Coca-Cola Admits Its Dasani Bottled Water May Be Contaminated With Plastic

(ANTIMEDIA) — This week, a study of eleven popular water bottle brands revealed microplastics are pervasive in packaging around the world. Though this may be unsurprising considering the widespread use of plastics, Coca-Cola admitted the possibility that their water products contain synthetic materials. The research was commissioned by Orb Media, a non-profit journalistic organization, and conducted by researchers at […]

Massive IBM Announcement Proves Blockchain Has Officially Gone Mainstream

(ANTIMEDIA) —  In January, tech giant IBM was able to happily report to investors that after 22 consecutive quarters — nearly six years — of declining revenue growth, the company saw gains in the last quarter of 2017. In a news release, executives clearly identified the reason for the turnaround at IBM, a century-year-old institution that began as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company. […]

Nestlé Caught Stealing Billions of Gallons of Water from California—No One Arrested

Nestlé has stolen billions of gallons of water from drought-stricken California without a valid basis of right, according to the California State Water Board.

5 Things You’re Missing While the Media Obsesses Over Paul Manafort

(ANTIMEDIA) — Though according to a recent poll a majority of the American public believes the Russia investigations are hurting the country, another media feeding frenzy began over the weekend when it was revealed that an indictment would be issued Monday. Sure enough, on Monday, Paul Manafort and Rick Gates were charged with a slew of different offenses, and corporate media heads have been spinning.

Considering the FBI is corrupt, the Trump administration is corrupt, and the whole of the federal government has failed to contain this corruption, the Russia story amounts to more of the same distractions. Here are five other relevant developments the media is failing to adequately cover:

1) Congress moves forward with Trump’s military-industrial appointments to the Pentagon:

At this point, it is well-known that Trump has done little to drain the swamp, instead filling it with a variety of special interests. This week, Congress will move to approve more swamp appointments, including Mark Esper, a Raytheon lobbyist, for Army Secretary, John Rood, a senior executive at Lockheed Martin, for undersecretary of defense policy, Joseph Kernan, who works as senior vice president of corporate development for SAP National Security Services, which spent over $2 million on lobbying in 2017 and has also been awarded multi-million dollar contracts from the Department of Defense in recent years. Another appointee, Robert Wilkie, made a name for himself during the Bush administration while working as an attorney for the Pentagon, where he drafted guidelines to broadly restrict testimony to congressional committees. Trump has chosen him to for the position of undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.

2) Your Halloween candy is probably made by child laborers subject to “slave-like” conditions:

For years, candy giants Nestle, Mars, and Hershey have relied on the labor of children in West Africa to source their cocoa beans. Victims have filed lawsuits in the heavily documented abuse, but despite pledges from the candy companies to reduce their reliance on the harsh practices, the number of child laborers had actually increased by 2014, according to a report from Tulane University. Americans will spend roughly $2.7 billion on candy this year, yet few are aware much of it was produced under brutal conditions.

3) Tony Podesta resigns from lobbying firm amid Mueller investigation: 

Though Manafort is dominating the headlines, Tony Podesta, brother of Clinton campaign manager John Podesta, stepped down from his own firm. Politico reported that that the “investigation into Podesta and his firm grew out of investigators’ examination of Manafort’s finances. Manafort organized a PR campaign on behalf of a nonprofit called the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine. Podesta Group was one of several firms that were paid to do work on the PR campaign to promote Ukraine in the U.S.” In April, the Podesta Group filed paperwork with the Department of Justice admitting it had worked for the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine that “had also benefitted the same Ukrainian political party that Manafort had once advised,” Politico noted.

4) Once again, authorities find Iran is complying with nuclear deal:

Despite President Trump’s saber-rattling against Iran and his threats to pull the United States out of the Obama-era nuclear agreement, his own administration has acknowledged the Iranian government is adhering to the terms. This week, the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency also verified the Middle Eastern nation’s compliance. Iran has indicated its intent to honor the deal and the other participating governments — Britain, Germany, France, Russia, China, and the E.U. — continue to support it despite Trump’s ongoing condemnations.

5) Sexual harassment allegations continue to surface across industries:

Since the Harvey Weinstein story broke earlier this month, a wave of assault allegations have surfaced, and not just in Hollywood. On Monday, Democratic candidate for Miami-Dade city commission Rafael Velasquez lost support from his party over two separate allegations of harassment, including exposing himself to one woman and groping another. Also this week, 500 female members of the art community, including writers, artists, curators, and directors, issued a letter condemning sexual harassment in response to the resignation of ArtForum magazine publisher Knight Landesman. The women said in the letter that they “have been groped, undermined, harassed, infantilized, scorned, threatened, and intimidated by those in positions of power who control access to resources and opportunities,” adding that they “have held our tongues, threatened by power wielded over us and promises of institutional access and career advancement.” A fresh batch of sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein also surfaced this week, detailing incidents all the way back to the 1970s.

Though the media will almost certainly continue to focus on the Russia scandal, far more important developments will certainly continue to unfold.

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"Colossal Fraud": Lawsuit Accuses Poland Spring Of Selling Groundwater

Ever wonder if that bottled mineral water you just spent several dollars on is really mineral water? According to a bombshell new lawsuit filed this week, at least in the case of one company it isn"t.

A group of bottled water drinkers has brought a class action lawsuit against Nestle, the company which owns Poland Spring, alleging that the Maine business has long deceived consumers by mislabeling common groundwater. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in a Connecticut federal court and accuses Nestle Waters North America Inc. of a “colossal fraud perpetrated against American consumers” the Bangor Daily News reports.

The plaintiffs claim that falsely labeling its "groundwater" product as pure spring water allowed Nestle to sell Poland Spring water at a premium; as a result the consumers who brought the legal action are seeking at least $5 million in monetary damages for a national class and several state subclasses. They requested a jury trial. The civil suit was brought by 11 people from the Northeast who collectively spent thousands of dollars on Poland Spring brand water in recent years. It seeks millions of dollars in damages for a nationwide class and hinges on whether the sources of Poland Spring water meet the Food and Drug Administration’s definition of a spring.

The 325-page lawsuit, which was filed by lawyers from four firms, claims that none of the company’s Maine water sources meets the federal definition for spring water and that the company has “politically compromised” state regulators. Rather than spring water, Nestle Waters is actually purifying and bottling groundwater, some of which comes from sites near waste and garbage dumps, the suit claims. The legal challenge comes as Nestle is looking to expand its operations in Maine.

For instance, the suit claims that the company’s wells in Poland, Maine, have never been scientifically proven to be connected to a spring and draw in surface water, which cannot legally be called spring water. It further alleges that the company has put water from some of these wells through a purification process that disqualifies it as spring water under federal regulations.

The suit makes similar claims about Poland Spring water sources in Hollis, Fryeburg, Denmark, Dallas Plantation, Pierce Pond Township and Kingfield.

Poland Spring has gotten away with this deception for years, the suit claims, by co-opting state regulators and interweaving its interests with those of state government. Since 1998 the company has generated millions of dollars for Maine through licensing agreements, and since 2003 it has had an executive on the governor-appointed body that oversees the state drinking-water regulation enforcement agency, the suit states.

The court complaint further says that the Maine Drinking Water Program scientist who approved many of the company’s spring water permits spent a decade working with this executive at a private engineering firm and that the agency failed to get independent proof of the springs’ existence.

In response to the lawsuit, a Nestle Waters spokesperson said that its water meets all relevant federal and state regulations on the classification and collection of spring water and that the suit is “an obvious attempt to manipulate the legal system for personal gain.”

“The claims made in the lawsuit are without merit. Poland Spring is 100 [percent] spring water.”

This is not the first time that Nestle Waters has faced such allegations. In 2003, it settled a class action lawsuit alleging that Poland Spring water doesn’t come from a spring. In that case, the company did not admit the allegation but agreed to pay about $10 million in discounts to consumers and charity contributions. In other words, pulling a page from Wall Street, it neither admitted, nor denied guilt.

The full lawsuit is below

Dan Loeb Scores A Quick Victory: Nestle Announces CHF20 Billion Stock Buyback

Two days after Dan Loeb announced he had acquired a $3.5 billion position in the world"s biggest food company, Nestle, making him the 6th largest holder, and going activist with a list of demands including 1) Improving Productivity; 2) Returning Capital to Shareholders; 3) Re-shaping the Portfolio; and, 4) Monetizing its L’Oréal Stake, moments ago the company responded by effectively conceding on day 2 of the activist campaign, announcing a plan to buyback CHF20 billion in shares by the end of June 2020, and added that in the future "capital spending will be focused particularly on advancing high-growth food and beverage categories such as coffee, petcare, infant nutrition and bottled water,"

On the buyback, Nestle said that "in the context of low interest rates and strong cash flow generation, share buybacks offer a viable option to create shareholder value. Therefore, as a result of its review, the Board of Directors approved a share buyback program of up to CHF 20 billion, to be completed by the end of June 2020. Should any sizeable acquisitions take place during this period, the share buyback program will be adapted accordingly.

The program is scheduled to start on 4 July 2017. The volume of monthly share buybacks will depend on market conditions but is likely to be backloaded in 2019 and 2020 to allow the pursuit of value-creating acquisition opportunities. Based on current projections, the company expects a net debt to EBITDA ratio of circa 1.5 in 2020.

Additionally, Nestle said that "in line with the company’s nutrition, health and wellness strategy, it will also pursue growth opportunities in consumer healthcare. Consistent with a disciplined approach to acquisitions, Nestlé will only prioritise external growth opportunities that fit within targeted categories and geographies, deliver attractive returns, and build on the company’s leadership position in fast growing food and beverage categories."

Nestlé’s recent announcement that it would explore strategic options for its US confectionery business is consistent with this overall approach. The company will continue to adjust its portfolio in line with its strategy and growth objectives.

Nestlé will also continue to assess opportunities for margin improvement through targeted efficiency programs that do not undermine the company’s performance in attractive long-term growth categories.

The stock, after spiking on Monday, was delighted with the activist investor winning so early in the campaign and rose some more.

Dan Loeb Is Now Nestle's 6th Largest Shareholder; Goes Activist On World's Biggest Food Company

Dan Loeb has returned to his earthshaking activist roots, and in a letter released moments ago, Third Point announced it is now targeting the world’s largest food company, with its biggest bet on a public company in its history, amounting to $3.5 billion.

In the letter, Third Point announced that it currently owns roughly 40 million shares of Nestle, and that its stake, which is held in a special purpose vehicle raised for this opportunity including options, currently amounts to over $3.5 billion. Putting this number in the context of Nestle"s market cap of $264 billion, Loeb may have an uphill battle though that never stopped him before.

Loeb"s stake of 40 million shares makes him the 6th largest holder of Nestle, above Credit Suisse Asset Management with 38 million shares and below Massachusetts Financial Services Company with 56.8 million. The Top 4 holders are BlackRock, CapRe, Norges Bank, and Vanguard.

Third Point writes that "despite having arguably the best positioned portfolio in the consumer packaged goods industry, Nestlé shares have significantly underperformed most of their US and European consumer staples peers on a three year, five year, and ten year total shareholder return basis. One year returns have been driven largely by the market’s anticipation that with a newly appointed CEO, Nestlé will improve."

While the problems are clear, why did Third Point go activist? To maximize value of course, as It explains:

Third Point invested in Nestlé because we recognized a familiar set of conditions that make it ripe for improvement and change: a conglomerate with unrealized potential for margin improvement and innovation in its core businesses, an unoptimized balance sheet, a number of non-core assets, and a recent history of meaningful under-performance versus peers. It is rare to find a business of Nestlé’s quality with so many avenues for improvement.

As to how it could achieve this, Third Point lays out 4 specifics recommendations:

Third Point intends to play a constructive role to encourage management to pursue change with a greater sense of urgency. We have offered our views in productive conversations with management, which we expect will continue. We believe Nestlé is positioned to create enormous value for shareholders over the next several years if the company focuses on: 1) Improving Productivity; 2) Returning Capital to Shareholders; 3) Re-shaping the Portfolio; and, 4) Monetizing its L’Oréal Stake. We discuss each of these in more detail below.

Loeb"s conclusion:

As demonstrated by our significant capital commitment, we are enthusiastic about Nestlé’s prospects. The situation reminds us of similar conditions that existed when we first invested in Baxter in 2015. Some market observers scratched their heads, as they thought the company looked “expensive” and thus underestimated the uplift that is possible when a new leader dedicates himself to better capital allocation, portfolio optimization, and margin improvement with strong shareholder support.

We recognize that even with new leadership and clear options for value creation, change at a company like Nestlé can be complex. It is for this reason that Third Point intends to be an engaged, long-term shareholder and offer our assistance to the management team and Board as they pursue improved performance for all stakeholders. We are confident that by following the path we have outlined, Nestlé will be able to revive its iconic slogan, with a twist: Nestlé makes the very best returns for its shareholders.

For the full breakdown of Loeb"s recommendations, see the full letter below.

As Bloomberg notes, the Third Point move comes as Nestle’s new Chief Executive Officer Mark Schneider aims to boost the company’s health strategy as well as focus on the businesses that are growing fastest, such as coffee and pet food. Food companies are under pressure to reduce costs after Kraft Heinz Co.’s unsuccessful bid for Unilever earlier this year showed that even the largest players could become targets.

Chocolate makers especially are grappling with weak U.S. consumption as Americans increasingly turn their backs on sugar. Nestle said this month it may sell its U.S. sweets unit, which includes brands such as Butterfinger and BabyRuth.

Third Point has targeted European companies before. Vitamin maker Royal DSM NV also attracted the activist, and went on to sell its majority stake in a basic plastics and resins unit to CVC Capital Partners after facing calls to break up.

Full Third Point letter below (pdf link)