Consumer

"The carefully cultivated socially liberal image of Ben & Jerry's ice cream has suffered a knock with a decision by the Vermont-based manufacturer to stop calling its food  "all natural" following pressure from a watchdog that questioned whether ingredients such as partially hydrogenated soya bean oil fitted the billing."

Asian stink bugs have invaded the East Coast, are spreading, and are getting into people's yards and houses. When disturbed, they emit an unpleasant smell.

"After his mother died from eating contaminated peanut butter, Jeff Almer went to Washington to push for legislation that might save others from similar fates. And then he went again. And again. And again."

"Even as lighting companies report advances in LED technology, consumers are being warned that some LED lighting products do not live up to the hype."

"Bedbugs used to be solely a residential problem, but they are showing up in commercial settings, and not just in places with beds like hotels, nursing homes  and apartment complexes. Increasingly, pest control companies report finding bedbugs in office buildings, movie theaters, clothing stores, food plants, factories and even airplanes. For the affected businesses, the expense can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. For the companies that deal with the scourge, it is a bonanza, with business doubling and tripling."

"A Swiss chemical producer may soon be the first company to receive approval by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use nanosilver to make clothing smell better, stay cleaner and destroy germs. However, health scientists say the nanoparticles will wash out with the rinse water and could cause unknown environmental and health problems downstream."

"Television and movie makers have no excuse for not jumping on the 'green' movement bandwagon. A new website with resources on everything from recycling sets to cruelty-free mascara makes it simple to do so."

"Lowe’s Companies Inc., the nation’s No. 2 home improvement chain, has set off a legal firestorm by agreeing to a national settlement over tainted drywall in a class-action suit being decided in a Georgia state court. The $6.5 million settlement would pay relatively small amounts to individuals who had the tainted drywall in their homes. But the handful of attorneys who quietly negotiated the deal will receive a separate payment of $2.1 million."