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Last week, the baby nutrition company ByHeart recalled all of its infant formula over concerns that it may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that causes infant botulism. Now the company is facing increasing legal drama and backlash from customers for potentially exposing babies to the dangerous illness. According to a November 14 update from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a total of 23 infants in 13 states who were exposed to the formula have developed suspected or confirmed infant botulism. All of the infants have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported to date. ByHeart had voluntarily recalled two batches of its infant formula on November 8. Just three days later, it expanded that recall to encompass all of its products, including any unexpired lots of formula cans and single-serve anywhere pack sticks. Per the FDA, most babies with infant botulism will initially develop constipation, poor feeding, loss of head control, and difficulty swallowing, which can progress to difficulty breathing and respiratory arrest. Symptoms of infant botulism, which is diagnosed clinically, can take as long as several weeks to develop following formula ingestion. Parents are advised to stop using any ByHeart infant formula products immediately. As new botulism cases potentially related to ByHearts products continue to emerge, the companywhich positions itself as dedicated to making the best formula in the worldis facing backlash both through multiple lawsuits and a social media firestorm led by its own customers. Legal backlash against ByHeart ramps up As of this writing, at least five different lawsuits have been filed against ByHeart related to the infant botulism outbreak, according to federal court records. All of the plaintiffs are identified in the complaints as buyers of ByHearts products. Three of the complaints are proposed class actions. In at least two cases, the plaintiffs have infant children whom they believe contracted infant botulism through the contaminated formula, the court filings show. According to a November 12 legal complaint, plaintiffs Stephen and Yurany Dexter of Flagstaff, Arizona, decided to introduce formula three days after the birth of their child (referred to as E.D.) to supplement breast milk. Looking at the available choices, they chose the ByHeart brand because of the healthy-looking labeling, top shelf placement, and higher price, the filing reads. But over a month later, the child began to exhibit symptoms of infant botulism, it says, resulting in multiple hospital stays and hundreds of thousands in medical expenses. In a second complaint filed on that same day, plaintiffs Michael and Hanna Everett of Richmond, Kentucky, detail a similar experience with their child, referred to as P.E. This case arises from a parents worst nightmare: infant formula laced with dangerous Bacteria, the suit reads. It goes on to explain that the Everetts purchased ByHearts products due to its promises to be a “healthier alternative to traditional formula, only for their four-month-old daughter to contract infant botulism. Soon after consuming the formula, she developed constipation and alarming neurological symptoms, it reads. Plaintiffs brought their first-born daughter to the emergency department where doctors diagnosed P.E. with infant botulism. Public health investigators later confirmed that she was part of a multistate outbreak caused by ByHeart formula. Reached for comment by Fast Company, ByHeart emailed a statement from cofounder and president Mia Funt. Our number one priority is infant health,” Funt says. “We express our deepest sympathy to the families currently impacted by the cases of infant botulism. We are working with the FDA and independent experts to implement the recall quickly while the factual investigation continues. We are committed to getting answersincluding partnering with the FDA and independent expertsand will share updates as soon as we can. Disappointed customers take to social media Throughout the new lawsuits against ByHeart, a recurring theme is the idea that parents chose the companys products due to its positioning as a healthy, science-backed alternative to traditional formula. And under an Instagram post from ByHeart apologizing for the recalls, hundreds of commenters have echoed those sentiments, expressing their disappointment in the brand. I’m a sitting duck waiting around to see if my baby is okay because she consumed contaminated formula from you,” one commenter wrote, added that “we trusted you with nourishing our baby and you failed us. Another added, From the bottom of my heart I hope your company goes bankrupt and that no retailer will ever carry your products again.” New York-based ByHeart was founded in 2016 and most recently raised $72 million in a Series C round from undisclosed investors, according to PitchBook, for a post-valuation of $908 million. In the wake of the recalls, ByHeart has updated its website to spotlight information about the situation, including a link to its customer support line (866-201-9069). Fast Company reached out to the FDA for the latest details. The agency says it is continuing to investigate the outbreak along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state-level public health officials.
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E-Commerce
Blue Origins New Glenn rocket successfully made its way to orbit for the second time on Nov. 13, 2025. Although the second launch is never as flashy as the first, this mission is still significant in several ways. For one, it launched a pair of NASA spacecraft named ESCAPADE, which are headed to Mars orbit to study that planets magnetic environment and atmosphere. The twin spacecraft will first travel to a Lagrange point, a place where the gravity between Earth, the Moon, and the Sun balances. The ESCAPADE spacecraft will remain there until Mars is in better alignment to travel to. And two, importantly for Blue Origin, New Glenns first stage booster successfully returned to Earth and landed on a barge at sea. This landing allows the booster to be reused, substantially reducing the cost to get to space. Blue Origin launched its New Glenn rocket and landed the booster on a barge at sea on Nov. 13, 2025. As a space policy expert, I see this launch as a positive development for the commercial space industry. Even though SpaceX has pioneered this form of launch and reuse, New Glenns capabilities are just as important. New Glenn in context Although Blue Origin would seem to be following in SpaceXs footsteps with New Glenn, there are significant differences between the two companies and their rockets. For most launches today, the rocket consists of several parts. The first stage helps propel the rocket and its spacecraft toward space and then drops away when its fuel is used up. A second stage then takes over, propelling the payload all the way to orbit. While both New Glenn and Falcon Heavy, SpaceXs most powerful rocket currently available, are partially reusable, New Glenn is taller, more powerful, and can carry a greater amount of payload to orbit. Blue Origin plans to use New Glenn for a variety of missions for customers such as NASA, Amazon, and others. These will include missions to Earths orbit and eventually to the Moon to support Blue Origins own lunar and space exploration goals, as well as NASAs. NASAs Artemis program, which endeavors to return humans to the Moon, is where New Glenn may become important. In the past several months, several space policy leaders, as well as NASA officials, have expressed concern that Artemis is progressing too slowly. If Artemis stagnates, China may have the opportunity to leap ahead and beat NASA and its partners to the lunar South Pole. These concerns stem from problems with two rockets that could potentially bring Americans back to the Moon: the space launch system and SpaceXs Starship. NASAs space launch system, which will launch astronauts on its Orion crew vehicle, has been criticized as too complex and costly. SpaceXs Starship is important because NASA plans to use it to land humans on the Moon during the Artemis III mission. But its development has been much slower than anticipated. In response, Blue Origin has detailed some of its lunar exploration plans. They will begin with the launch of its uncrewed lunar lander, Blue Moon, early next year. The company is also developing a crewed version of Blue Moon that it will use on the Artemis V mission, the planned third lunar landing of humans. Blue Origin officials have said they are in discussions with NASA over how they might help accelerate the Artemis program. [Photo: Blue Origin] New Glenns significance New Glenns booster landing makes this most recent launch quite significant for the company. While it took SpaceX several tries to land its first booster, Blue Origin has achieved this feat on only the second try. Landing the boosters and, more importantly, reusing them has been key to reducing the cost to get to space for SpaceX, as well as others such as Rocket Lab. That two commercial space companies now have orbital rockets that can be partially reused shows that SpaceXs success was no fluke. With this accomplishment, Blue Origin has been able to build on its previous experience and success with its suborbital rocket, New Shepard. Launching from Blue Origin facilities in Texas since 2015, New Shepard has taken people and cargo to the edge of space, before returning to itslaunch site under its own power. New Glenn is also significant for the larger commercial space industry and U.S. space capabilities. It represents real competition for SpaceX, especially its Starship rocket. It also provides more launch options for NASA, the U.S. government, and other commercial customers, reducing reliance on SpaceX or any other launch company. In the meantime, Blue Origin is looking to build on the success of New Glenns launch and its booster landing. New Glenn will next launch Blue Origins Blue Moon uncrewed lander in early 2026. This second successful New Glenn launch will also contribute to the rockets certification for national security space launches. This accomplishment will allow the company to compete for contracts to launch sensitive reconnaissance and defense satellites for the U.S. government. Blue Origin will also need to increase its number of launches and reduce the time between them to compete with SpaceX. SpaceX is on pace for between 165 and 170 launches in 2025 alone. While Blue Origin may not be able to achieve that remarkable cadence, to truly build on New Glenns success it will need to show it can scale up its launch operations. Wendy Whitman Cobb is a professor of strategy and security studies at Air University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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E-Commerce
Could the era of the super cheap phone case arriving from China in a week finally be ending? Thanks to a major change to European regulations, it just might. European Union finance ministers have agreed to impose customs duties on low-value parcels entering the bloc at some point next year, scrapping the long-standing de minimis exemption for goods under 150 (or $175). The move is seen as a way to slow the flood of cheap Chinese imports from platforms such as Shein and Temu. These goods now account for the bulk of the EUs 4.6 billion small parcels a year, more than 90% of which came from China. The EU’s move follows the U.S. governments decision to destroy its own de minimis waiver for Chinese e-commerce products. Because companies like Shein and Temu depend on shipping huge volumes of low-value parcels directly from Chinese warehouses to consumers, they will be hit hardest by the EU’s change. Its difficult to see how they will find an easy way around italthough given its coming on the heels of the U.S. doing similar, Im sure they are already working on that, says e-commerce expert Ben Graham. The regulatory shift will allow e-commerce to be more competitive across all digital channels. As a result, the shift is being presented as a big win for the EU, even if it happens to follow the United States taking a similar approach to small package rules earlier this year under Donald Trump. Yet while the moves in both countries is aimed at Shein and Temu, it could also wind up harming homegrown companies in both Europe and the U.S. The removal of de minimis rules is reshaping global e-commerce, says Ronald Kleijwegt, CEO at logistics platform Vinturas. EU exporters now face tariffs on low-value items, extra customs paperwork, and higher shipping costs when selling to the U.S. Kleijwegt says the impact cuts both ways: U.S. small businesses lose access to affordable European goods, while smaller EU firms lose duty-free access to the American market, he explains. Its not just the infamous de minimis import duty benefit thats in the firing line in Europe: Brussels has also floated a 2 handling fee on every low-value parcel and is pushing member states to stop undeclared packages from slipping through customs. Some individual countries, including Romania and Italy, are already introducing their own national fees while they wait for the EU-wide regime to kick in. Existential or not? The question is whether Temu and Shein will face a simple hit to their margins, or an existential threat to their whole business model. Roberto Lobue, partner and retail sector expert at accountancy and business advisory firm Menzies, argues the changes will bite hard and fast. Since the U.S. scrapped its own de minimis duty free limit, the amount of low-value items exported to the U.S. has dropped dramatically, as firms like Shein and Temu focused increasingly on the EU market, he says. With Europe becoming a back door for lower valued goods, the EUs move to accelerate its own reversal next year comes as no surprise. For Lobue, the end of duty-free thresholds is where the Temu and Shein model starts to crack. Once duties and handling fees apply from the first euro, prices will rise, logistics will get more complex, and Shein and Temu will need to shift to bulk imports, EU warehousing, and stricter customs compliance, he says. The change removes a long-criticized competitive distortion, and will likely dampen the impulse buying that fuels these platforms, as even small added fees can make a big impact. As prices edge up, he warns, the whole purpose of the two platformsits ultracheap pricesgets weaker. As their prices climb, competitors like Amazon are already moving to capture bargain-hunters, with the launch of its new Haul feature, and others may seek to capitalize, he says. Julian Skelly, managing partner of retail at Publicis Sapient, thinks Temu and Shein are unlikely to be killed off. But they will have to evolve. They’ve built impressive capabilities around direct-to-consumer logistics and demand sensing; now they’ll need to leverage those strengths differently, he says. The attempt to hobble the Chinese companies might not have its intended goal. Platforms built on ultra-low-value cross-border shipping are under similar pressure, says Kleijwegt. Both Temu and Shein explored appointing U.S.-based entities or distributors to manage domestic clearance and distribution, but that adds cost and complexity to their operations, he adds. Kleijwegt points out that the turbulence also exposes a bigger systems problem. Businesses need systems that can adapt quickly, share information securely, and provide visibility across borders as trade tensions and new rules mount, he says. Stronger connectivity reduces compliance friction, enables companies to respond faster to regulatory change, cuts complexity, and builds the resilience needed to compete in an unpredictable trade environment. This can make the difference between staying competitive in international markets and being shut out.
Category:
E-Commerce
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