The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "supermarkets" ...
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Fishy Business
Boston Globe reporters Jenn Abelson and Beth Daley captured the attention of consumers across the nation with their 2011 “Fishy Business” series, which revealed widespread mislabeling of seafood at restaurants. DNA testing commissioned by the Globe showed diners frequently – and unwittingly -- overpaid for less desirable species. In 2012, the Globe produced two more “Fishy Business” installments to expand and follow up on the initial investigation. First, Abelson spent several months examining how fish processors add water to seafood to increase profits. The Globe hired an independent lab to conduct an analysis of 43 fish samples collected from supermarkets across Massachusetts. The results, presented in a multimedia package in September 2012, showed consumers often pay for excess water when they buy scallops and frozen fish. About 1 in 5 of the samples weighed less than what was stated on packages. The testing also showed 66 percent of the fish from one supplier had too much ice. The Globe also wanted to verify restaurants and wholesalers had changed their ways following the newspaper’s 2011 investigation and resulting calls for reform. Daley and Abelson returned to 58 restaurants that served the wrong fish in 2011 to collect new samples. DNA tests showed 76 percent did not match what restaurants advertised on their menus. The resulting third installment of “Fishy Business,” published in December 2012, detailed these findings. In addition, Abelson and Daley explained how accountability is lost in the fish supply chain by investigating a major wholesaler that provided mislabeled fish to some of the region’s best-known restaurants.
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Wal-Mart Abroad: How a Retail Giant Fueled Growth With Bribes
Part One revealed how Wal-Mart’s highest executives shut down an internal investigation that had uncovered strong evidence of systemic bribery by Wal-Mart’s largest foreign subsidiary, Wal-Mart de Mexico. As a result, authorities were never notified and no one was punished. Instead, the executive identified as the driving force behind years of bribery was promoted to vice chairman of Wal-Mart. Part Two offered an in depth examination of precisely how Wal-Mart de Mexico used bribes to accelerate its growth. The article described Wal-Mart as “an aggressive and creative corruptor” in Mexico, and it focused on how Wal-Mart paid more than $200,000 in bribes to build a single supermarket in the town of Teotihuacán, not far from two ancient pyramids.
Tags: Wal-Mart; bribery; corruption
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The Blueberry Children
This investigation reveals that child labor is still a large issue in the United States. They found children “as young as 5 years old” in the fields picking fruits and vegetables. The child labor laws are rarely enforced, which is why nothing was being done to stop this practice. Further, many of these children were picking blueberries, which were some of the largest blueberry fields and were supplying national grocery store chains.
Tags: agriculture; operations; federal; human rights; lawmakers; regulators; kids; supermarkets; farmers
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The Mercury Menace
The reporters investigated supermarkets throughout the Chicago area that routinely sell seafood highly contaminated with mercury, a toxic metal that can cause learning disabilities in children and neurological problems in adults. The Tribune commissioned mercury testing of random samples of fish from markets across Chicago.
Tags: mercury; fish; seafood; toxic; food regulations; learning disabilities; FDA
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The Mercury Menace
The authors investigated supermarkets throughout the Chicago area that are routinely selling seafood that is highly contaminated with mercury, a toxic metal that can cause learning disabilities in children and neurological problems in adults. The Tribune commissioned mercury testing of random samples of fish from markets across Chicago.
Tags: mercury; fish; seafood; toxic; food regulations; learning disabilities; FDA
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Shameful Harvest
This investigation exposed how U.S. and California-based supermarket chains, including the Wal-Mart, indirectly contribute to illegal child labor by buying produce from countries where child labor is common, if not legal. Reporters made three trips to Mexico to talk to laborers; their strong commitment to the story helped them to understand and report on the complex distribution system that starts in foreign fields and end in the supermarket.
Tags: migrant labor; child workers; harvest; immigration; INS; vegetables; produce
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Convenience at a Cost; Save-a-lot takes a chance in the city; Maps help show stores; Convenience -store prices tax customers; Riding the bus with a grocery list
In this series of stories, The York Daily Record used mapping software and census databases available to look at the various supermarkets accessible in the City of York and across the county. The reporters found out that the rate of grocery stores per 10,000 people was only 0.24 where the selection was not only limited but priced really high. The reporters used Arc View and the 2000 census database to create a layout of the area they were looking at.
Tags: supermarkets; shopping; grocery stores; City of York; grocery; Wal-Mart; FOI; census data; mapping software; Arc View
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Nowhere to Shop
The Charlotte Observer mapped the addresses of 97 chain and independent supermarkets in Mecklenburg County and found only 25 were west of Interstate 77. "As Mecklenburg's population has shifted east of Interstate 77, access to supermarkets has become a problem for the westside's poor, elderly and families without cars."
Tags: supermarkets; shop; grocerystores; low-income residents; Charlotte
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The Dating Game
Dateline NBC attempts to answer the question "how safe and fresh is the meat, chicken and fish we buy in the supermarkets? ... By conducting hundreds of interviews, examining regulations in 50 states, and secretly tracking thousands of pieces of meat, Dateline uncovered evidence of a widespread deception crossing both state and corporate lines, involving the largest grocery store chains in the nation. (The) investigation centered on 'sell-by' dates -- those tiny dates stamped on every package that are supposed to tell us how old meat is and when to throw it away."
Tags: food; meat; chicken; fish; safe; sell-by; supermarkets; chains; TAPE; TRANSCRIPT
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Demoulas vs. Demoulas
A Boston Globe investigation looks at the most expensive and most protracted lawsuit in the history of Massachusetts: the court "battle over a $2 billion supermarket fortune" fought by the heirs of the Demoulases, a Greek immigrant family. One of the member of the family, Telemachus Demoulas, was accused of stealing stock and property in DeMoulas Supermarkets from his dead brother's estate, widow and children. The litigation process destroyed the family and entangled the state's legal community, the story reveals.
Tags: courts; justice; lawyers; stocks and bonds; assets; immigrants; accounting; banking; inheritance; investigators; FBI