WCTB

More than 16,000 pounds of ground beef sold at Walmart stores nationwide were recalled due to potential E. coli contamination. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced the recall on Wednesday; according to the release, approximately 16,342 pounds of six different types of raw ground beef products sold by Cargill Meat Solutions were recalled. The products were produced April 26-27, 2o24 under a variety of different labels, the release said (see HERE for labels.). Consumers are urged to check their fridge or freezer and immediately dispose of the product or return it to the place of purchase.

According to the agency, the ground beef may have been contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, a “bacterial strain that is an important food and a waterborne pathogen that causes diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) in humans,” according to StatPearls, an online library published in the National Library of Medicine.

All products contained the establishment umber “EST. 86P” printed on the back of the label, and the products were then shipped to Walmart retail locations nationwide. According to the release, the producer flagged the issue after it was discovered that the impacted products, which had previously been segregated, have been “inadvertently utilized in the production of ground beef.”

No confirmed reports of adverse reaction has been reported, the release added. For more information about the recall, head here.

Editorial credit: Charles Pittaluga / Shutterstock.com

Peloton announced on Thursday that CEO Barry McCarthy will be stepping down as the company, and that it is also cutting 15% of its staff worldwide (or about 400 employees).  Karen Boone and Chis Bruzzo, Peloton’s current board chair and director, respectively, will temporarily handle the CEO duties until a new leader is chosen. Another board director, Jay Hoag, has been named the new chair, and McCarthy will stay with Peloton as a strategic advisor for the rest of 2024.

The announcement was made ahead of revealing its 2024 third-quarter financial report Thursday morning, after which shares slid 12%, to $2.81. The job cuts are just the latest round for the company, which announced in October 2022 that it was cutting about 500 jobs on top of the nearly 800 layoffs it made in August of that year. Peloton also said it will also close some retail showrooms while it consolidates resources.

Peloton said in a letter to shareholders: “Today we are announcing a new restructuring program to reduce annual expenses by more than $200 million. The objective of the cost reductions is to align our cost structure with the current size of our business and position Peloton to generate sustained and meaningful positive free cash flow, which is a top priority for us.”

In a message to employees, McCarthy said the layoffs were unavoidable in streamlining costs and making Peloton profitable again. The statement said in part: “Hard as the decision has been to make additional headcount cuts, Peloton simply had no other way to bring its spending in line with its revenue. The company had to do that in order to generate sustainable positive [free cash flow]. Achieving positive FCF makes Peloton a more attractive borrower, which is important as the company turns its attention to the necessary task of successfully refinancing its debt.”

The New York-based fitness company experienced incredible sales growth during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with shares multiplying by more than five times in 2020 amid lockdowns. However, sales began to slow in 2021 as vaccines allowed people to come out of quarantine and begin to visit gyms and exercise establishments outside of the home.

Editorial credit: JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.com

College protests continued across the country, resulting in escalating violence between pro-Palestinian encampments and counter-protesters. The movement calling for universities to divest financial support for Israel, which has affected dozens of campuses across America, has gone on for over two weeks now. Hundreds of arrests have been made and skirmishes have broken out between police and demonstrators, causing graduation ceremonies to be canceled, and universities forced to switch to remote learning, with access to campuses being restricted.

The Los Angeles Police Department said it has bene responding to UCLA at the ‘university’s request’ due to multiple acts of violence, with the university cancelling all classes until further notice.  Protest encampments at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Yale University and the University of Connecticut were also cleared out as of Tuesday, but encampments remain at more than 40 colleges nationwide.

At The City College of New York and Columbia University, the NYPD made at least 282 arrests, stemming from the breach of special police units at the now-occupied Hamilton Hall. Columbia has asked police to maintain a presence on campus until May 17, two days after commencement. The school said on Wednesday afternoon that all academic activities, including finals, for schools on the Morningside Heights campus will be fully remote for the remainder of the semester.  New York Mayor Eric Adams said in a briefing that while some students were involved in the occupation of Hamilton Hall at Columbia, they were “led by individuals not affiliated with the university.”

Editorial credit: Ringo Chiu / Shutterstock.com

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve voted to keep interest rates steady and postponed anticipated rate cuts stemming from elevated inflation across the U.S., which remains above the central bank’s 2% threshold.

The Federal reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement that the central bank left interest rates for overnight bank borrowing within a range of 5.25%-5.5%: “The economic outlook is uncertain, and the Committee remains highly attentive to inflation risks.”  In addition, with CPI inflation at 3.5%, the FOMC said, “In recent months, there has been a lack of further progress toward the Committee’s 2% inflation objective.”

Inflation has dropped dramatically from a high point of 9.1% annually to 2.7% as measured by the personal consumption expenditures, or PCE index. However, it remains more than a percentage point higher than the Fed’s target rate of 2%.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at a press conference in Washington D.C. on Wednesday: “So far the data has not given us that greater confidence. It is likely that gaining such greater confidence will take longer than previously expected.” While the possibility of an interest rate hike in the coming months was raised (before the central bank moves forward with cuts), Powell said: “It is unlikely that the next policy rate move will be a hike.”

Editorial credit: Domenico Fornas / Shutterstock.com