “most popular, iconic restaurants.”

The first menu options in New York include an exclusive sandwich from American Cut, Kale Caesar salad from sweetgreen, and a steak sandwich from Num Pang. In Chicago, users can choose from the Pepito Torta from XOCO, Carne Asada Cemita from Cemitas, and other meals.

The Verge reports that the meals will be delivered by specially designated UberEATS drivers and that customers will pay a delivery fee ($3 in Chicago; $4 in NYC)

In addition to adding New York and Chicago to the UberEATS roster, the company says it has added a brunch option to its Los Angeles menu.

Customers in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago can access UberEATS through the current app by sliding over to the EATS option.

Uber is bringing its food delivery service to New York City and Chicago [The Verge]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Hawaii Could Become The First State To Raise Minimum Age For Smoking To 21

(MoneyBlogNewz)

Lighting up a cigarette will only be legal for adults over the age of 21 in Hawaii soon, as the state prepares to become the first in the U.S. to bump the minimum legal age to partake in tobacco products up from 18.

The bill has cleared the Hawaii Legislature and is on its way to the governor for final approval, reports the Associated Press, and keeps people under the age of 21 from smoking, buying or possessing both traditional and electronic cigarettes.

Anyone caught in violation of the law would be fined $10 for the first offense, with subsequent incidents prompting a $50 fine or mandatory community service.

Gov. David Ige hasn’t made up his mind whether or not to sign the bill, however, and says his staff vets all bills for legal issues first.

“The departments will be doing their review and then we’ll have the opportunity to look at it,” Ige said.

If he signs it into law, Hawaii would be the first state to raise the legal smoking age to 21, though several local governments including Hawaii County and New York City have done so. Washington state, Utah and Colorado have also considered boosting the legal minimum age.

Proponents of such laws say raising the legal age to buy cigarettes to 21 would result in fewer smokers. In Hawaii, the state Department of Health says 5,600 kids try smoking every year, with 90% of daily smokers starting the habit before they turn 19.

“Today we have the opportunity to change the paradigm,” said Democratic state Sen. Rosalyn Baker, who introduced the bill. She says the favorite flavors of teens using electronic cigarettes are sweet tart and “unicorn puke, which is described as a combination of every flavor of Skittle in one.”

“While the industry is not allowed to directly market to children, it is still developing packaging and advertising products in ways that appeal to children,” she said.

But critics say that if someone is deemed old enough to enter military service in this country, they should be allowed to come home and smoke a cigarette if they want to.

“You can sign up and be in the military and basically give your life for your country. You can vote,” the owner of a vape store in Hawaii told the AP. “Why shouldn’t you be able to choose if you want to buy tobacco products or vaping products, when you’re considered a legal adult?”

Hawaii poised to become 1st state to raise smoking age to 21 [Associated Press]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Best Buy Changes Mind, Ends Its Ban On Apple Pay

(Ron Dauphin)

When Apple Pay launched last fall, Best Buy was among the most high-profile retailers who refused to accept the new mobile payment platform because of its allegiance to the in-development CurrentC, a competing service from a Walmart-led coalition of retailers. But with CurrentC’s rollout still lingering in the vague future, Best Buy has decided it’s time to give Apple Pay a shot.

Ars Technica reports that during Apple’s quarterly earnings call on Monday, the company announced that Best Buy is now accepting Apple Pay, in spite of Best Buy’s allegiance to the Merchant Customer Exchange, the retailer coalition behind CurrentC.

MCX had previously explained that it was requiring participating retailers to initially use CurrentC exclusively to give the system some “breathing room” to gain a foothold in the market.

But Best Buy is apparently going to defy that exclusive arrangement and offer both Apple Pay and CurrentC (when it eventually launches).

“Today’s consumers have many different ways to spend their money and we want to give our customers as many options as possible in how they pay for goods and services at Best Buy,” the retailer told Ars.

In response to the Best Buy announcement, MCX explained that its exclusivity provisions “are designed to expire and as such as are limited in both time and scope.”

Best Buy isn’t the only MCX member to accept Apple Pay. Michigan-based big box retailer Meijer supports the Apple platform.

“Best Buy remains a strong MCX partner and supporter of the CurrentC initiative,” says MCX COO Scott Rankin. “As we have stated in the past, we are of the firm belief that there need to be at least 2-3 major players within the mobile payments ecosystem for it to succeed. We remain steadfast and passionate about CurrentC, as well as completely focused on delivering the best mobile commerce solution for our merchant partners and for consumers.”

Given the current limitations of Apple Pay — like the fact that it’s inaccessible for most smartphone users — it’s important that retailers offer multiple payment platforms, not just for giving customers choice, but because competition drives innovation and keeps costs down.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

SEC Reportedly Investigating Bank Of America Over Customer-Protection Rule Violations

(Mike Mozart)

Financial institutions are required under federal law to follow an array of rules that aim to protect consumers’ accounts. Bank of America may not have followed one of those rules over the course of several years, and now reportedly faces an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reports that the SEC has opened an investigation into whether or not Bank of America violated customer-protection rules and misled regulators about trades it conducted over at least a three year period.

The bank’s Merrill Lynch unit allegedly used large, complex trades and loans to save tens of millions of dollars a year in funding costs and to free up billions of dollars in cash and securities for trading, the source says.

According to the WSJ, the investigation by the SEC centers on a 1972 rule that requires banks to set aside funds so that, in the case of failure, the institution can repay customers.

Banks are required to calculate their net liabilities – how much they owe clients in deposits and other funds versus how much clients owe the bank – to determine how much they must set aside in reserve. Those funds must be separate from other accounts and can not be used for any bank activity.

The WSJ reports that executives at Band of America’s Merrill Lynch unit devised a way in which complex trades and loans reduced the amount of money in reserve, so that it could be used for other company needs.

The SEC’s investigation sets out to determine whether the funds Bank of America used in its trades should have been to set aside in reserve.

A Bank of America spokesperson says that the trades, which stopped in 2012, began at Merrill Lynch before its acquisition by Bank of America in 2009.

“The firm fully complied with the rules designed to safeguard client funds,” the spokesperson tells the WSJ.

SEC Investigating Whether Bank of America Broke Customer-Protection Rules [The Wall Street Journal]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Scientists Trying To Save Avocados From Deadly Fungus Using Dogs And Heat-Sensing Drones

(poopoorama)

Stare deep into that bowl of guacamole you treasure so much. Look into its green depths and ask yourself this question — “What is the most important thing here?” We all know what it is, and now scientists are trying to save it: Avocados are in danger from a nasty fungus spread by beetles, and heat-sensing drones and their canine friends might be their saviors.

Laurel wilt is a deadly fungus — spread by the invasive ambrosia beetle — that is currently threatening Florida’s avocado crop, leading researchers the hefty task of trying to stop the fungus from bedeviling the trees.

Scientists are launching heat-sensing drones into the air to find stressed trees, reports the Associated Press. Images of the area from the drones are then studied to find potentially sick trees, which is when the dogs go in to check it out and confirm if it’s infected.

“It’s almost like cancer detection,” said one researcher. “Multiple dogs have alerted on (infected) trees that show no signs of infection.”

Even men and women of science have a sense of humor about the importance of avocados to American consumers, dubbing their campaign “#savetheguac.”

Since the Asian beetle first showed up in the U.S in 2002, it’s rolled through the Southeast, often in redbay laurel trees, a cousin to the avocado tree. Once a tree gets sick, it can be dead inside six weeks.

Researchers are now testing ways to save avocados from laurel wilt, partnering with a drone company and a canine detection team. Spotting the disease before it’s too late isn’t easy for farmers. Once they see symptoms of a sick tree, it’s too late for the tree. Catching it before then, burning it and dosing others nearby with fungicide is the only hope.

“This is probably the biggest threat to the Florida avocado that’s ever been seen” a tropical fruit crop specialist at the University of Florida told the AP.

“Florida’s warm climate makes our state a hotbed for invasive species and diseases,” said Adam Putnam, Florida’s agriculture commissioner. “Florida’s avocado industry has a $64 million economic impact in our state, and we will continue to aggressively protect our agriculture industry with cutting-edge research and technology.”

Scientists in #savetheguac campaign employ drones and dogs [Associated Press]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

With Target Math, The Price Increases When The Sign Gets Bigger

Target is a popular and successful retail chain, which has somehow managed to spread nationwide and woo customers in spite of its poor grasp of math. Here’s yet another example of Target Math, a special way of calculating sale prices and promotions that isn’t unique to Target, but for some reason turns up on their shelves very, very often.

Reader Jules spotted this specimen in the skin-care aisle. To be fair, that shelf tag doesn’t say that the kit is on sale, but it doesn’t say “price hike,” either.

We contacted Target for an explanation of what’s going on here, but they didn’t get back to us. Maybe they’re still trying to figure it out.

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

Bud Light, Where “Up For Whatever” Means Getting People So Drunk They Can’t Say “No”

(reddit)

Bud Light continues to creep people out with the implied lechery of its “up for whatever” marketing campaign. The latest apparent gaffe from the country’s most popular watery beer is a tagline reminding drinkers that Bud Light is a go-to beverage for turning a “no” into a “yes.”

As posted on reddit, the tagline on this Bud Light bottle reads:

“The perfect beer for removing “no” from your vocabulary for the night,” followed by the requisite “#UpForWhatever” hashtag, because being “up for whatever” obviously means “spreading Bud Light’s marketing message in a way that can be tracked and quantified by our social media team.”

Given the role that alcohol plays in many things that would have been a “no” without a night a drinking — driving under the influence, sexual assault, vandalism, public urination, random “woot-woot”-ing as you ping-pong down the sidewalk — it’s probably not the best idea for a multinational multibillion-dollar business like Bud Light’s parent company AB InBev to publicly acknowledge that its product can lead users down a path to stupid consequences.

This reddit comment sums it up perfectly: “remember “No” always means “No”….especially if the question is: do you want a bud light?”

Bud Light came under fire during the St. Patrick’s holiday in March when its Twitter account suggested that being “up for whatever” meant randomly assaulting people on the street who dared to not wear green (and those who did wear green, because #UpForWhatever, right?). The company apologized to those who “misunderstood” its intentions, much like some people who turn a “no” into a “yes” will probably be doing a lot of apologizing (possibly from behind bars) the next morning.

We’ve written to Bud Light for comment on this tagline and will update if we hear anything back.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

Amazon Launches New Marketplace To Sell Specialized Supplies To Businesses

Amazon launched its latest marketplace aimed at capturing business-to-business sales.

Amazon is gunning for businesses – connecting them with sellers of everything from lab equipment to food service supplies. The online retail giant launched its latest marketplace Tuesday, aiming to provide businesses with the same shopping service the company offers everyday customers.

Amazon said today that the new Amazon Business marketplace will connect individual businesses to third-party sellers of specialized office supplies, healthcare products, industrial equipment, IT equipment, and other unique business-only products.

Businesses that sign up for the new marketplace can assign multiple users to the accounts with purchase and approval controls set to the company’s own procurement systems, Prentis Wilson, vice president of Amazon Business, says in a statement.

Amazon says membership to the marketplace will come with several benefits including exclusive pricing and bulk discounts. Other features Amazon Business members receive include free two-day shipping for orders over $49, tax exemption and the option of an Amazon Corporate Credit Line.

“Amazon Business delivers a new and expanded marketplace that brings the selection, convenience and value of Amazon to business customers, manufacturers and sellers with the additional selection, features and back-end integration businesses need to save time and money,” Wilson says.

Introducing Amazon Business: Everything You Love About Amazon, For Your Business [Amazon]

by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

Bumble Bee Foods, Two Employees Charged In Worker’s 2012 Death

(RustyClark hottnfunkyradio.com)

Two-and-a half years after a worker at a Bumble Bee Foods cannery died inside a pressure cooker at the factory, official charges have been filed against the company and two of its employees f.

Bumble Bee, a former safety manager and the director of plant operations were each charged with three felony counts of committing an occupational safety and health violation that caused a death, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The worker died in October 2012 after entering a 35-foot oven at the company’s Santa Fe Springs plant so he could fix something inside the machine, which is used to sterilize cans of tuna. Other plant workers didn’t realize he was inside, loaded a bunch of carts inside it, shut the door and started the oven. As the temperatures reached up to 270 degrees, the worker inside died and his remains were found by another plant worker.

Bumble Bee says in a statement that it disagrees with and is “disappointed by the charges” filed by Los Angeles prosecutors, calling the worker’s death a “tragic accident.” It noted that the California Division of Occupational Safety & Health “found no willful violations related to the accident” after its investigation.

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey said the charges against Bumble Bee Foods are part of her goal to go after workplace safety violations.

“We take worker safety very seriously,” Lacey said in a statement. “Although the Bumble Bee investigation began in 2012, this case represents our commitment to protecting workers from illegal — and, potentially, deadly — on-the-job practices.”

Bumble Bee Foods, 2 others charged after employee died in pressure cooker [Los Angeles Times]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

Tyson To Further Cut Back On Unnecessary Antibiotics Given To Chickens

(Chris Goldberg)

Last year, Tyson, the nation’s largest poultry provider, announced it would cease using controversial antibiotics at its hatcheries, but left the door open for continued use of the growth-promoting drugs for birds as they matured. Today, the company is pledging to go even further by eliminating “human antibiotics” entirely from its flocks by Sept. 2017.

For decades, farmers have been feeding antibiotics — including drugs that are of vital medical importance to human beings — to chicken, pigs, and cows primarily for the non-medical use of promoting growth. In fact, around 80% of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are for use on livestock.

Unfortunately, the overuse of antibiotics has the unwanted consequence of also promoting the development of drug-resistant bacteria. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 2 million Americans fall ill from drug-resistant pathogens each year, with some 20,000 dying as a result.

“Antibiotic resistant infections are a global health concern,” said Donnie Smith, president and CEO of Tyson Foods in a statement. “We’re confident our meat and poultry products are safe, but want to do our part to responsibly reduce human antibiotics on the farm so these medicines can continue working when they’re needed to treat illness.”

Because Tyson is more than just a chicken company, it claims to be forming working groups with farmers and others in its beef, pork and turkey supply chains to “discuss ways to reduce the use of human antibiotics on cattle, hog and turkey farms.”

Tyson’s latest announcement comes on the heels of similar moves by McDonald’s, Perdue, Chick fil-A, and others who have promised to reduce the use of antibiotics in their chickens.

The Natural Resource Defense Council’s Sasha Stashwick believes the sheer size of Tyson — which churns out some 38 million broiler chickens each week — means we may be nearing the tipping point where antibiotic-free chickens become the norm.

“Among the top 20 broiler companies (which likely control nearly all of the nation’s broiler chicken production), Tyson controls 23%,” writes Stashwick. “Combined, the production volumes of Perdue… Pilgrims (which announced this month that it will eliminate all antibiotics from 25% of its flock), and Fieldale Farms (which we gather is nearly all antibiotic-free) add up to 38% of all the chickens raised by the top 20 companies in the industry. That sure looks like a tipping point!”

Steve Roach, senior analyst for Keep Antibiotics Working says the important thing is for restaurants and retailers to take advantage of the increased supply of these drug-free (or less-drugged) chickens.

“While the chicken industry as a whole is making great strides in reducing antibiotic overuse, it begs the question: why are the turkey, pork and beef industries lagging so far behind?” He asks.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist