Originally published November 6 2015
Walmart no longer pretending to source 'Made in the USA' items; removes label claim from website after federal probe
by L.J. Devon, Staff Writer
(NaturalNews) According to a 2015 Consumer Reports survey, 80 percent of Americans like to buy products that are made in the USA before they consider products made cheaply in other countries.
Walmart's Investing in American Jobs Program promised to spend $250 billion sourcing American-made products by 2013. Not only have those efforts fallen short, but Walmart has also resorted to using fake "Made in USA" labels on hundreds of their products. Consumers are clearly being misled.
A watchdog group called Truth in Advertising investigated hundreds of everyday Walmart products to see if they were actually being manufactured in America. It didn't take long for the watchdog group to find discrepancies in product origin. For example, Walmart's store brand plastic sandwich bags are labeled "Made in USA" but on their own website, the products are listed as manufactured in Thailand. This is one of many examples of consumer deception that Truth in Advertising documented and compiled. They brought their concerns to the Federal Trade Commission, which quickly launched a federal probe.
Walmart removes all "Made in USA" logos from website, rolls out new in-store labels
In the wake of the federal probe, Walmart has removed all "Made in the USA" logos from its website. They have taken out any mention of U.S. origin for every single one of their product's online descriptions and titles. They have also started redesigning logos for their in-store product packaging. The new labels reveal the actual percentage of U.S. content in the product. All claims of U.S. origin will also be certified by the factory that made the product.
When the FTC heard the news that Walmart was making changes online, they ended their investigation. In a letter to Walmart, the FTC stated they would not pursue further action because Walmart had already taken voluntary steps to "prevent consumer deception." Walmart asserts that the mislabeled products were just coding errors and only represented "a small percentage of items."
Walmart told Fortune, "We're committed to reviewing and strengthening our processes to help ensure customers have a great experience on our website and can find the products and information they are looking for."
If Walmart can cut corners and pretend to represent the U.S. for so many years, how can we trust them moving forward?
In what ways can we lessen our reliance on superstores such as Walmart so we can truly invest in the products and services in our local communities?
Walmart's current dominance in the marketplace should be a call for all of us to think differently about where we choose to spend our dollars. This is a call for us to do more collaborating and creating, more farmer's market shopping and more trading.
Sources for this article include:
Fortune.com
FTC.gov
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