OAKLAND, CA — U.K. supermarket chain Sainsbury's is being taken to court over how much packaging surrounds its beef. The Lincolnshire County Council's Trading Standards service is charging that the company's Taste the Difference beef roasting joint (left) is excessively packaging and does not meet legal requirements under the U.K.'s Packaging Regulations for using the minimum amount of packaging necessary for adequate safety and hygiene. The beef comes in a vacuum-packed plastic tray with a lid and cardboard sleeve. Sainsbury's told Sky News that the packaging for the beef joint was reduced 53 percent since February and will be cut 10 percent in the coming months. Sainsbury's also recently announced that by eliminating boxes from its Basics line of cereal and only using plastic bags, it is using 165 fewer tonnes of packaging. 

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) released an updated version of its proposed green chemistry requirements. The guidelines are aimed at consumer products and are an outgrowth of the state's Green Chemistry Initiative. The latest additions expand the list of bodies that can be consulted for creating a list of priority chemicals, laying the groundwork for more chemicals to be possibly regulated. The latest version also includes new deadlines for the priority chemicals lists and allows for public commenting on the DTSC's actions during any part of the rule-making process. A 45-day public comment period is now open on the proposed regulations.

Clean the World, a non-profit that collects soap and shampoo from hotels and passes it along to needy people, has hit the 600 million bar of soap mark. The charity works with 400 hotels throughout the U.S., collects leftover soap, sanitizes and reforms it into new bars, and then distributes the soap through a network of partners to people in more than 30 countries. The 600 million bars were collected over 19 months and add up to 750,000 pounds, collected from hotels run by Walt Disney World Resorts, Harrah's Entertainment, Four Seasons and others.

Pampers' Dry Max diapers do not cause severe diaper rash, according to two agencies in the U.S. and Canada that investigated claims by some that the new, thinner diapers were to blame for painful rashes, some of which were compared to chemical burns. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Health Canada looked into the charges and last week announced they found no link between the diapers and the nearly 4,700 reports from consumers of diaper rash attributed to the diapers. The CPSC noted that 85 percent of the complaints were made in May, and the number of complaints dropped off since then. The Dry Max diapers are 20 percent thinner, contain 9 percent less material weight, result in 12 percent less solid waste and have an 8 percent lower energy demand in their production, compared to previous diapers.