Consumer Protection - ForceChange

End Credit Card Fees On Charitable Donations

The largest credit card companies in the world are profiting off of the misfortune and charity of others by helping themselves to some of the donations made using their cards. As much as $250 million a year, or 3% of all donations made using major credit cards goes directly to the credit card companies as transaction fees. This unethical and deceptive practice by credit card companies must be stopped.

Stop Retailers from Offering Incentives for Five-Star Online Reviews

In the ultra competitive online marketplace, merchants are stopping at nothing to obtain five-star reviews. They are using increasingly deceptive methods to obtain those positive reviews, including offering incentives to customers in exchange for a five-star rating. We must stop this behavior to preserve the integrity of online customer feedback.

Ensure the Safety of Cosmetics by Increasing FDA Regulation

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration must start keeping a closer watch on the cosmetic industry. Routine inspections of manufacturing facilities for personal care items must be required, as well as company registration with the FDA. We deserve to know what we put into our bodies by using these products for the sake of health and safety. Tell the FDA to increase their standards for monitoring the cosmetics and personal care industry.

Stop the Seafood Industry from Mislabeling Fish

A recent investigation revealed that one in five pieces of fish for sale are mislabeled. The seafood industry can easily deceive consumers as the regulations regarding labeling are loose and inspections for fraud are virtually nonexistent. We must demand tighter regulations in the seafood industry to protect our wallets, our health and our oceans.

Don’t Allow Monsanto to Block Non-Biased Research Of Genetically Modified Foods

Big agricultural corporations have gained a stranglehold over scientific research of genetically modified foods. Big companies like Monsanto have refused to allow independent testing of their seeds which leads to suspicion on the part of Americans as to what they are trying to hide. The food in question is what we feed ourselves and our families everyday so we have a right to know the complete truth. Let’s demand non-biased research of genetically modified foods because we deserve to know whether our food is safe.

Stop ‘Organic’ Baby Food Brands From Using GMO’s

Organic baby food brands are using genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) in their products. Organic standards must be upheld if an organic label is to be placed on a product, as these products are misleading consumers who believe they are feeding their infants purely organic products. Tell the USDA to prohibit the use of GMO’s in ‘organic’ baby foods.

Stop Retailers from Falsely Advertising Real Fur as Fake

Since many consumers won’t buy real fur, major retailers are deceiving consumers by falsely advertising real fur products as fake. Tell the FTC to stop retailers from committing these acts of fraud so consumers can make fully informed purchasing decisions and innocent animals can be protected.

Demand that Pennsylvania Dump its State-Run Liquor Monopoly

Pennsylvania wastes taxpayer money and limits consumers’ choices through its monopoly on liquor sales. Tell Governor Corbett to privatize the sale of alcohol.

Moldy Food for Thought: Advocate for Warning Labels on Potential Health Risks

Food products that contain shellfish or wheat or a kind of ingredient known to cause allergic reactions usually have a warning label for the customer’s benefit. But not the makers of Quorn products, and their main ingredient isn’t even a natural food – it’s a factory-grown mold protein. Many people have already had severe reactions, and precautions need to be taken by the company.

Tell FDA To Get Fire Retardant Out Of Our Sodas

A harmful chemical that is found in fire retardant and is banned in Japan and Europe, is found in ten percent of sodas and sports drinks in North America. Soda companies defend the use of this chemical, citing safe limits set by the FDA in 1977. It is time for the FDA to reexamine its rules and ask soda and soft drink companies to switch to natural alternatives.

Natural Or Unnatural? Require Labeling of Genetically Modified Foods

Genetically modified foods have been proven to cause many hazardous health conditions, and yet consumers are unaware when they buy genetically modified products due to the lack of a food label requirements. Tell the US Food and Drug Administration to require all biotech companies to disclose every toxin and ingredient added to their artificial foods and protect our right to choose what types of food we eat.

Don’t Let Corporations Robocall Your Cell Phone

Imagine picking up your cell phone at the office, during dinner or in the middle of the night and hearing a prerecorded sales pitch on the other end. If corporate congressional lobbyists have their way, this could become a daily occurrence. Tell Congress not to let big business interests undo decades of consumer phone protection.

H&M’s Models Are a Beautiful Lie: Stop the Use of CGI Bodies

H&M’s advertising has gone to another level. Unsatisfied with mere airbrushing and digitally altering the waistlines of already slender models, they’re now using an incredibly life-like but completely computer generated body to stand in for actual people. This is a major step backward in responsible advertising targeted to girls and young women and H&M must be called out on it.

Get Arsenic and Lead Out of Apple and Grape Juice

Arsenic and lead, both harmful toxins that contaminate drinking water, have been found in unsettling concentrations in children’s fruit juice boxes. Currently, the FDA has no set standards for arsenic or lead in fruit juice. The FDA must increase monitoring for these poisons in fruit juice and set safe limits.

Stop Cell Phone Companies From Spying on Us

Recently a programer discovered ‘Carrier IQ,’ a hidden application built into all smart phones from the Blackberry to the iPhone and Android that not only tracks an owner’s every location, it also records every keystroke made and the contents of all messages. Carrier IQ is a complete breach of privacy rights, and it is a potential safety threat to millions of users who have typed any personal data on their phones. Hold Carrier IQ accountable for their shady private espionage and put an end to smart phone companies use of Carrier IQ.

Tell Apple to Stop its Personal Assistant Program, Siri, from Providing Misinformation About Women’s Health

Apple’s new personal assistent, Siri, can tell you where to stash a dead body, but she can’t tell you where to find birth control. The iPhone 4S personal assistant has even sent users looking for abortion clinics to ‘crisis pregnancy centers,’ where they are lied to and prevented from getting the care they need. Tell Apple to make Siri a more accurate and responsible source of information for women and end this dangerous misinformation.

Stop Over-prescription of Psychotropic Drugs for Foster Children

Across the nation, foster children are being prescribed deadly cocktails of psychotropic drugs. In the memory of Gabriel Meyers, a nine year old who hung himself after being prescribed a powerful anti-depressant, ask Congress to investigate the use and abuse of Medicaid funds for these dangerous prescriptions.

Ban Contaminated Honey Imports From Asia

Over one-third of honey consumed in the United States is smuggled in from China and contaminated with heavy metal toxins and illegal animal antibiotics. To protect our health and safety, the Food and Drug Administration must place a ban on all honey imported from Asian countries immediately.

Provide Consumers with Up to Date Information on Cell Phone Radiation

The link between cell phone radiation and cancer is highly controversial, but it seems reasonable that consumers be made aware of the potential risk. Tests to measure cell phone radiation are outdated; they were designed before cell phones were in wide use by the whole population, including children, who have been shown to be more susceptible to cell phone radiation than adults. Ask that the FCC update its measuring techniques and mandate retailers to provide accurate, unbiased information on cell phone radiation.

Improve the Horrible Work Conditions at Target

Unfair firings, promises that weren’t kept, the curtailing of breaks and paychecks: these are just some of the terrible working conditions that have been reported by Target employees. Despite Target’s reputation as a clean, comparably moral big-box store, a slew of recent articles on Gawker.com have brought to light the ugly side of the 137th most profitable company in the world.

Stop Dr. Pepper’s Sexist Ad Campaign

Dr Pepper’s new ad campaign for Dr. Pepper TEN proclaims blatantly that its product is ‘not for women.’ It reinforces this message through sexist dialogue that stereotype women (i.e. saying that women don’t like action movies but only like romantic comedies) while simultaneously stereotyping men through the overly macho images that the ads present.

Make Serving Sizes on Food Labels More Realistic!

A lot of people these days know that, to calculate how many calories (or fat, sodium, etc.) you have actually consumed, it’s a complex recitation of your multiplication tables. The FDA has been debating changing the serving sizes on food labels to reflect what people actually eat, especially since portion sizes today are significantly larger than what the labels predict.

Protect Consumers from Seafood Contaminants, Tell the FDA to Revise Outdated Screening Methods

A recent study has shown that due to outdated testing methods, some food coming out of the Gulf of Mexico contains high levels of contaminants that are linked to cancer and liver disease. The FDA needs to revise their screening techniques in order to ensure the safety of consumers across the country.

Taco Bell Must Stop Violating Disability Laws

Recently, a court in California ruled that Taco Bell was in violation of a number of disability laws in light of a class action suit filed in 2002. Despite the changes the company says it’s made since 2007, the judge ruled against Taco Bell, indicating that it still has a far way to come before it complies with all disability laws. The state of Taco Bell restaurants in California is indicative of deeper problems and similar violations in Taco Bell restaurants all over the country.

Borders Customer’s Personal Information Wrongfully Being Used by Barnes and Noble

If you are a former Borders customer, Barnes and Noble is using your personal information without your consent. Emails that were sent out claimed you could opt-out, but they already know everything about you. Tell the FTC and NY Attorney General, you don’t want this information used any longer.

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