BUSINESS
By Liz F. Kay, The Baltimore Sun | May 23, 2010
No one can expect to escape childhood without a few bumps and scrapes. But federal regulators, manufacturers and parents are still grappling with ensuring the safety of products for babies and toddlers. Several widespread product recalls this year have stoked the debate — and made navigating the consumer market potentially heart-wrenching. At least half of more than 500 recalls by the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission each year are for children's products, said Don Mays, senior director of product safety for Consumer Reports.
BUSINESS
March 27, 2010
WASHINGTON - Fifteen phony products - including a gasoline-powered alarm clock - won a label from the government certifying them as energy efficient in a test of the federal Energy Star program. Investigators concluded the program is "vulnerable to fraud and abuse." A report released Friday said government investigators tried to pass off 20 fake products, and only two were rejected. Three others didn't get a response. The program run by the Energy Department and Environmental Protection Agency is supposed to identify energy-efficient products to help consumers.
BUSINESS
By Gus G. Sentementes | gus.sentementes@baltsun.com | January 21, 2010
Martek Biosciences Corp., a Columbia-based maker of infant formula nutritional supplements, said Thursday it will pay $200 million for a consumer health and wellness product company that will for the first time help give their products a direct pipeline to store shelves. Martek is buying Amerifit Brands Inc. from Charterhouse Group Inc., a New York-based private equity investment firm, in a deal that is being funded with $120 million in cash reserves and the rest through loans, the companies said.
FEATURES
By Susan McGrath and Susan McGrath,Los Angeles Times Syndicate | November 6, 1991
Ever wonder what happens when you spray fabric protector onto fabric? Squeeze clear adhesive onto a broken edge? Paint typewriter correction fluid onto paper? What makes the stuff wet when it is wet? And where does the wet go when it dries?What makes the stuff wet is solvent. Sometimes a product's solvent is water. Usually, it's one of a number of chemicals, often petroleum distillates, called volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. What VOCs have in common is that they volatilize -- turn to gas -- at normal room temperatures.
BUSINESS
February 3, 1998
Yurie Systems Inc., a Landover provider of high-speed network-access equipment, yesterday announced a resale agreement with Ericsson Inc.Under the three-year deal, Ericsson will market Yurie products worldwide under its own name. Ericsson Inc. is the Richardson, Texas-based American subsidiary of Sweden's LM Ericsson.The agreement, which goes into effect immediately, does not compel Ericsson to purchase any specific quantity of Yurie products.Kwok Li, Yurie vice chairman and chief technical officer, said, "We need a way to leverage our growth and part of the way to do that is to partner with global players.
BUSINESS
By Bloomberg Business News | December 25, 1994
CINCINNATI -- A product that stops runs in pantyhose is among the best new products of the year, while chocolate-flavored salsa is among the biggest duds, according to a study by AcuPoll, a product idea screening company.The annual survey, which looks at more than 500 products, is designed to show which products are the best and worst new products of the year based on initial interest by those surveyed, not by potential for sales or product performance.AcuPoll said most of the products that were given a thumbs up by consumers provided convenience, like DowBrands' Baker's Mate nonstick ovenware line, which quickens cleanup.