Building a Better World, Together

What's at stake: In late 2016, Kayli and Ricky Shoff of Orem, Utah, posted a nanny-cam video online of their 2-year-old twin boys as a warning to other parents. The frightening footage, now viewed more than 17 million times, shows Brock and Bowdy climbing on a dresser, which then tips over, pinning Brock. After 2 difficult-to-watch minutes, Bowdy manages to nudge the heavy piece of furniture just enough to let Brock slide out unharmed.

But the dresser remained on the market. Five months later, the same dresser model—Ikea's eight-drawer Hemnes—fell on another 2-year-old, Conner DeLong, who did not survive. A lawsuit between the family and Ikea was recently settled.

Despite the tragedy, Ikea has not recalled the dresser, pointing to the fact that it meets a voluntary stability standard established through ASTM International, an independent organization that includes industry, government agencies, and consumer groups. (CR is a member.)

What's at stake: In our recent special report, "Arsenic and Lead Are in Your Fruit Juice: What You Need to Know," we reported on our tests of 45 widely sold juices available across the country, which showed worrisome levels of inorganic arsenic, cadmium, and lead in almost half. Kids are especially vulnerable, but heavy metals can harm adults, too.

One way to reduce exposure to heavy metals would be government-established limits, but few exist. In 2013, partly in response to an earlier CR report, the Food and Drug Admin­istra­tion proposed limiting inorganic arsenic in apple juice to 10 parts per billion (ppb), the federal arsenic standard for drinking water. The FDA told CR the limit would be set by the end of 2018. But it's still not in place.

The FDA does have a guide­line for lead in juice—50 ppb—but we think it should be much lower. And the agency has no limit for cadmium.

How CR has your back: We recently sent the FDA a list of recommendations. Among them: It should set a long-term goal of no measurable amounts of heavy metals in fruit juice. (The FDA told CR it would review our data "as part of our larger, comprehensive effort to reduce toxic element exposure.") We also shared our results with members of Congress, and three senators wrote the FDA calling for standards to "strictly limit heavy metals in children's food, including fruit juices."

What you can do: Check our list of juice products that contain comparatively high levels of heavy metals, as well as better alternatives.

What's at stake: It's an all-too-common story: What starts as an offer from a friend or neighbor to sell you a product—anything from energy drinks to skin care lotions—turns into an "opportunity" to make money by becoming a "distributor" and selling the product your­self. Because the pitch comes from someone you know, maybe you buy in. But it turns out to be an age-old scam known as a pyramid scheme, where only people at the very top of the structure profit, and the rest are left holding the bag.

Not all "multilevel marketers" (as these com­panies are known) are bogus, but the shady ones have a few things in common: huge pressure to buy a lot of product up front and to recruit new "distributors," and a compensation system that emphasizes recruiting rather than actual product sales.

How CR has your back: Historically, the Federal Trade Commission has done a good job shutting down pyramid schemes. But some direct marketing companies are now pushing for a new law they are calling the Anti-Pyramid Promotional Scheme Act. Belying its name, the law would actually make it harder for the FTC to stop all but the most blatant scams. Former FTC officials from both political parties—and even top direct selling companies—oppose it. CR helped quash the bill in 2018. And now we are working to prevent it from being re-introduced this year.

What you can do: Contact your members of Congress and tell them to oppose the deceptively named Anti-Pyramid Promotional Scheme Act.