cookiesinheaven

In a memo that he sent to all employees last month, obtained by Mother Jones, Mackey concedes that Whole Foods is actually sinking under the weight of its health care expenses. In the past seven years, he writes, the cost of the company's health care plan as a percentage of its sales has gone up 60 percent. This year's tab is "equal to about 10% of the total Team Member compensation of $2 billion," Mackey complains. "On average over the past three years we have spent more on health care costs than we have made in total net profits!" - MotherJones

Labels: healthcare, Whole Foods

Labels: healthcare, nose

Health care is a service that we all need, but just like food and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges. A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That's because there isn't any. This "right" has never existed in America. - WSJ

Obesity in the United States is in part an economic issue, according to a review paper on the relationship between poverty and obesity published in the January 2004 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The article suggests that the very low cost of energy-dense foods may be linked to rising obesity rates.

“It’s a question of money,” Drewnowski said. “The reason healthier diets are beyond the reach of many people is that such diets cost more. On a per calorie basis, diets composed of whole grains, fish, and fresh vegetables and fruit are far more expensive than refined grains, added sugars and added fats. It’s not a question of being sensible or silly when it comes to food choices, it’s about being limited to those foods that you can afford.” - ScienceDaily

Labels: healthcare, investment, Whole Foods

Labels: Benefit, healthcare, Ice Cream

John Mackey, chief executive of Whole Foods, said that while his company offers coverage, he worries that an employer mandate would lead to more stringent federal rules on what employer plans must include.

...."It's a Trojan horse," he said.- WaPo

Labels: healthcare, Public Health, Wal-Mart, Whole Foods

Airborne to pay $7mil for false advertising. Ouch. I know the stuff works for me and for many of my friends in "fighting off a cold", but I never thought that it could actually "cure a cold." Geez. We can put a man on the moon, but we still can't cure that pesky common cold. Guess I'll be passing this by in the Trader Joe's aisle.

Airborne Health Inc has agreed to pay $7 million to settle investigations by 32 state attorneys general and the District of Columbia over the past marketing and labeling of its products.Airborne did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement. It previously settled two matters involving similar claims.

The privately held company makes popular dietary supplements with vitamins, minerals and herbs that it says help support the immune system.

...According to Blumenthal, Airborne agreed to certain prohibitions against making claims over the benefits of its products. The company also may not demand where a retailer puts its products in stores, he said.

Blumenthal also said Airborne agreed not to market a product with directions that would result in a person ingesting 15,000 International Units of Vitamin A or more per day.

Airborne previously reached a $23.5 million settlement of a class action lawsuit and a $6.5 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. The company said the FTC settlement funds would be paid only if the class action settlement does not cover all consumer claims submitted by September 18. - Reuters

Labels: healthcare, products