Amazon.com seeks to end lawsuit claiming rice contaminated by heavy metals
(Reuters) -Amazon.com urged a federal judge to dismiss a proposed class action over its alleged sale of rice tainted by arsenic and other "heavy metals," denying the accusation it fraudulently concealed contamination.
In a filing late on Friday in Seattle federal court, Amazon said the presence of heavy metals in rice was a "decades-old, well-known issue" that was easy to discover, and the plaintiffs did not claim there were more metals than regulators allowed.
Amazon also said Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act shields online platforms from liability over content from third parties, such as rice sellers.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond on Tuesday to requests for comment.
The lawsuit on May 23 covered 18 types of rice sold through Amazon, including from brands such as Ben's Original and Amazon-owned Whole Foods' 365.
Plaintiffs Ashley Wright and Merriman Blum said they would not have bought or would have paid less for their Iberia basmati rice, one of the products, had they known it was contaminated or Amazon never tested it for heavy metals.
Exposure to heavy metals has been associated with nervous system problems, immune system suppression and kidney damage. It has also been associated with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in young children.
The lawsuit followed a study by the nonprofit Healthy Babies, Bright Futures, which found arsenic in all 145 rice samples purchased nationwide, cadmium in all but one sample, and lead and mercury in more than one-third of tested samples.
The case is Wright et al v Amazon.com Inc, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, No. 25-00977.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
An Amazon seller doing 7 figures says one strategic addition has doubled her profit
Lisa Harrington started selling clothes on eBay before transitioning to Amazon. Her business selling interior cat doors took off after hiring a PPC coach. She emphasizes investing in coaching and networking for long-term business growth. Lisa Harrington's e-commerce career began in the early 2010s when she started selling clothing, purses, and other items in her closet that she didn't need anymore. She used the eBay profit to launch her first Amazon product — dog harnesses — and sold enough to quit her corporate job in 2016. She eventually created and patented interior cat doors, which have become a top-selling Amazon product and bring in seven figures in annual revenue. Harrington, who's been doing e-commerce for more than a decade, can pinpoint one decision that took her business to the next level: hiring a PPC coach. PPC (pay-per-click) refers to Amazon's advertising platform, where sellers can pay to have their products displayed prominently. Many sellers consider ads an essential aspect of succeeding in the competitive e-commerce space. For years, "I had a very low spend on my advertisement," Harrington told Business Insider. Figuring out how to run Amazon ads wasn't how she wanted to spend her time. "I just didn't have much interest in it. I really wanted to focus on branding and product development, but it has such an enormous impact on your profit and loss statement that you really can't ignore it." The idea to hire a coach came from an industry event. "I remember talking to this woman, and she's like, 'I hire a coach for everything I don't know how to do. It is the fastest way to level up,'" recalled Harrington. She took the advice, found a coach to help her specifically with ads, and, "in the time I've worked with her, my profit has doubled," said Harrington. It took her six months to find the right fit. "Coaches are hard to find. But when you do find one, it levels your business up," she said. Over the last couple of years, her PPC coach has become more of a general business coach. They discuss everything from product development to effective employee management. "She's the only person I can talk to about every aspect of my business. She not only has the expertise but has the background information, so I can spitball with her, solve problems, and come up with great ideas," said Harrington. The full-time entrepreneur and mother of two kids doesn't hesitate to outsource when she can. "I try to get a coach for everything because, thankfully, I've gotten to the point where I can pay people to help me," she said. "That, in some cases, tends to be a cheaper way to learn a skill or a cheaper way to get something done." Harrington is also a member of the elite group of seven-figure Amazon sellers called Million Dollar Sellers. Members must complete an interview and application and pay $7,497 a year to join the group, which grants them access to exclusive events and a robust network of top-tier entrepreneurs. She's adamant that investing in yourself "always pays dividends," she said. "The knowledge that you gain, the networks that you gain, the experience shares that you hear, the tips and tricks that you get access to — not only is that short-term helping your business and helping your profit and loss statement, but you're also learning all of those things, so that if everything fell apart tomorrow, you could rebuild it again." Read the original article on Business Insider Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump Announces Dozens of New Reciprocal Tariff Rates
Hours before the pause on 'reciprocal' tariffs was due to expire, President Donald Trump released an executive order modifying the duty rates for dozens of U.S. trade partners. Ranging from 10 percent to 41 percent, the new tariffs will go into effect on Aug. 7, the order indicated. Goods that are found to have been transshipped—or rerouted through third countries to evade higher duties—will be subject to an additional 40-percent tariff. These rates will replace those announced by Trump on 'Liberation Day' in early April. More from Sourcing Journal Amazon CEO on Tariffs: 'It's Impossible to Know What Will Happen' Study Shows American Fashion Firms Unilaterally Challenged by Trade Upheaval, Tariffs Resetting Asia's Apparel Map With a New World Sourcing Order According to the White House notice, trading partners that 'have agreed to, or are on the verge of concluding, meaningful trade and security agreements' with the U.S. will be subject to Thursday's modified rates until those agreements are concluded. Meanwhile, countries that weren't listed, and import more American-made products than they export to the U.S., will be subject to 10-percent duties—the same universal baseline tariff that was announced April 2. 'I found that conditions reflected in large and persistent annual U.S. goods trade deficits constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and economy of the United States that has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States,' the president wrote in the executive order. 'I declared a national emergency with respect to that threat, and to deal with that threat, I imposed additional ad valorem duties that I deemed necessary and appropriate.' A Washington, D.C.-based Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard oral arguments for and against that justification earlier in the day. Trump wrote that information and recommendations from senior cabinet officials regarding the country's trade relationships and foreign trading partners' existing tariff barriers informed his decisions on the modified rates. Heightened duties are designed to prioritize America's domestic manufacturing base and supply chains, and its defense industrial base, he wrote. While Trump has often said in recent weeks that there would be no delays to his tariff scheme, they will take effect one week later than he initially planned. Shipments that have been loaded onto vessels to the U.S. before that date, arriving by Oct. 5, will not be subject to the new duties, giving importers a small window to rush orders. Notably, the president made good on his threat to hit Canadian imports to the U.S. market with steeper tariffs, raising the country's rate from 25 percent to 35 percent, beginning Friday (aside from goods covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USCMA), which include clothing, footwear and textiles). Mexico was not featured on the list, as Trump announced earlier in the day that he and President Claudia Sheinbaum had agreed to extend the current deal for 90 days while they pursue a long-term agreement. The country is currently subject to 25-percent tariffs on goods not covered by USMCA. The president also walked back his threat to hit Brazil with 40-percent duties earlier this week, bringing the South American nation's rate down to just 10 percent. The hardest hit nations were Switzerland at 39 percent, Myanmar and Laos at 40 percent, and Syria at 41 percent. The full list is as follows: Afghanistan: 15 percent Algeria: 30 percent Angola: 15 percent Bangladesh: 20 percent Bolivia: 15 percent Bosnia and Herzegovina: 30 percent Botswana: 15 percent Brazil: 10 percent Brunei: 25 percent Cambodia: 19 percent Cameroon: 15 percent Chad: 15 percent Costa Rica: 15 percent Côte d`Ivoire: 15 percent Democratic Republic of the Congo: 15 percent Ecuador: 15 percent Equatorial Guinea: 15 percent European Union: Goods with a Column 1 Duty Rate over 15 percent: 0 percent European Union: Goods with Column 1 Duty Rate less than 15 percent: 15 percent minus Column 1 Duty Rate Falkland Islands: 10 percent Fiji: 15 percent Ghana: 15 percent Guyana: 15 percent Iceland: 15 percent India: 25 percent Indonesia: 19 percent Iraq: 35 percent Israel: 15percent Japan: 15percent Jordan: 15percent Kazakhstan: 25percent Laos: 40 percent Lesotho: 15 percent Libya: 30 percent Liechtenstein: 15 percent Madagascar: 15 percent Malawi: 15 percent Malaysia:19 percent Mauritius: 15 percent Moldova: 25 percent Mozambique: 15 percent Myanmar (Burma): 40 percent Namibia: 15 percent Nauru: 15 percent New Zealand: 15 percent Nicaragua: 18 percent Nigeria: 15 percent North Macedonia: 15 percent Norway: 15 percent Pakistan: 19 percent Papua New Guinea: 15 percent Philippines: 19 percent Serbia: 35 percent South Africa: 30 percent South Korea: 15 percent Sri Lanka: 20 percent Switzerland: 39 percent Syria: 41 percent Taiwan: 20 percent Thailand: 19 percent Trinidad and Tobago: 15 percent Tunisia: 25 percent Turkey: 15 percent Uganda: 15 percent United Kingdom: 10 percent Vanuatu: 15 percent Venezuela: 15 percent Vietnam: 20 percent Zambia: 15 percent Zimbabwe: 15 percent Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Amazon CEO on Tariffs: ‘It's Impossible to Know What Will Happen'
The jury may be still out on the impact of tariffs on Amazon's business, but its customers kept spending throughout the second quarter. Rehashing some of the narrative from the company's first quarter earnings call, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said that despite the tariffs, the e-commerce giant has not seen diminishing demand or meaningful price appreciation in the first half of the year. More from Sourcing Journal Study Shows American Fashion Firms Unilaterally Challenged by Trade Upheaval, Tariffs Resetting Asia's Apparel Map With a New World Sourcing Order Trump Announces Dozens of New Reciprocal Tariff Rates But Jassy left room for all outcomes for the remainder of the year. 'That could change in the second half,' Jassy said. 'There are a lot of things that we don't know.' Although Jassy said tariffs' effect on retail prices and consumption has often been 'wrong and misreported,' the CEO also acknowledged 'it's impossible to know what will happen,' particularly when it depletes pre-tariff inventory. Jassy was also wishy-washy on the ensuing costs from the tariffs, noting that the company is unsure at who's going to end up absorbing the higher expenses. He noted that with 2 million sellers on its marketplace, there is a range of differing strategies on whether to pass on the higher costs to consumers. The earnings call occurred hours before President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on several U.S. trade partners ahead of Friday's deadline to conjure up new trade agreements. Those tariff rates are expected to kick in Aug. 7. Higher tariffs on goods from China face an Aug. 12 deadline. More than 70 percent of Amazon sellers and brands say they source their products from China, according to a survey conducted last year by Amazon seller software platform Jungle Scout. The tariffs that have been embedded since April have not slowed down sales at the Big Tech firm. Amazon's second quarter showed strong growth, with net sales increasing 13 percent to $167.7 billion in the second quarter, up from $148 billion in the year-ago period. Net income increased to $18.2 billion in the second quarter, or $1.68 per diluted share, compared with $13.5 billion, or $1.26 per diluted share, in second quarter 2024. Jassy highlighted some wins across Amazon's logistics operation, particularly as the company continues to restructure its inbound fulfillment network of warehouses near major ports to cut ground transportation expenses. According to the CEO, Amazon increased the share of orders moving through direct lanes—where packages go straight from fulfillment to delivery without extra stops—by over 40 percent year-over-year. 'We've also reduced the average distance packages traveled by 12 percent and lowered handling touches per unit by nearly 15 percent,' Jassy said. 'We've made progress on order consolidation with more products positioned locally, we're able to pack more items into each box and send fewer packages per order. That has helped drive higher units per box and improved overall cost to serve.' On the delivery end, which includes the company's $4 billion commitment to expanding same-day services in 4,000 rural communities, Amazon delivered 30 percent more items same day or next day in the U.S. than during the same period of last year. The faster deliveries have helped push Amazon's third-party sellers to an all-time high of 62 percent of units sold in the quarter, according to Jassy. Amazon's recently unveiled generative AI model for its warehouse robotics, Deepfleet, also got some shine in the call. Jassy said the model improves robot travel efficiency by 10 percent. 'At our scale, it's a big deal. DeepFleet acts like a traffic management system to coordinate robots' movements to find optimal paths and reduce bottlenecks,' Jassy said. 'For customers, it means faster delivery times and lower costs.' Although the firm's second quarter was strong on the surface, investors were not too impressed with Amazon's overall results. Stock declined nearly 7 percent in after-hours trading Thursday, largely due to cash cow Amazon Web Services (AWS) underperforming competitors. Despite forecasting third-quarter sales ahead of Wall Street estimates, Amazon issued a soft operating profit guidance of $15.5 billion to $20.5 billion in the period ending in September, compared with an average analyst estimate of $19.4 billion. Sales are forecast to be $174 billion to $179.5 billion, the company said Thursday in a statement. Estimates, on average, were $173.2 billion. The third quarter will include statistics from Prime Day, which took place from July 8-11—the longest iteration of the event Amazon has held. Jassy said the four-day shopping extravaganza drove records across sales, number of items sold and number of Prime signups in the three weeks leading up to the event.
