Consumer News: Nearly 3,000 plaintiffs sue over GLP-1 drug side effects

The recall involves seven lots of the popular pain reliever sold through Amazon

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• More than 112,000 bottles of Amazon-brand Extra Strength Acetaminophen are being recalled nationwide.

• The FDA says consumers complained about discolored tablets in the affected lots.

• The recall covers 200-, 500- and 1,000-count bottles of 500 mg acetaminophen sold through Amazon.

Consumers who keep a large bottle of generic pain reliever in the medicine cabinet should check the label and lot number.

Aurobindo Pharma USA Inc. is recalling more than 112,000 bottles of Amazon-brand Extra Strength Acetaminophen, 500 mg, after receiving consumer complaints about discolored tablets, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration enforcement report.

The recall was initiated Sept. 18 and involves products distributed nationwide by Amazon.com Services LLC. The FDA lists the reason for the recall as Discoloration: consumer complaints received for discolored tablets.

Acetaminophen is the active ingredient in Tylenol, but the recalled medicine is not Tylenol-branded medication. It is a generic acetaminophen product sold under Amazon's brand.

According to the FDA information, the recall involves approximately 112,932 bottles. The medicine was sold in three bottle sizes: 200 tablets, 500 tablets and 1,000 tablets.

Check these lot numbers

Consumers can determine whether they have recalled medicine by checking the lot number printed on the bottle.

The affected lots are:

200-count bottles
ACD125040A

500-count bottles
ACD124036A
ACD124030A
ACD124042A
ACD124048B
ACD125010A

1,000-count bottles
ACD124048A

The products carry NDC numbers 72288-692-20, 72288-692-50 and 72288-692-01, depending on bottle size.

The FDA enforcement information indicates the products were manufactured in India and distributed by Amazon.com Services LLC.

Recall has not yet been classified

As of the FDA's latest information, the recall is listed as not yet classified. That means the agency has not assigned it a Class I, II or III designation reflecting the level of potential health risk.

FDA explains that recall classifications are often made after a company has already begun removing a product from the market. A Class I recall involves a reasonable probability of serious health consequences or death, Class II generally involves temporary or medically reversible health consequences, and Class III involves products unlikely to cause adverse health consequences.

The available recall information does not identify an illness or injury associated with the affected acetaminophen. The stated reason for the recall is the consumer reports of tablet discoloration.

What consumers should do

Consumers with Amazon Extra Strength Acetaminophen should first check the bottle's lot number against the recalled lots.

FDA advises consumers dealing with a medication recall to follow instructions provided by the recalling company and to check the product's lot number rather than assuming that every package of the medicine is affected.

For prescription medicines, FDA cautions patients against simply stopping treatment without consulting a health care professional because suddenly discontinuing some medications can present a greater risk than continuing them. In this case, acetaminophen is an over-the-counter pain reliever and fever reducer.

Consumers who have one of the affected bottles can also check their Amazon account for recall information. Amazon has previously said that when products purchased through its site are recalled, it can notify affected customers and provide recall and product-safety information through their accounts.

The recall underscores an important distinction for consumers who may have seen reports referring to a Tylenol recall. Acetaminophen is commonly associated with the Tylenol brand, but many manufacturers sell generic versions of the drug. This recall applies to the specified Amazon-brand acetaminophen products and lots, not Tylenol products.

Recall expands to additional lots of blueberries and berry blends

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• A recall of frozen organic berries sold at Walmart has been expanded to include additional lots, while one lot sold at Trader Joes has also been recalled.

• The products may be contaminated with E. coli O145, which can cause severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting.

• Consumers are being urged to check their freezers and either throw away the recalled berries or return them to the store for a refund.

Consumers who keep frozen fruit on hand for smoothies and other foods may want to take a close look at what's in their freezers.

Frutas y Hortalizas del Sur S.A. of San Carlos, Chile, has expanded an earlier recall of frozen organic blueberries and berry blends because they may be contaminated with a potentially dangerous strain of E. coli. The recalls began in July.

The expanded recall includes additional lots of Great Value Organic Triple Berry Blend and Great Value Organic Blueberries sold at Walmart, as well as one lot of Trader Joes Organic Mixed Berry Blend.

The recall is an expansion of actions that began July 3 and were expanded in September. The company said the latest action is being taken as a precaution after traceback information linked the products to frozen blueberries involved in the original recall.

Products included in the recall

The FDA says consumers should look for the following products:

• Great Value Organic Triple Berry Blend, 10 ounces

  • UPC: 7874211226

  • Lot codes: 6 031 01 and 6 041 01

  • Best if used by: Jan. 31, 2028, and Feb. 10, 2028

• Great Value Organic Blueberries, 10 ounces

  • UPC: 7874211213

  • Lot codes: 6 019 01, 6 040 01 and 6 163 01

  • Best if used by: Jan. 19, 2028; Feb. 9, 2028; and June 12, 2028

• Trader Joes Organic Mixed Berry Blend, 12 ounces

  • UPC: 00977654

  • Lot code: 6 051 01

  • Best before: Feb. 20, 2028

The Great Value products were distributed to select Walmart stores in 30 states, as well as Puerto Rico. The Trader Joes product was distributed to stores in 26 states and the District of Columbia. Virginia is among the states where both brands were distributed.

Why E. coli O145 can be dangerous

The potential contaminant is E. coli O145, a Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, or STEC.

Infection can cause severe stomach cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea, which may be bloody. Most healthy people recover within about a week, but some infections can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, a serious condition that can result in kidney failure.

Young children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems are at greater risk of serious complications.

What consumers should do

Because frozen fruit can remain in household freezers for months or even years, consumers should check packages even if they don't remember purchasing the berries recently.

Anyone who has one of the recalled products should not eat it. The FDA says consumers should discard the berries or return them to Walmart or Trader Joes for a full refund.

The Chilean supplier said it is working with regulators and its customers on the recall. Consumers with questions can contact the company at 336-899-5612, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time.

The previous maximum was $51

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• Amazon has begun a new round of automatic refunds to Prime customers under its $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

• Eligible consumers can receive refunds of their Prime membership fees totaling as much as $200, and they do not need to file a claim or fill out paperwork.

• Payments are being sent by PayPal, Venmo, or mailed check, but consumers should watch the clock: payments expire 60 days after they are issued.

Amazon has begun sending another round of payments to consumers as part of its massive settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the way it enrolled customers in Prime and handled cancellations.

The latest round began Oct. 1 and expands the number of Prime customers eligible to receive money. It also substantially increases the maximum amount an eligible consumer can receive.

Under a revised court order, eligible customers can receive refunds of Prime subscription fees totaling as much as $200. The previous maximum was $51.

The good news for consumers is that getting the money should require very little effort. Amazon is sending the new payments automatically.

Who qualifies?

The FTC says consumers must meet three requirements to qualify.

• They must have been U.S. Amazon Prime customers and signed up through one of the enrollment processes challenged by the FTC between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025.

• They must have unsuccessfully tried to cancel Prime through Amazon's online cancellation process between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025.

• They also must have used no more than 20 Prime benefits during any 12-month period after enrolling. Prime benefits can include services such as Prime Video and Prime Music that are offered free to Prime members.

The latest change is important because it brings another group of customers into the settlement.

The original refund program generally limited payments to consumers with relatively little use of Prime. Under the revised order, Amazon is now making automatic payments to millions of additional consumers who used between 11 and 20 Prime benefits during a one-year period. Those payments began Oct. 1.

Consumers don't have to file a claim

Perhaps the most important thing consumers need to know is what they don't have to do: There is no new claim form to fill out.

The FTC says eligible consumers don't need to submit a claim, respond to a notice, or complete additional paperwork. Amazon will automatically send the money by PayPal, Venmo, or mailed check.

Consumers should pay attention when a payment arrives, however. According to the FTC, payments expire 60 days after the issue date, meaning recipients shouldn't leave a check sitting unopened or ignore a legitimate electronic payment notification.

All eligible consumers are expected to receive their refunds by April 2027.

Some consumers could get more money

Consumers who have already received money from the settlement aren't necessarily finished.

The original settlement capped individual refunds at $51. The revised order raises the maximum total refund to $200.

If the amount of settlement money accepted by consumers hasn't reached the required threshold by February 2027, Amazon will make another round of automatic payments to consumers who previously received refunds. Those consumers could receive as much as another $149, bringing their total payment to $200. That round is scheduled to begin by April 2027.

Amazon had already issued more than $845 million in settlement payments as of September, according to the FTC. The settlement requires Amazon to provide up to $1.5 billion in consumer refunds in addition to paying a $1 billion civil penalty.

Why Amazon is paying consumers

The payments stem from the FTC's case accusing Amazon of enrolling millions of consumers in Prime without their knowledge or consent and then making the service unnecessarily difficult to cancel.

The agency alleged that Amazon used manipulative website designs, sometimes called "dark patterns," to steer consumers into automatically renewing Prime subscriptions. The FTC also accused the company of deliberately complicating the cancellation process.

Amazon agreed in September 2025 to the $2.5 billion settlement, which included the $1 billion civil penalty and $1.5 billion earmarked for consumers.

Beware of Prime refund

With millions of dollars now being distributed, the FTC is also warning consumers to be alert for scammers trying to take advantage of publicity surrounding the settlement.

The agency says it is not contacting consumers about Amazon refunds. Anyone who calls claiming to represent the FTC and offers to arrange a Prime refund should be treated as a scammer.

Amazon also will never require consumers to pay a fee to receive settlement money. Consumers should not provide personal or financial information to someone who contacts them promising special access to a refund.

Consumers who believe they qualify but have questions about a payment can contact the settlement administrator at admin@SubscriptionMembershipSettlement.com or 1-888-999-8094. More information is also available through the FTC's official Amazon refund page.

Tests found the parasite in wastewater and a drainage ditch on a Mexican farm

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• FDA investigators found Cyclospora in two environmental samples collected in Mexico during their investigation of the massive summer outbreak.

• The outbreak linked to Taylor Farms de Mexico iceberg lettuce ultimately sickened 12,883 people in 21 states, hospitalized at least 570 and was associated with two deaths.

• The FDA says the findings strengthen the link to the lettuce, but investigators still have not determined exactly how the contamination occurred.

Federal health investigators have found Cyclospora at locations in Mexico connected to the record-setting outbreak that sickened nearly 13,000 people in the U.S. this summer.

The Food and Drug Administration said Oct. 2 that testing detected the parasite in two environmental samples collected during inspections of Mexican lettuce growers and a processing facility identified through its traceback investigation.

One positive sample came from a tank holding outgoing wastewater at the Taylor Farms de Mexico processing facility. The other was collected from a drainage ditch at an iceberg lettuce farm identified during the investigation.

The findings are significant because they provide physical evidence that Cyclospora was present in the environment where lettuce associated with the outbreak was grown and processed.

However, the FDA stopped short of saying investigators have identified precisely how the lettuce became contaminated.

"While there is currently not enough evidence to conclusively determine how contamination occurred," the agency said, the environmental findings add to epidemiological and traceback evidence linking the outbreak to recalled shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico.

Nearly 13,000 illnesses

The outbreak was one of the largest Cyclospora outbreaks recorded in the United States.

The final count reached 12,883 confirmed illnesses in 21 states, with at least 570 hospitalizations and two deaths. Illnesses began June 14 and continued through Aug. 17. The two deaths were reported in Michigan.

The actual number of infections was probably higher because some people recover without seeking medical care and are never tested, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the outbreak's peak, before the recall, more than 1,000 infections occurred in a single day.

Investigators eventually traced illnesses to processed iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms de Mexico. Some of the lettuce was served at Taco Bell restaurants, while other affected products were sold through retail and food-service channels.

Taylor Farms de Mexico recalled iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico on July 17. The FDA later classified the recall as Class I, its most serious recall category, because exposure could result in serious health consequences or death.

The CDC declared the outbreak over Sept. 11, and the FDA says the recalled lettuce is no longer on the market.

What investigators found in Mexico

Working with Mexican authorities, FDA investigators inspected several farms and a processing facility connected to the lettuce supply chain. Samples were taken from water, soil, sediment and lettuce.

Two environmental samples came back positive for Cyclospora the wastewater tank at the processing plant and the drainage ditch at a lettuce-growing operation.

The FDA said genetic analysis of the samples has been completed and investigators are continuing to compare the results with genetic information from clinical specimens collected from people who became sick.

That work could provide additional clues about how the parasite moved through the growing or processing environment.

Cyclospora cayetanensis is a microscopic parasite that causes cyclosporiasis, an intestinal illness. The most common symptom is prolonged or recurring watery diarrhea. Other symptoms can include loss of appetite, stomach cramps, bloating, nausea and fatigue.

FDA plans changes before next growing season

Although the outbreak investigation has formally ended, the FDA says its work isn't finished.

The agency announced 10 actions it plans to take before the 2027 growing season, including increased surveillance of foods historically associated with Cyclospora, additional work with growers to reduce contamination risks and an update to its Cyclospora prevention and response plan.

The FDA also plans to publish a report detailing its investigation and recommendations for preventing similar outbreaks.

For consumers, there is no continuing warning involving the lettuce from this outbreak. The products' use-by dates have passed, and federal health officials say the recalled lettuce is no longer being sold in stores or restaurants.

Aldi shoppers are sharing ridiculously easy meal combinations that require few ingredients and little prep

• Aldi shoppers on Reddit have been swapping great dinner ideas built around a few inexpensive, easy-to-prepare ingredients.

• The smartest trick isn't necessarily finding the absolute cheapest food at Aldi it's more about keeping meals around that are easier than opening a delivery app.

• Frozen chicken, rice, vegetables, ravioli, and Aldi's seasoned pork roasts can all become the foundation for multiple quick meals with plenty of leftovers.

We've all been there. There's technically food in the refrigerator, but nothing looks enough like dinner to stop you from opening DoorDash.

Aldi shoppers on Reddit may have found a solution: Don't just stock up on ingredients. Stock up on meals that practically assemble themselves.

A recent discussion in the Aldi subreddit asking for low energy dinner ideas generated dozens of combinations involving frozen foods, prepared meats, pasta, rice, and vegetables.

I dug through those suggestions and other recent Aldi discussions and found six ideas worth stealing. This will be particularly helpful on nights when the alternative is an expensive takeout order.

1. Make your own sweet-and-sour chicken bowl

This was one of the most popular suggestions, and it's about as easy as dinner gets.

Grab Aldi's frozen honey-battered chicken, sweet-and-sour sauce, frozen broccoli or mixed vegetables, and your choice of rice or noodles.

Cook the chicken, microwave, or steam the vegetables and toss everything together.

One shopper suggested Aldi's Asian medley frozen vegetables, while another uses the same basic formula with General Tso's chicken, broccoli, and jasmine rice.

The bigger hack here is worth remembering: Use a frozen entre as a single ingredient rather than the entire meal. Then add inexpensive things like rice or vegetables and youll stretch it farther and make it feel a lot more like takeout from Panda Express or Chipotle.

2. Turn ravioli into a dump-and-bake dinner

Keep frozen or refrigerated ravioli, a jar of marinara, and shredded mozzarella around and you've essentially got emergency lasagna.

Instead of cooking each component separately, layer the ravioli with sauce and cheese in a baking dish and bake until everything is hot and bubbly.

You can use the same strategy with Alfredo sauce and throw in broccoli or another vegetable.

This is exactly the type of meal that's useful to have in your back pocket: three ingredients, almost no chopping, and very little cleanup.

Pro tip: Create an I don't want to cook section of your freezer. Keep two or three complete meal combinations together rather than scattering the ingredients throughout the kitchen. When you're tired, you shouldn't have to invent dinner.

3. Put pesto and tortellini on emergency dinner duty

Aldi shoppers also recommended combining tortellini and pesto with ground beef and whatever vegetables happen to be around.

You can make it even easier by skipping the ground beef and using leftover chicken or another precooked protein.

There's also a clever way to keep that jar of pesto from becoming food waste. Aldi shoppers recommend freezing leftover pesto in an ice-cube tray, then transferring the frozen portions to a freezer container or bag. Pull out only what you need the next time pasta night rolls around.

That's particularly useful if you're regularly throwing away half-used jars.

4. Turn one pork roast into multiple dinners

Aldi's seasoned pork shoulder roasts have developed something of a following among shoppers looking for inexpensive, low-effort meals.

The formula couldn't be much simpler: Put the roast in a slow cooker, let it cook for several hours, shred it, and serve it in tortillas with cheese, onion, cilantro, or salsa.

One shopper reported paying $5 to $7 for the carnitas roast, while another recent shopper said a roast costing less than $6 produced dinner plus enough for lunch the following day. Prices vary by store and location, of course.

But don't stop at tacos!

Use the leftovers for quesadillas, burrito bowls, nachos, or sandwiches. Several Aldi shoppers say they get multiple meals from a single roast.

Pro tip: When you're comparing convenience foods, don't look only at the package price. Calculate the cost per meal. A $6 or $7 item that becomes dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow may be a better value than a $4 convenience food that feeds you once.

5. Build a burrito bowl instead of ordering one

Rice is your friend here.

Start with rice, then add beans, corn, salsa, shredded cheese, and whatever protein you have available.

One Aldi shopper recently reported making roughly six Mexican-style meals for a little over $14, or about $2.40 per serving, using Aldi carnitas, pinto beans, corn, salsa, cheese, and rice. That's one shopper's experience rather than a nationwide price comparison, but it illustrates how inexpensive ingredients can stretch a relatively small amount of meat.

That's also the real savings trick: Let rice and beans do more of the work.

You don't need a Chipotle-sized pile of meat in every bowl to make it dinner.

6. Stretch frozen General Tso's chicken

Here's another way to get more out of a prepared meal: An Aldi shopper said they bulk up a package of frozen General Tso's chicken with diced chicken patties and frozen vegetables, noting that the package contains enough sauce to cover the additions.

You don't necessarily need the extra chicken. Adding broccoli, peppers, or a frozen vegetable mix and serving everything over rice can stretch a relatively small prepared entre across more servings.

It's a simple principle you can apply to lots of frozen meals: add the cheap stuff yourself. Rice, pasta, and frozen vegetables generally cost considerably less than buying another prepared entre.

Keep one no-brainer dinner on standby

This may be the most useful hack of all. Pick one dinner your household likes that requires almost no thought and make sure you always have the ingredients.

Maybe it's tortellini + pesto.

Maybe it's General Tso's chicken + broccoli + rice.

Maybe it's ravioli + sauce + cheese.

The specific meal doesn't really matter. What matters the most is having something available on a random Wednesday night when everyone is hungry and there is ZERO motivation to cook.

It's those weeknight dinners, when youre tired, that the delivery app sitting on your phone tends to scream your name, just waiting for the opportunity to ruin your food budget for the month.