The Consumer Memo, 7/7: New food safety standards

Food scareNew safety standards aimed at reducing salmonella and E. coli outbreaks are part of a government effort to try to make food safer to eat.

A food safety panel established by President Barack Obama developed the new rules for eggs, poultry, beef, leafy greens, melons and tomatoes as well as for better coordination and communication among the agencies overseeing the nation’s food supply.

The panel announced Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration and the Agriculture Department would adopt the standards, which follow a string of breakdowns in food safety.

Under the new rules:
—The FDA will help the food industry establish better tracing systems to track the origins of a bacterial outbreak.

—A new network will be established to help the many agencies that regulate food safety to communicate better.

—Egg and poultry producers will have to follow new standards designed to reduce salmonella contamination.

—The Food Safety Inspection Service, the Agriculture Department agency that inspects meat, will increase sampling of ground beef ingredients in an effort to better find E. coli contamination.

—The FDA will recommend ways that producers of leafy greens, melons and tomatoes can reduce disease strains, and require stricter standards in those industries within two years.

—The FDA and the Agriculture Department also will create new positions to better oversee food safety.

Ford Explorer settlement
Ford Motor Co. won’t have to provide as much as $500 million in discounts on Explorer sport-utility vehicles under a class-action lawsuit settlement because fewer than 1 percent of consumers eligible for the price-cut coupons signed up for them, according to court filings.

Southwest, American sales
Fare dealsSouthwest Airlines Co. is offering one-way fares of $30, $60 or $90, to generate demand when the peak U.S. travel season wanes in September. American Airlines matched the sale.

Southwest’s sale prices are available today and Wednesday for travel Sept. 9 through Nov. 18. The rates are $30 each way for flights as far as 400 miles, $60 for 400 to 750 miles and $90 for more than 750 miles.

New Sony laptop
Sony Corp. said Tuesday it will launch a tiny new laptop starting in August, the company’s belated entry into the growing but cutthroat “netbook” PC market.

The new addition to its Vaio line of computers will cost about $630 when it goes on sale in Japan next month, with launches in the U.S. and Europe to follow shortly after. It will be about the size of a hardback book and run on lower grade hardware than other Sony models.

The computers will come in white, black or pink, with matching mouse and case.

FDA orders stronger overdose warnings for Darvocet
The government is letting the painkillers Darvocet, Darvon and their generic cousins stay on the market but ordered stronger warnings against deadly overdoses.
The Food and Drug Administration’s action Tuesday means that patients soon will receive a special pamphlet with every bottle that stresses the risk. Consumer-health advocates have linked the 50-year-old drug to hundreds of deaths, from suicide and accidental overdoses.
The prescription-only drug also is known by its generic name propoxyphene (pro-POX-eh-feene). It’s considered a weak pain reliever yet is commonly prescribed.

Google drops ‘beta’ label from gmail
Google Inc. is dropping the “beta,” or test, label from its Gmail e-mail service and other online programs to attract business customers away from Microsoft Corp.

The label will also be removed from Google Docs, Google Calendar and Google Talk.

Google used the label to show it was still improving the software.

Yahoo, NFL settlement
Yahoo! Inc. settled its suit against the National Football League Players Association seeking to block the organization from controlling players’ names, pictures and voices that Yahoo uses in its fantasy football game.

Yahoo filed the complaint last month in federal court in Minneapolis. Yahoo spokeswoman Nicole Addison confirmed the settlement but declined to answer questions about the agreement.

Shoe recall
About 3,200 pairs of women’s sample shoes, manufactured in China, Spain and Italy and imported by Charles David of Culver City, Calif., because the heels can detach. The shoes were sold at Nordstrom stores in California and Nordstrom Rack stores around the country between April 2009 and June 2009. Details: 310-348-2075; on the Web.