Costco is now dealing with a class-action lawsuit filed on January 22 in U.S. District Court, which that the company misled shoppers by advertising that its rotisserie chickens contain no preservatives.

According to the filing, the chickens contain carrageenan and sodium phosphate, ingredients that are used to help preserve texture and extend shelf life.

Costco has acknowledged that it does use both ingredients in its rotisserie chicken recipe.

While carrageenan and sodium phosphate are commonly found in prepared foods and are generally considered safe by federal regulators, the lawsuit argues that labeling the product as having no preservatives is still misleading.

The case was brought by two women from California who say they would not have bought the chicken, or would have paid less for it, if they had known preservatives were used.

As part of the complaint, the plaintiffs included photos of in-store signage and online listings stating the chickens contain no added preservatives.

Similar claims can also be seen in older photos of Costco rotisserie chickens shared on various image platforms.

Wesley Griffith of the Almeida Law Group, who represents the plaintiffs, said shoppers often rely on bold claims like “no preservatives” when choosing food. He noted that Costco’s ingredient labels conflict with its marketing and described the practice as both unlawful and unfair.

In a statement shared online, Griffith said he and his team were happy to see the retail chain remove claims stating that its chickens contained no preservatives.

He did not say, however, whether the lawsuit will be moving forward.

The complaint does note that the plaintiffs are asking for a jury trial and are seeking approval for two groups of consumers – one covering anyone in the U.S. who purchased a Costco rotisserie chicken, and a second group limited to buyers in California.

The two women who filed the lawsuit said they plan to keep buying Costco’s rotisserie chickens in the future, but added that they will no longer depend on the company’s labelling when making that choice.

In recent years, California has pushed hard for more health-focused consumer products and clearer labelling.

In 2023, the state became the first in the country to ban four food additives considered potentially harmful. Lawmakers have also taken steps to limit food dyes and ultra-processed foods in school meals.

The post Costco Faces Lawsuit Over Preservatives In Rotisserie Chicken appeared first on Gazette Review.

CEO Brian Niccol outlined the plan on Thursday, confirming that hundreds of locations – roughly one percent of the chain’s footprint – will shut down this month.

Starbucks reported having more than 18,700 stores across North America at the end of June, a number that will drop to about 18,300 by September’s end.

The restructuring, projected to cost $1 billion, also includes a second round of layoffs at the company’s headquarters.

About 900 corporate employees will be let go, following an earlier round in February that eliminated 1,000 positions.

Workers impacted will be informed Friday and offered “generous support and severance packages.”

In a letter to employees, Niccol explained the closures are targeted at locations that can no longer deliver the kind of experience expected by customers and staff.

Still, Starbucks emphasized that it remains focused on growth, with plans to remodel more than 1,000 stores.

The redesigned spaces will feature additional power outlets, softer seating, and a warmer color scheme.

Although the closures will be completed before the company’s fiscal year ends next week, leadership stressed that the revamp is intended to better position Starbucks for the future.

Niccol acknowledged that these changes will impact employees and their families but emphasized that the decisions were made carefully.

He believes the steps are essential to creating a stronger, more resilient company – one that can continue making an impact worldwide.

Efforts to Revive the Coffee Chain

Niccol took over as CEO a year ago with the goal of revitalizing the struggling brand.

Despite his best efforts, however, sales have yet to improve, and the company’s stock has fallen 12 percent.

Since then, he has trimmed the menu by 30 percent while adding trendy options such as coconut water and protein toppings.

The food lineup has also been refreshed, with new croissants and other baked pastries. In addition to the planned remodels, Starbucks has also rolled out features like self-serve milk and sugar stations and even added playful doodles to coffee cups.

To highlight its roots in coffee, the company also rebranded from Starbucks to Starbucks Coffee Company.

However, the recent changes have sparked controversy, with some baristas protesting new uniform policies that have even resulted in lawsuits.

Several of the new drinks have also drawn criticism from staff, who say the overly complicated recipes create unnecessary stress and are difficult to manage during peak hours.

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Now, a biotechnology and genetic engineering company plans on bringing them back.

Colossal Bioscences, a Texas-based start up, has added the bird – which is known for its tall stature and long neck – to the list of animals it plans on resurrecting.

In April, the company made headlines after bringing back what they described to be three dire wolves.

Their scientists had resurrected the ancient canine that was last seen over 10,000 years ago using ancient DNA, gene-editing, and cloning technology.

Similar efforts to bring back the dodo, Tasmanian tiger, and the woolly mammoth, are also underway.

To bring back the bird, known as the moa, the company said they will be collaobrating with the Ngai Tahu Research Center in New Zealand.

The first step will be to recover and analyze ancient DNA from the species; that will allow scientists to decode its genetic makeup so that they can differentiate them from their extinct and living relatives.

Colossal Biosciences, which was founded by George Church, a Harvard and Lamm University geneticist in 2021, has raised over $435 in the past years. The company also said they have committed “a large investment” to New Zealand, though they have not revealed any further details.

Scott MacDougall-Shackleton, director and co-founder of the Advanced Facility for Avian Research in London, Ontario, explains that because moas went extinct only a few hundred years ago, there is still an abundance of bones, feathers, and eggshell fragments remaining.

He speculated that the species most likely went extinct from habitat change and over hunting following the arrival of Polynesian peoples to New Zealand. He explained that before that, the large species of birds had very few predators.

However, he described the idea of resurrecting the species as “intellectually interesting.”

Still, he believes it should be a “low priority,” noting that many critically endangered and threatened species in Hawaii, New Zealand, and other Pacific Islands are in more urgent need of conservation efforts.

As part of the effort to resurrect the moa, the biotech company will also be launching ecological restoration projects in New Zealand.

They will focus on rehabilitating potential moa habitats while also supporting the native species that currently inhabit the area.

However, many experts artgue that it’s not truly possible to bring back an animal from extinction. Any attempt to do so will only create a hybrid species that is genetically modified.b

The post De-extinction Company Will Be Targeting Giant, Flightless Bird Next appeared first on Gazette Review.

Founded in 2006, 23andMe built a massive database of genetic information, promising to help people better understand their health and connect with potential relatives.

However, since the company filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, its genetic database is now set to be sold, raising serious concerns among privacy advocates and experts.

Tazin Khan, CEO of the nonprofit Cyber Collective, which advocates for privacy rights, warned that users “will have absolutely no say in where their [genetic information] ends up.”

She stressed that once a third party purchases the data, there’s no way to guarantee the impact won’t be catastrophic.

In a statement, Rob Bonta – the California Attorney General – provided instructions on how users can delete their genetic data from 23andMe and request the permanent removal of their test samples.

Before filing for bankruptcy, 23andMe used this data to assess users’ potential health risks—information many would prefer to keep private. In some cases, genetic testing data has also been used in criminal investigations involving users’ relatives.

Experts warn that if a malicious party gains access to someone’s genetic information, there’s no way to undo the damage. Unlike passwords or addresses, DNA cannot be changed.

A 23andMe spokesperson stated that the company will continue storing customer data as usual and will follow all U.S. laws.

However, attorney Andrew Crawford pointed out that there are almost no federal regulations on DNA data collected by biotech companies. He added that the U.S. lacks digital privacy laws, and medical data faces even fewer legal protections when held by a company rather than a medical professional.

Crawford explained that while the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulates how health information is shared and stored in the U.S., it only applies when the data is held by a medical professional, such as a doctor or an insurance company.

He emphasized that genetic testing companies like 23andMe are not covered by these protections.

23andMe has also faced data breaches in the past.

In 2023, a hacker accessed genetic data from what 23andMe later admitted was 6.9 million users—nearly half of its total customer base at the time. The stolen data was then shared on the dark web, where individuals with Ashkenazi Jewish heritage were specifically identified and named.

Following the breach, 23andMe stated that protecting user privacy was a “top priority” and that they would continue investing in data security.

Experts warn that 23andMe’s bankruptcy and data sale should serve as a wake-up call about how easily personal information can be bought and sold without a user’s consent. People should also be aware that when they hand over their DNA to a company, they are risking their genetic privacy as the company’s ownership and policies can change at any time.

The post Millions of DNA Records Put Up for Sale as 23andMe Declares Bankruptcy appeared first on Gazette Review.

Schwarz described the blackout as “not just a boycott” but a “calculated strike” and a way to send a strong message to the retail giant, which has faced criticism for its treatment of workers despite its record-breaking profits.

The group’s first action took place on February 28, when they organized a 24-hour boycott of major corporations and encouraged people to support small businesses instead.

Several celebrities, including John Leguizamo, Bette Midler, and Mark Ruffalo, have voiced their support for the movement.

According to their website, The People’s Union USA is “not a political party” and “not a protest” but rather “a movement of people” working to reclaim control over their economy and, in turn, the future of the U.S.

For the upcoming boycott, founder John Schwarz is urging consumers to completely avoid Amazon and its services. This includes not shopping on Amazon’s website, as well as steering clear of Prime Video, Twitch, Zappos, Whole Foods, Ring, and Alexa, all owned by the retail giant.

For those deeply embedded in the Amazon ecosystem, Schwarz suggests going a step further by turning off Ring cameras and unplugging Alexa devices during the blackout.

Effects of the Blackout

In 2024, Amazon reported $638 billion in net sales, an 11% increase from the previous year.

During the February 28 boycott, data services company Momentum Commerce tracked Amazon’s hourly sales and found they were actually up 1% compared to the usual average.

Experts weren’t surprised by the minimal impact, noting that a retailer of Amazon’s size is “naturally resilient” to “short-term disruptions.”

Momentum Commerce plans to track sales again during the upcoming weeklong boycott to see how it affects overall trends.

The Start of a Series of Boycotts

The People’s Union USA also plans to organize additional boycotts over the next two months, targeting corporations such as Walmart and Nestlé.

Meanwhile, activist and pastor Jamal Bryant is leading a separate movement—a 40-day boycott of Target starting this week—to protest the company’s shift away from diversity and equity initiatives.

While these blackouts may not have a significant impact on these massive corporations at the end of the day, they serve as a way for consumers to voice their concerns and draw attention to key issues.

It also raises the question of where consumers should be spending their money.

The post Amazon Boycott Starts Friday, Includes Whole Foods, Twitch, and Ring appeared first on Gazette Review.

Amazon has warehouses in Coteaux-du-Lac, Longueuil, Lachine, Laval, including two sorting centers, one fulfilment center, and three delivery stations.

The shut down will be a rolling process and is expected to take place between now and March.

According to Amazon spokesperson Barbara Agrait, they will be returning to a third-party delivery model, which is supported by local businesses. She emphasized that the decision ‘wasn’t made lightly’ and that they will be providing affected employees with a severance package.

The shut down will impact 1,700 regular employees, 250 seasonal employees and thousands of independent contractors.

One Amazon dispatcher and delivery driver, who has worked with the company for two years, said his team of approximately 100 people was given notice on Wednesday. They said ‘[everyone] is depressed’ and that ‘the morale is at zero’.

Quebec Ministers Respond to the Shut Downs

Francois Legault, the Quebec Premier, said he was saddened by the news, which will be impacting 1,700 Quebec families. However, he noted that Amazon is a private company that can make such decisions.

He said ‘[they] will be doing everything they can to help [the affected employees]’ and will be talking to the construction sector. He also reminded individuals that there are provincial programs that can help.

Quebec’s employment minister agreed with Legault and said they will be offering help to the impacted workers.

Federal Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne wrote on X that he has spoken to the director of Amazon Canada, who confirmed the announcement and said that ‘[this] is not the way business is done in Canada’.

Warehouse Workers In Laval Were Unionized

Amazon employees at the Laval DXT4 warehouse recently obtained a union certification, becoming the first of the company’s Canadian warehouses to unionize.

Amazon had fought the decision, challenging the workers’ accreditation with the Confederation of National Trade Unions.

The company eventually lost the challenge in October.

When asked whether or not the closures had anything to do with the recent unionization, the company denied the claim and said the shut downs were ‘about providing better service to customers’.

Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), the second largest trade union federation in Quebec, however, has its doubts.

CSN president Caroline Senneville described it as ‘a scandal’ and ‘a slap to the face to all Quebec workers’. She said the employees have a right to improve their working conditions by unionizing and what Amazon is doing is ‘not respecting [their] rights as workers’.

Jagmeet Singh, the Federal NDP Leader, agreed, saying that the company was obviously trying to ‘union bust’.

While 1,700 people isn’t a large number in the grand scheme of things, many find it to be concerning as it may send a signal to other companies that it’s time to pull out of Quebec as well.

The post Amazon to Shut Down All Warehouses in Quebec appeared first on Gazette Review.

On Friday, Party City CEO Barry Litwin told corporate employees in a meeting that the company is ‘winding down’ operations and that they will no longer be employed.

The staff were also told they will not be given severance pay and that their work benefits will end as soon as the company shuts down.

Litwin said in the video conference call that it’s ‘the most difficult message [he’s] ever had to deliver’.

Despite the company’s ‘very best efforts’, it was not able to overcome its financial difficulties, which were partly driven by inflation.

The same day as the meeting, many store employees received letters stating that the company would be shutting down all stores on February 28, which would also be their final day of employment.

The letter stated that the shut downs are in the company’s best interests and thanked the employees for their ‘valued contributions and service’.

Collapse of the Company

In August, Party City appointed Litwin as its new CEO. Shortly afterward, he wrote on LinkedIn that their main priority was to strengthen [the company’s] financial health’ and that there was ‘a lot of work head of [them]’.

Prior to Litwin’s arrival, the company had declared bankruptcy in early 2023 as it was struggling to pay off its $1.7 billion debt. The procedure would allow them to negate nearly $1 billion in debt.

During that period, the company was able to keep most of its stores open, closing only a few dozen, according to financial documents.

Despite that, the company still had over $800 million in debt, which understandably strained their revenue.

Prior to the official announcement, news of the company’s impending shutdown had already started to spread among corporate employees.

Two weeks ago, Party City’s product development team was told to ‘return home immediately’ after their yearly trip with vendors was cancelled. At the time, they were told that the trip posed ‘a safety risk’ as the company had stopped paying its suppliers.

Around that same time, security from corporate headquarters locked the front entrance of the building. In a subsequent email, they told employees that ‘[they] would need to give a one-day heads up to gain access to the building’. They also warned not to let anyone without badge access to follow them inside the building.

Many employees were understandably frustrated at the lack of communication. They later learned from others that all store locations would be shutting down in February.

The Largest Party Supply Chain In the U.S.

Party City was established in 1986 and was the largest party supply store in the U.S. In 2021, the company had over 6,400 full-time and 10,00 part-time employees.

Despite their initial success, the company, which sells everything from costumes to balloons, eventually found themselves competing with big-box retailers such as Walmart, Amazon, and Costco.

They also struggled with rising costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a helium shortage.

The post Party City to Close All Stores In the U.S. appeared first on Gazette Review.

The company, which has locations worldwide, said it has a debt of over $1 billion. They will be selling the restaurant business to its lenders, which will provide them with enough funds to stay afloat. In the meantime, several of its restaurants will be closing its doors.

Red Lobster, the largest seafood restaurant in America, opened its first location in Lakeland, Florida, in 1968. They have nearly 600 restaurants across the U.S. and Canada, with $2 billion in annual sales.

In recent months, however, inflation, competition, mismanagement, and other factors have brought the business down, according to former employees and analysts.

The company’s trend of underinvesting in food quality, marketing, and upgrades has also hurt its ability to compete with other quick-service and fast-casual restaurants.

History of Red Lobster

Red Lobster was started by Bill Darden and Charley Woodsby in 1968. By the 1980s, it was acquired by General Mills, who went on to expand the chain across the U.S. Not long afterward, they entered Canada.

In 2014, the business was sold for $2.1 billion to Golden Gate Capital, a private equity firm.

Since 2020, The Thai Union Group, a Thailand-based seafood distributor has been the company’s largest shareholder, owning 49 percent of the business.

Under Thai Union, however, the business struggled. Since 2019, the number of customers jave dropped 30 percent. The pandemic also put a dent in the numbers, though it has improved slightly in recent months.

Earlier this year, the seafood distributor said they will be divesting from Red Lobster, which translates to a loss of nearly $530 million.

According to former Red Lobster employees, it was Thai Union’s strategy mistakes and cost-cutting efforts that hurt the chain. One former executive, who agreed to speak under the condition of anonymity, said the shareholder had forced significant cost reductions, which hurt sales.

Since Thai Union became the largest shareholder, many of the company’s executives have also left. Since 2021, Red Lobster has had five different CEOs. Between 2021 and 2022, they also had a new CEO, chief financial officer, chief information officer, and chief marketing officer, all of which left within a couple of years.

Last summer, the restaurant chain turned its popular $20 limited-time endless shrimp offer into a permanent menu item, a decision that cost Red Lobster more than $11 million. While the change got more people in the door, many customers would stay at their tables for hours and eat nothing but the endless shrimp.

In its bankruptcy filling, the company said they will be investigating the circumstances of the endless shrimp promotion, which they consider to be one of the main causes for the huge loss.

Red Lobster also cut ties with two of its shrimp suppliers, which left them with an exclusive deal with Thai Union. That also resulted in higher costs, which ate into the profits.

The popularity of other fast-casual restaurants such as Chick-fil-A and Chipotle has also hurt the business.

Filing For Bankruptcy

Red Lobster announced that they will be closing 93 locations last week, in preparation for its bankruptcy.

They eventually ran out of cash, which meant they were unable to pay its vendors. According to its bankruptcy petition, they will be receiving a $100 million financing agreement, which will allow them to stay afloat in the U.S. in the meantime.

The post Seafood Chain Red Lobster Files for Bankruptcy appeared first on Gazette Review.

The source said the meal would include either a McDouble, a McChicken, or four pieces of chicken nuggets, in addition to French fries and a drink. The corporate offices of the fast food chain is currently talking to franchise owners about the meal, said the source.

According to a second source, Coca-Cola will also be adding funds to the equation to make the value meal more appealing for customers.

This comes just weeks after the company reported lower foot traffic and growth at its restaurants.

With how inflation has gone up in recent months, many customers have cut back on fast food, as many chains including McDonald’s and Subway have raised their prices to offset higher ingredient and labor costs.

Chris Kempczinski, the CEO of McDonald’s, said in an earnings call with investors and analysts that the company has to focus on maintaining affordable prices in order to coax customers to return.

Increases In Food Prices

While many fast food chains have boosted the prices of their items, McDonald’s has raised its prices the most over the past decade, citing rising labor costs as one of the biggest factors.

This is especially true in California, where a new law mandates that employees at fast food chains must be paid at least $20 an hour.

One poll conducted by Revenue Management Solutions found that one-fourth of Americans who make under $50,000 are cutting back on the amount of fast food they are consuming.

According to industry analysts, fast food chains including McDonald’s must be able to maintain low prices if they wish to maintain earnings projections.

Mark Kalinowski, the head of Kalinowski Equity Research, said that the majority of McDonald’s customers are in the low- and middle-class categories as high-income customers don’t tend to opt for fast-food dining nearly as often.

And because of inflation, the two groups must now be even more careful with how they spend their money, which is why the amount of foot traffic to the restaurants have gone down.

It’s important to note, however, that while a $5 meal will be attractive to many McDonald’s customers, it’s not the first time a fast food chain restaurant has made such a move.

In 2015, Wendy’s released the 4 for $4 meal, which includes four pieces of chicken nuggets, a small hamburger, a small drink, and a small fries. They later added the $5 Biggie Bag in 2019, which includes a choice of four chicken nuggets, sandwich, small drink, and a small fries.

As of 2024, McDonald’s employs over 2 million people across the United States and is the largest fast food chain in the country.

After news of the $5 meal deal broke out, McDonald’s shares went up by 2.7 percent on Friday, the highest increase that the company has seen since the beginning of this year.

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