Store-branded products, including Walmart's Great Value, are usually manufactured by outside companies. Image: Flickr / acrider / CC-BY

In East Texas, reports indicate that a woman bit into a razor in her Walmart ice cream. Stephanie Granger says that her Peanut Butter Stars cup “tasted funny” when she first started eating it. Rather than suing Walmart, however, Granger says she just hopes the company “reviews safety procedures.”

Woman bites into razor in her Walmart ice cream

Stephanie Granger, who lives in Texas, was sitting down to watch a movie with Great Value brand ice cream. One spoonful of the ice cream, however, cut the inside of her lip. Granger found a broken razor blade in the ice cream. She called Walmart customer service, where she claims she was told “I’m sorry, I hope your day gets better.” Granger contacted the local media outlets, saying that she believes that the razor is “nobody’s fault” and just wants Walmart to review its safety procedures. Granger has indicated that she does not want to sue the company.

How Great Value ice cream is made

Though many of the reports on a woman biting into a razor blade call the product “Walmart ice cream,” that is not entirely accurate. Great Value is the Walmart house brand, but it is not usually directly manufactured by Walmart. Instead, the Walmart corporation contracts out to manufacturers of various products and labels them as Great Value. That means that Walmart will need to contact the company that makes the ice cream and discuss the problem with them. Walmart spokespeople have indicated that they are “opening a full investigation.”

Foreign objects in food

Foreign objects have been showing up in manufactured food for as long as manufactured food has existed. The USDA and FDA both work together to track and address foreign-object-in-food complaints. About one-third of reports of a foreign object in food involve glass or other sharp objects. Anyone who finds items in their food is encouraged to report the finding to their local health department and the food manufacturer.

Source

Consumerist

A frozen vegetable recall has been announced by a company that received complaints of glass in its peas. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

A frozen vegetables recall has been announced by the manufacturer. The frozen vegetable packages in question were found to have shards of glass in packages of peas. So far, the recall appears to have only been from a single lot of frozen vegetables. There are four packages that may contain them. The recall is nationwide, as these packages are sold in Wal-Mart nationally and Kroger stores in the southeast.

Complaints of glass in frozen vegetables

The packages of frozen food all came from one manufacturer. The Pictsweet Company, of Bells, Tenn., supplies at least two chains with frozen vegetables. The company sells frozen vegetables to Kroger stores in the southeast and to Wal-Mart stores nationwide, according to CNN. The recall is being announced after the company received five complaints of glass in packages of frozen vegetables. The complaints the company received were because of shards of glass, mostly in either packages of peas or in other assortments that include peas. It is believed that the affected parcels all came from a single lot of frozen vegetables. So far, no injuries have been reported from issues related to the recall.

Customers urged to return packages at once

Customers who bought packages of the recalled foods are urged to return the packages to the store as soon as possible, for a full refund. There are four different types of packages affected. Two contain only peas, one has peas and carrots, and one is mixed frozen vegetables, according to CBS. If customers bought any of the following, they are urged to return the packages at once:

• Great Value 12 ounce Steamable Sweet Peas having a “best by” date of July 20 or July 21, 2012
• Great Value 12 ounce Steamable Mixed Vegetables with “best by” date of July 15, 2012
• Kroger 12 ounce Green Peas with production code 1440BD, 1440BU, 1440BV or 1440BW
• Kroger 12 ounce Peas and Carrots with production code 1960BD or 1960BE

Return at once

Consumers who have affected packages should return the vegetables at once. Pictsweet Co. can also be contacted at 1-800-367-7412, extension 417 from 9 a.m. to 5p.m. Central, Monday through Friday.

Sources

CNN

CBS

You can avoid the Wal-Mart chicken nugget recall by making your own. Image: Flickr/yoppy

In Wal-Mart stores around the country, Great Value brand chicken nuggets have been recalled. The Wal-Mart chicken nugget recall affects one pound, 13 ounce bags of nuggets labeled with the Great Value brand. Manufactured by Perdue, these nuggets have blue plastic in them.

Wal-Mart chicken nugget recall

The Wal-Mart chicken nugget recall was called by Perdue Farms, Inc. and the USDA on July 21. Some customers found chunks of blue plastic in their nuggets. To find out if your Wal-Mart chicken nuggets are a part of the recall, look for:

• A one pound, 13 ounce bag of nuggets
• Great Value brand labeling
• Establishment code number P-33944
• Case code 89008 A0160

Return the nuggets to the store where they were purchased in order to get a refund. The full cost of the recall will probably end up being around $500,000.

Blue plastic causes chicken nugget recall

The Wal-Mart chicken nugget recall is considered a “Class II” recall. This means that there have been no injuries and there is little to no risk of “adverse health consequences.” Perdue Farms has said that it expects that a “small plastic ring” was mixed in with the raw meat. The plastic was then chopped, pressed and cooked with the rest of the chicken nuggets. About 50,000 packages of chicken nuggets could have been affected by this mistake in the plant.

Making your own chicken nuggets

If you really love chicken nuggets but want to avoid the Wal-Mart chicken nugget recall, you can. Making your own chicken nuggets is quick, cheap, and healthy. All the ingredients for chicken nuggets will cost about $15, but will make three to four pounds — 12 to 16 servings. Start by chopping boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenders into chunks. Mix bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and seasonings such as basil together. Dunk the chicken in milk, egg or melted butter, then into the bread crumb mixture. Bake at 350 for 10 to 20 minutes. Or, if you are brave, deep-fat fry in 450 degree oil for three minutes, and you’ve got nuggets. These freeze in plastic zipper-lock bags well, so you can always be ready with a budget, kid and time friendly chicken snack.

Sam's Club, the retail warehouse wing of Wal-Mart, will start offering online loans to businesses. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Sam’s Club, a division of Wal-Mart, will start offering online loans through Superior Financial Group LLC. The loans will be for entrepreneurs to start small businesses. Superior Financial Group is one of the leading Small Business Administration loan lenders, and it has partnered up with Sam’s Club on a trial basis to expand services that extend to small business owners that are members of the warehouse retail wing of the Wal-Mart empire.

Wal-Mart finally into banking

Wal-Mart has been looking for a way to get into the banking game. In 2007, Congress blocked non-banking entities, including retailers, from opening banks of their own. According to the Wall Street Journal, Sam’s Club has been losing revenue but has decided to give this online loan pilot program a chance. The loans available to small business owners that are members with Sam’s Club will range from $5,000 to $25,000, and will carry a term of 10 years at 7.5 percent interest.

Trying to attract greater membership

Sam’s Club has not been performing well as of late. The chain of warehouse retail stores, akin to Costco, recently had to close 10 stores. Small business owners are a significant portion of their customer base, and a business loan program would serve to attract or retain small businesses as customers. Wal-Mart already offers check cashing and VISA Check Cards and has MoneyGram locations in many stores that offer financial services such as money orders, payday loans and cash advances.

Will this pan out for Wal-Mart?

The Sam’s Club online loans will only be a pilot program. The loans in this case will largely be geared towards women, minorities and start up companies, according to Business Week. If Sam’s Club can make a success of this program, it will definitely make it hard for small businesses to pass up a membership.

Further Reading

Wall Street Journal

Business Week

Wal-Mart is under attack in the largest class action lawsuit in history. Sexual discrimination against employees could cost them billions of dollars. (Photo: Wikipedia)

The Associated Press reports that the ongoing Wal-Mart class action lawsuit involving sexual discrimination against female employees could be the largest in history. Despite a “sharply divided” ruling from the 9^th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, their 6-5 ruling finds that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. must face charges. These charges include claims that female employees have been paid less than men for the same jobs, receive fewer promotions and must wait longer before they are eventually promoted.

The Wal-Mart class action will go to trial

Wal-Mart has faced class action suits before, but nothing like this. What began as six female employees in San Francisco filing suit back in 2001 has gone through various trial and appeals courts since then. The retailer managed to convince the appeals court in 2007 to revisit their decision, arguing that the number of litigants in the sexual discrimination class action lawsuit is “too big to defend.” However, Judge Michael Daly Hawkins decreed that size alone doesn’t make a class action unmanageable.

Dissent led by Judge Sandra Ikuta was blistering. In her statement, Judge Ikuta wrote that

“No court has ever certified a class like this one, until now. And with good reason… In this case, six women who have worked in 13 of Wal-Marts 3,400 stores seek to represent every woman who has worked in those stores over the course of the last decade — a class estimated in 2001 to include more than 1.5 million women.”

No sexual discrimination class action too large

While it sounds unbelievable to five federal judges and Wal-Mart, six federal judges and 1.5 million female former Wal-Mart employees believe that the retail giant should pay for its years of mistreatment. Wal-Mart has yet to respond to the appeals court ruling, other than to say that a statement is currently being prepared. This legal turn of events has apparently weighed heavily upon the minds of investors, as Wal-Mart dropped 27 cents off its share price (down to $54.26) after the judgment.

Related Video:

This holiday season, the retail giants are battling for your business. Need a cash advance to keep up? (Photo: flickr.com)

Psst! Hey you, cash advance reader! Want a great holiday deal on a flat screen television? Visit Amazon.com where it’s on sale. Hold on a moment. Look at Walmart.com, where they just dropped the price. No, wait! Amazon actually has the better price.

Prices have fallen faster than J.Lo at the American Music Awards as these two retail behemoths go toe to toe. It seems the battle began over who could sell a fistful of best-selling book titles for less, and has now proliferated to a wider array of items—DVDs, furniture, clothes and yes, flat screen TVs. Wal-Mart and Amazon are also currently allowing third parties to sell on their Web sites, and are now also offering beauty and health products via the Web.

After hearing that GSI Commerce Executive Vice President said, “It’s not about prices of books and movies anymore. There is a bigger battle being fought,” you might conjure up a David vs. Goliath type of scenario. “The price-sniping by Wal-Mar is part of a greater strategic plan. They are not just going to cede their business to Amazon.”

Online Shopping is Making SOMEONE Richer

Believe it or not, Amazon made $20 billion in sales last year, compared with $405 billion for the nation’s largest private employer, Wal-Mart. Though online sales amount to just four percent of the nation’s retail business, Web-based sales are steadily rising.

Online shopping has gained popularity at a fast pace, kind of like cash advance loans during the recession. The blog “Seeking Alpha” says, “Twenty-one percent growth has been seen in the last year. Amazon’s sales were up 24 percent in the 3rd quarter of 2009.” Also, 44 percent for general merchandise and electronics, reports the Times. What’s amazing is these numbers were gathered while retail was flat overall and the recession was just dying down.

Yet CNBC says that Wal-Mart is receiving only half as many unique visitors to its Web site each month.

Look at them Go, Toe to Toe!

CEO of Walmart.com, Raul Vazquez, told The Wall Street Journal, “Our goal is to be the biggest and most visited retail Web site. Walmart.com is going to be the ‘Wal-Mart of the Web.’”

“The price of Amazon Prime is too much. It’s only a matter of time before Wal-Mart becomes the king of online shopping,” Vazquez is reported saying to the Times.

How are consumers benefiting so far? Take a look:

Books

Target (a Minneapolis-based company that isn’t owned by the French, dear reader), Amazon and Wal-Mart reduced the online price of 10 brand new releases to less than $9. Since then, prices have gone up, but they are equally as inviting to holiday shoppers. At Amazon and at Walmart.com, the price of Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue” is a sale $14.50, while Barnes & Noble sells it online for $17.30.

DVD Movies

Target, Amazon and Wal-Mart have lowered the pre-ordered online price for hit movies like “Star Trek” and “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince,” which are sold at Amazon for only $9.99 and a penny less at Walmart.com.
UPDATE: Target is “Out of Stock” presently

Video Games

According to the Times, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” is priced to move. Wal-Mart offers a $15 gift card with purchase, and Amazon has quickly followed Wal-Mart’s lead.

Observing the Carnage

What’s next in the future of these retail giants? It’s too hard to tell right now. They won’t need a cash advance loan any time soon. However, what we can expect is that Wal-Mart will be über aggressive in risking a bigger claim on online retail.

Apply for a Cash Advance HERE!

Image from Flickr.

This holiday season is going to be a tough one for a lot of people. So many families are struggling economically, and fewer people are donating to charity. This has hit Operation Homefront especially hard.

Operation Homefront is a charitable organization that helps military families. Requests for assistance from Operation Homefront are a ridiculous 86 percent higher than last year. Operation Homefront also reports that there has been a large drop in cash donations.

Strapped for cash

Though members of the military can qualify for military loans, it’s getting tougher to afford everything, including paying back those loans. USA Today reports:

Although active-duty troops can count on a regular paycheck from Uncle Sam, many military families face the same pressures affecting other Americans during this downturn: Spouses are having difficulty finding work, and mounting debts and foreclosures are forcing them out of rental homes, says John Alexander of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.

One business has already stepped up to help. Wal-Mart will be providing toys to thousands of military parents. Wal-Mart will set up temporary stores outside military bases and give away $1.1 million worth of toys. Operation Homefront will choose 50 families to get $1,000 Wal-Mart shopping sprees.

Give a little

If you have just a little bit of extra cash, you could make a big difference. Small donations can do a whole lot of good, and many organizations are facing the same troubles that Operation Homefront is dealing with. More people need help, but fewer people have help to give.

There are plenty of sites out there that make it fast and easy to give to all kinds of organizations. Check out these sites, and do some good this holiday season. Small donations make a bigger difference than you think. It doesn’t take hundreds of dollars to feed people who don’t have enough to eat. If we all give just a little bit we can help a lot.

• Donors Choose
• Action Aid
• Greater Good
• Global Giving
• World Vision