CEO Of Biggest Fast Food Chain Comes Out In Favor Of A Minimum Wage Increase

[ProSense]

CEO Of Biggest Fast Food Chain Comes Out In Favor Of A Minimum Wage Increase

By Alan Pyke

The founder and CEO of Subway says a minimum wage increase wouldn’t be such a bad thing for his stores and workers and believes it should be changed so that wages rise automatically with inflation.

“I’m not concerned,” CEO Fred DeLuca said on Wednesday when CNBC asked him about minimum wage hikes. “Over the years, I’ve seen so many of these wage increases. I think it’s normal. It won’t have a negative impact hopefully, and that’s what I tell my workers.”

DeLuca’s support is noteworthy in part because of the size of his business. Subway has the most locations of any fast food chain. While a majority of small business owners support a $10.10 wage hike, major corporations of that scale typically oppose raising wages.

DeLuca had previously warned that raising the minimum wage too rapidly would be a “bad idea” that could damage businesses, while acknowledging that “minimum-wage workers deserve to make more.” At the time that he offered that warning in 2013, President Obama was proposing a minimum wage hike from $7.25 to $9 an hour. Since then, Obama has joined congressional progressives in calling for a $10.10 hourly minimum, which would nearly recoup the purchasing power low-wage workers have lost to inflation over the past 40 years.

- more -

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/05/08/3435546/subway-minimum-wage/

The Minimum Wage Index: Why the GOP's Filibuster Will Hurt Workers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024911713

Elizabeth Warren:

WARREN: You know, I just don`t know the alternative world that says that we don`t need a minimum wage for people. I`ll give you 14 million reasons we should raise the minimum wage. And that`s the number of children whose economic fortunes would be improved if their parents made at least $10.10 an hour. Nobody should work full time and still live in poverty.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/55123898/

[liberal N proud]

1. DeLuca could do a lot to help the situation

Is he going to pay his people more?

[jmowreader]

2. DeLuca is a franchisor

He has no real control over his stores' personnel policies.

The biggest franchisee he has is Jimmy Haslam, the truck stop guy. The most common fast food franchise in a Pilot is Subway because it requires the least space and the least staff. The Haslams are very Republican; I wonder their opinion on DeLuca's announcement.

[hedgehog]

5. He controls the ingredients, the prices , the logo, the layouts,

the assembly method. I think he can add a minimum wage to all that if he really wanted to!

[IronLionZion]

10. That's one of the problems with franchises

there is so much control to squeeze everything, that wages and number of employees are really all a franchisee has control over. Individual franchisees don't make much from one store. The stories in the media of wealthy franchise owners are always owning lots of stores.

[jmowreader]

16. It wouldn't take much to de-franchise a sub shop

You can buy everything you need to run a sub shop at your local restaurant supply store. Give me a week to sell through the Special Subway Bread in stock (or to sell it still-frozen to another franchisee) and a weekend to change the logos, menus and service ware, and I can turn any Subway in America into a "Jim's Subs" or whatever you want to call it. And I don't think I would lose business - people who like "Subway" subs would also like "Jim's Subs."

[Mr.Bill]

26. Most franchise agreements would prohibit you from doing that unless you

moved to an entirely different location within xmiles of where your business is. 50-100 miles is common in franchise agreements.

[alfredo]

35. There might be a no compete clause in the contract.

[eppur_se_muova]

43. Actually, Subway is very bad about selling franchises in close proximity ...

two franchises in the same area means more income for Subway, even if the franchisees are competing for some of the same customers.

[alfredo]

45. Subway eats its young.

[FreeJoe]

4. Competition

I bet that competitive pressures make it hard for him to unilaterally raise wages for his company while others pay substantially less. I also suspect that his support for the measure is not altruistic either. I wouldn't be surprised if he has analysis that says that his company would be better off if low end wages were higher. I'd be curious to see how revenue/employee compares with a place like McDonalds.

[Hosnon]

20. This is it exactly.

If one company does it, that company is at a disadvantage in the marketplace. If everyone is forced to do it, no one is at a disadvantage (relative to each other).

[jmowreader]

22. It's probably pretty good

Subway stores have far fewer workers than McDonald's stores - during slow periods a Subway can be run by one person; a McDonald's needs many more. They are smaller so the rent is cheaper, IF rent is even a factor. (There are a shitload of Subways in supermarkets, Walmarts, convenience stores, truck stops, ballparks and other places where you'd be paying rent on that 80 square feet whether it had a sub shop or two racks of t-shirts and a wall full of souvenirs in it. In the town I live in there are five of them. Three are freestanding, one's in a convenience store and one's in a Walmart.) Seating is not a requirement; I've seen a lot of Subways that don't have any. They don't deep fry or grill and they bake in efficient convection ovens so energy costs are lower. Food cost is probably about the same; Subway's meat is more expensive but a sub doesn't use very much of it. And people like eating there. The cheapest restaurant you can possibly run is a Subway, which is why there are so many.

[Hosnon]

19. It's a bit like paying more taxes.

It only works if everyone does it. (The old line, "If you want to pay more taxes, then go right ahead and send more in.&quot

He would be undercutting himself in the market if he did it voluntarily and alone. If everyone does it, then no one is placed at a competitive disadvantage.

[Laelth]

3. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[tclambert]

6. I like what Sen. Warren said, "Nobody should work full time and still live in poverty."

[lark]

7. Think I'll be eating at Subway more

[sheshe2]

8. Thank you Subway!

Now let's see these other businesses and follow their lead.

This far overdue.

[Major Hogwash]

34. I agree. Someone has to step forward and be the industry leader, why not Subway?

I would bet that most of their customers would support higher wages for the people working behind the counter.

[Spider Jerusalem]

9. Just as important as raising the minimum wage?

the $2.13/hr minimum wage for tipped employees needs to be abolished completely and replaced with the full-rate minimum wage. Restaurants will complain, but as it is the expectation is that customers are paying the wages of those workers anyway; adjusting the price to reflect what everyone knows is the reality anyway won't change much (except keep tipped workers from being at the mercy of luck to make a living wage, that is).

[johnlucas]

13. EXACTLY! I think what they pay waitresses is OBSCENE!

I don't think a lot of people realize what wait staff get paid.
I didn't know waiters/waitresses got paid $2 & something until about 10 years ago or so.
I said that's BULLSHIT! At the VERY least you should pay them minimum wage.
Pizza delivery drivers get tips AND minimum wage so why not waiters/waitresses?

Tipping needs to be abolished altogether anyway.
You pay the cost to be the boss as James Brown says.
Quit shirking your responsibilities onto the customers.

I hear in Europe it's an insult if you try to tip someone.
We need to get rid of that crap in America.
Bad tradition.

Pay the workers what they deserve.
They shouldn't HAVE to scramble for "tips".
John Lucas

[LynneSin]

15. as an ex-SERVER (calling us waitresses is OBSCENE) I say HELL NO

You know what I really made per hour waiting tables - about $15-$20 an hour and I was working one of those shitty chain restaurants. I worked another pub a few shifts a week for lunch and would easily take home $50-$75 in the 3 hours I worked.

So tell me why would you want to abolish tipping and force SERVERS to make minimum wage?

[Ikonoklast]

18. My second oldest son's SO works as a server, oldest son's wife works pt as a bartender on weekends.

The SO working as a server can easily make $200-300 a day at her place, the bartender makes $500 a weekend working a lunch and dinner shift each day.


Both work at popular and fairly upscale places. Both are really good at what they do.

They would both quit if they were paid $10.10 an hour, their earnings per hour are closer to five times that in tips.

[LynneSin]

40. I would have never survived 3 years out of a job working for minimum wage

I didn't pull in $200 a shift because it was one of those chain restaurants. But at the time that restaurant also gave health benefits to anyone who worked over 30 hours a week so for me that was worth it. So for that place I was lucky to make $300-$500 a week but 20 years ago that was good money. I had side jobs waiting tables that I could pick up an extra $100-$200 a week easily.

My guess is anyone who thinks Bartenders and Servers should make minimum wage either never worked as one or did but was damn sucky at it.

[johnlucas]

37. You're picking a fight with me for no reason. Why?

I didn't say you should be forced to make minimum wage.
I say if wait staff are paid $2.13 minimum wage forcing them to make it up in tips that they should be AT LEAST paid national minimum wage.

You're quibbling with me over what I called your profession.
Sanitation Engineer/Maintenance/Janitor, Waiter/Waitress/Server. Whatever. Same difference.
My point is that people in those jobs should be paid well.
You are one example of being paid well so why are you arguing with me?

I don't think people in the restaurant business should HAVE to rely on tips to make decent money.
I think the restaurant owners should pay their staff what they're worth.
After all it's the cooks & waiters that make the business go.

The problem with tipping is that what about the guys in the kitchen?
Do the waiters share their tips with them?
If the cooks don't make the food, the waiters have nothing to serve the customers.

What about other lines of work?
Should bus drivers get tips for timely transit?
What about Wal-Mart cashiers who offer friendly customer service?
What about the librarian who goes out of her way to fix a problem with the library printer for you?

Getting bonus monies is all good with me.
If the customer WANTS to give you a bonus, it's all good.
But the worker shouldn't have to RELY on that to make a living.
That's what I'm talking about.
AND why aren't bonuses like tips considered for all lines of work when it comes to good service?

You may be paid well but there are many WAITRESSES who are not.
And they're forced to scramble for tips to make a living.
I'm thinking of folks working at a Waffle House.
I know good & well they ain't paying those guys no $15-$20 an hour WITH tips.

I worked as a pizza delivery driver before making minimum wage and tips.
AT THE VERY LEAST people with tipped professions should be paid minimum wage not this $2.13 crap!
In my opinion I'm more of the mind of a LIVING WAGE than a Minimum Wage but that's a story for another day.
Fast Food Workers are just as much SERVERS as you are & they get paid like SHIT.
I should know. I was one myself 20 years ago.

Quit picking fights where there's nothing to fight about.
The whole point is that workers in these service jobs should be paid well enough to make a decent living.
John Lucas

[LynneSin]

39. I'm guessing you never worked as a server in a restaurant

But if you want to take away the chance to work a job where it is easy to make $20/$25 an hour then hey go for it. The fact that you refuse to call them anything but WAITRESSES shows just how ignorant and disrespectful you are to the job. And I know Servers who have worked in cheap lil dinners and still make way more than minimum wage. If a server isn't making minimum wage from tips then perhaps they shouldn't be waiting tables.

What you are doing is picking a fight with everyone who has worked and were able to survive with a job waiting tables. I did it for 3 years and it was the only way I didn't end up going homeless. If I had to make minimum wage I would have lost the ability to pay for my home and keep my car. In fact I made enough money that I was able to take classes at my local community college so I could expand my education and get a new career.

And seriously Fast Food workers are like Servers? No they aren't. They take an order and fill a tray. You walk away from the counter and their job for the most part is done with taking care of you. If you have a problem you have to walk back to the counter and ask for help. If you want your drink refilled you need to get up from the table and get it done. Rarely do you have a person working a fast food counter come out to the table and ask if you are enjoying your meal or if you need anything else. And guess what, I am fine with that. I order fast food because I just want to grab food and go - I'm hungry and I don't necessarily care about the service of the food or the atmosphere of where I am dining. Servers in a restaurant do way more than stand behind a counter and ring your order up on a cash register. People go to restaurants because they want someone to serve them at the table and when they get good service they tip even more than 15%. And since I can usually run about 5-7 tables at one time that was damn good money I was earning.

And I will pick a fight when someone think it's a good idea to take away jobs that makes a decent living wage for the person who works it. When you think it's a good idea to take the millions of servers who are able to bring home decent salaries to take care of themselves and their families and force them back to minimum wage well many of us will have issue with that.

We servers and former servers who earned tips do NOT need or want you defending our salaries!! If someone doesn't like how it's setup and wants to know their salary is guaranteed then go work a minimum wage job. For those of us who waited tables we liked the idea that we could make way more than minimum wage!

[johnlucas]

42. Fast food workers make the food AND serve it to you.

I have seen McDonald's workers come from behind the counter & bring the order to the customer sitting at a table.
They are JUST as much servers as you are.

And like I said before.
What about the cooks in the kitchen?
Do you share your tips with them?
They're the ones actually making the food.
What about other jobs involving service?
Do you pay tips to your cashier at Best Buy?
Or the Wal-Mart worker helping you load your items into your car from the dolly?

I already told you I'm in favor of a LIVING WAGE for workers like you AND other people in service jobs.
While YOU may be making big money doing what you do there are many others working in diners who DON'T.
So get mad all you want.

When the people working at Waffle House make as much as you do, you won't hear nothing from me.
The fact the law states that tipped workers start out at a minimum of $2.13 an hour means that everybody is not getting paid like you.
Yes they call them Waiters & Waitresses. Deal with it.
What's so wrong with that term?
Go to a Ruby Tuesday & see how much they get paid.
Go to an Applebee's & see how much they get paid.

Should pizza delivery & Chinese takeout drivers get paid like you do?
After all they run their car to deliver the food straight to your HOUSE.

You think I want to bring you DOWN to minimum wage.
No, LynneSin.
I want the minimum to AT LEAST match the national minimum for the people who DON'T make what you do.
I would RATHER it be done like in Europe where service fees are already included in the purchase.
You would make the same money you make now.
The BEST bet is a living wage for ALL workers.

You have a good setup. Nobody wants to take that away from you.
But be honest with yourself & recognize that everybody doesn't have it like you.
Whether you call them servers or waiters, there are some of those who in restaurants & diners who struggle to make ends meet.

My car broke down & I stopped at a Waffle House to call a tow truck.
The waitress who let me use the phone talked about her ragamuffin car breaking down & she had to leave it on the side of the road.
Talking to her I could tell she didn't make a lot of money at this job.
She lived paycheck to paycheck & may have even struggled to do THAT.
THAT'S who I'm talking about when I say there should be no difference between tipped minimum wage & national minimum wage.

Quit thinking about yourself all the time.
LIVING WAGE is best but until we get that at the very least eliminate the distinction between tipped workers & other workers.
Minimum wage should apply to EVERY job.
Nobody should have to start from $2.13 & make it up in tips.
Tips are supposed to be EXTRA. Your wage should already cover making a decent living.
John Lucas

[LynneSin]

44. Really you are so far off base

Do McDonald's employees walk out to your table and take your order and then deliver that order to you and make sure your drinks are filled and your food is satisfactory

HELL NO

They don't, they aren't required to and not expected to. The customer stands at a counter and someone fills a bag. I worked fast food for a year and very very very rarely do I do that.


BTW I do tip delivery people if the tip isn't already added into the service. But again they are just delivery food. They aren't staying at my house and then serving it to me and filling up my drinks.

And the only person thinking of themselves is you - you want to be cheap and not tip people and do NOT care that millions of servers are bartenders would suddenly be forced to live in minimum wage. Really - I double dare you to start a thread anywhere and say that American servers should not have the right to earn a living salary. In the end this is about your cheapness. You want an excuse to give Servers and Bartenders less money and you think it's ok they should make $10/hr instead of the chance to make $15-$50 and even more per hour.

You want to take a job that would allow a mother to afford to pay for her kids food and make her work a job where she would probably have to aquire foodstamps in order to feed them.

You want to take a job that would allow a person to possible pay for their education and instead make them stuck at a low paying, dead-end job.

You want to take a job that would allow a person to actually save money and instead force them back to living a lifestyle of paycheck to paycheck. I know people who waited tables and were able to save enough money for a down-payment on a house. She even had a child to feed and no source of child payments. You want to tell a woman like that she should be happy we're giving her minimum wage and telling customers 'tip if you feel like it'. She'd be pissed as hell.

I would not have the great paying job I have today if I had to work for minimum wage for 3 years. I knew if I wanted to get into the computer field I would have to expand my education. (I had a college degree but non-technical). I was able to pay for extra training thanks to waiting tables and after 3 years I was able to find myself a regular 9-5 job which lead to the great job I have today. That would have never happened if I was working for minimum wage

I know you have this dream about everyone making a living wage, I have it too. But I'm a realist, we can't even increase the minimum wage so until we get to a living wage way of life in this country then the BEST THING THAT WAITERS WANT IS $2.13 PLUS TIPS. These people work these jobs because they do NOT want minimum wage. They want a job where they know if they provide good service then they can make a decent hourly wage.

So until that happens any other suggestions is just someone being cheap and thinking of only themselves and not the people who make a decent living waiting tables.

[jmowreader]

23. Tipping in Europe isn't an insult, it's just not common

I know Germany pretty well, so this is how they do it:

Restaurant owners are required to pay a living wage to their employees. There's none of this "tipped employee" wage scale crap.

The price of every item includes a service charge - what we in the US call a tip. They get this in addition to their wage - think of it as "base pay plus commission." If you know how to upsell you can make serious money on service charges.

And finally there is "trinkgeld" - drinking money, or an American-style tip. If your bill comes to 28 Euro (say), you can hand two twenties to the server and say "here is thirty" in Berlin or "thirty Euro" anywhere else. That extra two Euro is the server's trinkgeld.

[johnlucas]

38. That's what I think should be done here in America

It's more reasonable & realistic.
And doesn't force you to have to scramble for coins.

Good Service is a part of the job.
There's no need for monetary coercion from the customer to get good service.
Include it all with the bill. Much smarter & much more dignified.

That pretty much makes it a commission like you say.
And that's fair.

Tipping is weird to me.
But since I know most people in jobs like these are not paid well, I try to give a good tip in spite of the stupid system.
John Lucas

[LynneSin]

41. Yes you are right it's more reasonable to force servers to make less money

Woohoo!



Thank you for defending those of us who have or are now working as servers. We really didn't want the ability to make anywhere from $15-$50/hour when we have the likes of people like you who could guarantee we'd make minimum wage and perhaps split out whatever was in the tip cup.

Yes they do it differently in Europe and it is nice that the countries over there do pay them a living wage. But we don't have that here in the United States and therefore until we can guarantee living wages as the going rate for minimum wage then the best way is to stay with the tipped system. Else we'd be putting millions of additional workers on lower salaries and then we'd have to pay out more for government programs like Food Stamps and Section 8 housing to make up the difference with the salary decrease.

Here's what happens if we forced restaurants to pay minimum wages - servers would make less money (since for the most part minimum wage is $7.50 and far less than the $15-$50/hour many are use to), dining out would cost way more since restaurant owners would put the increase in salaries back into the price of food, less people would dine out because of increased prices in food so now everyone is making less. And when you do dine out you'll get some crappy server making minimum wage with very little incentive to make sure your dining experience is a pleasant one.

Here's a thought - if you don't like USA style tipping then don't dine out in a restaurant. Issue solved.

[Niceguy1]

31. generally

I always like to tip the waitress if the service is really good. I think it encourages better service

[maddiemom]

46. Many years ago, when I worked as a server during summers in vacation areas,

it was a practice, known to many who visited (and to all servers) to leave an extra penny for exceptional service (along with a generous tip). Very poor service got the bare minimum tip and two pennies (completely "stiffing" a poor server was bad form, because they were working for next to nothing in actual wages). Hopefully two cents would send a message of need for improvement, ultimately to the servers' benefit. This was common practice, at least, along the Jersey shore. Thirty or forty years later, it's apparently long out of practice.

[ProSense]

28. The proposal

"the $2.13/hr minimum wage for tipped employees needs to be abolished completely and replaced with the full-rate minimum wage."

...includes raising the tipped wage.

The President knows this is important for workers, and good for the economy. That is why the President has already signed an executive order to raise the minimum wage and tipped minimum wage for federal contract workers and is calling on Congress to raise the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour and index it to inflation thereafter, while also raising the tipped minimum wage for the first time in over 20 years. Increasing the minimum wage and the tipped minimum wage is especially important for women, who make up more than half of the workforce in jobs that pay the minimum wage and tipped occupations. Today, the White House is releasing a new report that lays out how women and the workforce would benefit if Congress passed legislation to raise the national minimum wage and tipped minimum wage for all Americans. Key findings from the report include:

NEW WHITE HOUSE REPORT: The Impact of Raising the Minimum Wage on Women and the Importance of Ensuring a Robust Tipped Minimum Wage
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/03/26/new-white-house-report-impact-raising-minimum-wage-women-and-importance-

[Spider Jerusalem]

32. "Raising the tipped wage"...but not the standard minimum.

[Cal Carpenter]

11. Says the owner of the biggest wage thief in the fast food industry

A patronizing load of CYA horseshit.

No fast food company has been caught committing wage theft as many times as Subway, according to a CNN Money review of Labor Department records.

Subway stores have been found guilty of 17,000 separate violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act stemming from over 1,100 separate investigations since the year 2000. That is the most wage and hour violations of any fast food company, although other companies would top the list on a per-location basis.

The sandwich chain’s status as America’s leading wage and hour violator comes as something of a surprise given that most of the recent focus on wage theft has centered on McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s. A recent survey found that nine of every 10 workers at those chains has been denied pay for time they worked or experienced other forms of wage theft such as being made to clock out but stick around when things aren’t busy. Those companies pay their CEOs more than a thousand times better than their workers, while also overseeing rampant theft of those low wages. Fast food is a major driver of the broader wage theft epidemic, which robs more money from people each year than every store holdup and bank robbery combined.

But the Department of Labor has taken to working directly with Subway’s corporate parent company to stem the chain’s wage theft epidemic, according to CNN. That government effort highlights one of the tricky things about fighting wage theft at giant corporations. Because most fast food stores are operated by individuals using franchise agreements rather than by the brand itself, the law generally treats them as small businesses. It is hard to hold Subway Corporate legally liable for wage theft committed by its franchisees, and fast food companies in general enjoy a smokescreen against Labor Department investigators and the sorts of massive fines that recent wage theft lawsuits have produced against franchisees.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/05/02/3433758/wage-theft-subway/

Fuck you Fred DeLuca, and fuck $10.10. Not even close to a livable wage.

[Ikonoklast]

21. DeLuca has little control over what franchisees do with their help.

The owners of the franchises are the ones that pays their employees, not DeLuca. They are seperate and distinct entities from the corporate franchise structure.

If I own a Subway franchise I set the pay and hours for my employees, no one else.

Unless I abrogate the terms of my franchise agreement, the franchisor has little or no leverage over what I do.

[alp227]

12. And expect right wingers to scream "BOYCOTT SUBWAY" once again...

the first time was after Subway did a promotion with Michelle Obama.

[proverbialwisdom]

17. The recent commotion over Subway crossed party lines and was a protest against UNHEALTHY INGREDIENTS

http://foodbabe.com/subway/

Subway: Stop Using Dangerous Chemicals In Your Bread
Associated video published on Feb 4, 2014

Hi, this is Vani Hari, creator of foodbabe.com.

Everyone from The First Lady Michelle Obama to the American Heart Association (AHA) to several Olympic athletes have endorsed Subway for their purportedly “fresh” and “nutritious” meals.

Unfortunately, not only have these people and organizations been duped, but millions of people across North America have been as well.

[center]

[/center]

I discovered that Subway makes bread with an ingredient called azodicarbonamide. It can be found in almost all the breads at Subway restaurants here in North America, but not in Europe, Australia or other parts of the world.

Azodicarbonamide is the same chemical used to make yoga mats, shoe soles, and other rubbery objects. It’s not supposed to be food or even eaten for that matter. And it’s definitely not “fresh”.

Subway is using this ingredient as a bleaching agent and dough conditioner which allows them to produce bread faster and cheaper without regard to the following health consequences and alarming facts:

<>

http://foodbabe.com/about-me/

JOIN ME, INVESTIGATE YOUR FOOD
- Vani Hari @thefoodbabe









[/img]

MORE.

[alp227]

24. So what if it's the same chemical used in yoga mats?

Can "Food Babe" name ONE person who got ill as a result of eating Subway sandwich?

A debunking of that BS: http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/FoodBabe#Yoga_mats_and_bread

[proverbialwisdom]

29. What's accurate is that food additives in processed food are inadequately tested in the US.

Last edited Fri May 9, 2014, 11:20 AM - Edit history (2)

- as recently detailed in multiple peer-reviewed journal articles produced by the PEW FOOD ADDITIVES PROJECT -> READ BELOW.

Robyn O'Brien @foodawakenings · May 7
U.S. spends more on cancer drugs than any other country, accounting for 40% of the $91 billion spent globally http://cbsn.ws/1rYOLTz

Robyn O'Brien @foodawakenings · May 7
According to the National Association of School Nurses, 19% of school children have food allergies, 1 in 5 kids. http://twitpic.com/e378lb

Robyn O'Brien @foodawakenings · May 7
Every 3 minutes, a food allergy reaction sends someone to the ER, accounting for more than 200,000 emergency department visits per year

Robyn O'Brien @foodawakenings · May 7
80% apples coated w/ chemicals banned in EU bc of cancer risk. Join others to protect US apples & families & sign=> http://www.mommygreenest.com/poison-apples/

Take a listen: TEDxMileHigh - Robyn O'Brien - Patriotism on a Plate
Uploaded on May 26, 2011

[center]

[/center]

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=B846909A-A5E3-4A27-A8DA-631FD66F9DED

POLITICO
NRDC to launch attack on food ingredient approvals
By: Helena Bottemiller Evich
September 10, 2013 04:30 PM EDT

http://www.pewhealth.org/other-resource/pew-examines-gaps-in-toxicity-data-for-chemicals-allowed-in-food-85899493633

Aug 14, 2013
PEW EXAMINES GAPS IN TOXICITY DATA FOR CHEMICALS ALLOWED IN FOOD
Project: Food Additives Project

The peer-reviewed journal Reproductive Toxicology published a paper from The Pew Charitable Trusts' food additives project examining the data used to make safety recommendations for chemicals added to food sold in the United States. The analysis of three major sources of toxicology information found significant gaps in the data for chemicals that are added to food and food packaging.

Pew’s analysis reveals:

* The Food and Drug Administration or industry decided that almost two-thirds of known additives were safe without having fed the additives to lab animals. This is based on Pew’s analysis of data reported in FDA, National Institutes of Health, or other leading toxicology databases.

* FDA’s own database on chemicals added directly to food indicates that:

* Only one in five chemicals has been evaluated using the simplest lab animal test recommended by FDA to evaluate safety.
* Only one in eight chemicals that FDA recommended be evaluated for reproductive or development problems had evidence it was tested for these effects.

* The lack of data means that often we don’t know whether these chemicals pose a health risk to the hundreds of millions of Americans who eat food with untested chemical additives.

<>

http://www.pewhealth.org/projects/food-additives-project-85899367220
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890623813003298

[jmowreader]

25. Not this shit again...

How would you feel about eating a chemical widely used in the production of paints, glues, plastics and heroin? Wouldn't you work hard to get that banned from our food supply?



Europeans ban azidodicarbamide from food because handling it requires personal protective equipment bakers can't afford to buy, but in low PPM doses eating it won't hurt you.

[dembotoz]

14. posted elsewhere that subway has a big problem with wage theft

pay raise means less if you are not getting paid for all the hours you work

[Cha]

27. Thank you Fred DeLuca.. thanks PS

[clg311]

30. Thanks Mr. DeLuca

I live just a block away and will go there tomorrow. I usually patronize a local pizza and sub joint but I'll go to Subway once in a while now.

[grahamhgreen]

33. I don't eat fast food. But now it looks like I have a first choice!

[putitinD]

47. If poor people have no money, businesses have no customers

[diabeticman]

48. He should put his money where his mouth is. Instead of doing lip service why not make it company

policy that starting May 15th or 25th or whatever day in the next 2 weeks his company will automatically start paying all employees $10.10 an hour.


I am tired of CEOs saying they think the min wage should be raised. If you believe it by pass congress and actually raise your starting pay.