Impact Report | Consumer Reports Annual Report 2024

At Consumer Reports, we are dedicated to making sure the voices of consumers are heard. And that everyone can make safe, sustainable decisions in a marketplace that serves their needs.

Whether it’s the products you buy, the food you eat, or the services you rely on every day, we are committed to providing you with trusted ratings and research to help you make informed choices.

As an independent, nonprofit organization, CR has been making a positive impact for consumers for nearly 90 years. In the face of greater corporate power and gridlocked government, our work has never been more relevant than it is today. With your support, we continue to innovate at the speed with which the marketplace is changing.

Our FY 2024 annual report is an opportunity to reflect on some of the milestones and progress we achieved together. And the exciting work ahead of us.

We thank you for the trust and support you give Consumer Reports.

CONSUMER REPORTS

BY THE NUMBERS

5 million

members strong

CR is proud to have 5 million members in all 50 states, who access our trusted ratings and reviews on our website, receive our publications, and engage in our campaigns for marketplace change.
2,300+

products and services tested

In fiscal year 2024, CR tested over 2,300 products and services in 100+ categories.
10,000+

ratings and reviews

Our members can find trusted, independent reviews for more than 10,000 products and services on CR.org.
1 million

consumers tell us what they think

We heard from more than 1 million consumers through our research and outreach tools, such as more than 80 national surveys.
$28.5 million

donated

CR is able to achieve its impact through the generous support of our individual donors, who contributed more than $28 million to advance our mission in fiscal year 2024.
1 million

actions taken

The number of signatures and emails that CR members and activists sent to policymakers and company CEOs to advocate for pro-consumer policies.

Celebrating Historic Win for Safer Water at Home

100

million

Americans will have exposure to toxic PFAS reduced under CR-backed rule

The Environmental Protection Agency announced the first nationwide, legally enforceable limits on harmful PFAS, or "forever chemicals," in drinking water. Under this new rule, public drinking water systems must limit the levels of several PFAS compounds. About 100 million Americans will have their exposure to PFAS reduced, the EPA said.

CR is one of the nation’s leading voices for reducing toxic PFAS chemicals. Our tests revealed concerning levels of PFAS in water and food packaging, and we’ve pushed for national limits for years. There is mounting scientific evidence linking PFAS to health risks, including cancer and lowered immune responses. Yet there were no national rules limiting the chemicals in our drinking water until this historic EPA announcement.

Stopping Harmful Food Additives

12,000

food products contain chemicals now banned by California law sponsored by CR

A landmark law backed by CR will ban Red Dye No. 3 and three other harmful food chemicals in the state of California. The first-of-its-kind law will stop these chemicals from being used as additives in food and drinks sold or manufactured in the state. CR co-sponsored the law with the Environmental Working Group, which estimates there are 12,000 food products that contain these chemicals, including candy, cereal, soda, and other processed food.

Some manufacturers have already started the process of complying with the law ahead of a 2027 deadline. Just Born, which makes popular Peeps candies, informed CR that after Easter 2024, none of its products would be produced using Red Dye No. 3 anywhere in the U.S. More than 30,000 CR members had sent messages to Just Born to press for the removal of this known carcinogen.

GETTING UNSAFE CHILD PRODUCTS OFF THE MARKET

of the nation's largest retailers agree to stop selling water beads for kids

Amazon, Target, and Walmart announced that they would stop selling water beads marketed to children due to safety concerns. The decision was made after pressure from Consumer Reports, safety advocates, parents, and policymakers. Water beads are superabsorbent products that have been marketed to parents as toys or sensory aids, and they can look a lot like candy. A water bead typically starts out tiny, then expands dramatically in water. Our investigation documented how water beads can grow to a dangerous, life-threatening size inside children’s bodies if they are accidentally swallowed, put in ears or noses, or inhaled. They often don’t show up on an X-ray, making diagnosis difficult when children display symptoms. About 7,800 visits to emergency rooms from 2016 to 2022 were related to water bead incidents, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Several other retailers eventually told CR that they would take similar actions to stop the sale of water beads marketed to kids.

In another victory for child safety, Amazon, Target, and Babylist said they would no longer sell weighted baby blankets, sleep sacks, and swaddles. Retailers like Walmart and Buy Buy Baby also told us they do not sell weighted infant sleep products. CR and medical experts have warned families about how these products pose a risk of suffocation and obstruction of babies’ breathing and heart rates.

HOLDING COMPANIES ACCOUNTABLE FOR PRIVACY, AI

million

consumers have new digital rights

Seven states—Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Rhode Island—passed comprehensive consumer privacy laws. Plus, Colorado became the first state in the nation to pass a law for how companies can use artificial intelligence, or AI, to make decisions about consumers. CR's surveys have found that many Americans are concerned about the ways that AI can be used to make big decisions about things like the prices they pay, their healthcare, and how they are considered for employment.

These new laws extend protections to more than 35 million Americans. Our advocates were heavily involved in the efforts to shape and improve the bills, and we testified at hearings to recommend ways to strengthen them. Thousands of CR members contacted their legislators to tell them to stand up for their digital rights. Some of these laws are much stronger than others, and a few have significant loopholes sought by industry, so we continue to work with state officials to raise the bar for privacy and AI safety.

UNCOVERING SERIOUS RISKS IN TECH PRODUCTS

video doorbells with major security flaws discovered by CR, leading to a fix

A CR investigation uncovered troubling security flaws in video doorbells sold on digital marketplaces such as Amazon, Walmart, Temu, Sears, and Shein. We examined Eken and Tuck video doorbells that appeared to be the same product under different names. A deeper look revealed vulnerabilities that could allow a stalker or other dangerous actor to monitor the feed from the doorbell camera, or control the camera completely. We found that these two products and at least 10 additional seemingly identical video doorbells were being sold under a range of brand names. They were all manufactured by a China-based company called Eken Group Ltd., and controlled through the same app. Following our investigation, Eken fixed the security issues.

SAFETY MUST COME STANDARD

360

lives could be saved and 24,000 injuries prevented annually with new CR-backed car rule

Automatic emergency braking (AEB) is a safety technology that can detect a potential car crash and automatically brake to avoid a collision or lessen the severity of impact. Nearly all new vehicles on sale today have some form of AEB, but they can differ significantly from one car to the next. Now a new rule championed by CR will require passenger vehicles by September 2029 to have advanced AEB that can avoid a crash with a vehicle in front at speeds of up to 65 mph, reduce the effects of a crash at speeds of up to 90 mph, and avoid a crash with a pedestrian in both darkness and daylight at speeds of up to 45 mph. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the new rule could save over 360 lives and prevent over 24,000 injuries each year.

To incentivize automakers to put safety first, CR has for several years awarded points in our car ratings to the vehicles that offer standard AEB with pedestrian detection. We require vehicles to have standard AEB with pedestrian detection, as well as standard AEB that can provide at least some braking at highway speeds, to qualify for our annual Top Picks for autos.

WORKING FOR CLEANER CARS

7 billion

tons of climate pollution could be eliminated by 2050 under new auto standard

CR members across the U.S. signed petitions and testified at hearings in support of proposed limits on emissions from new vehicles. Our advocates met with the Environmental Protection Agency and other stakeholders to discuss how these limits could help a driver save thousands of dollars a year in fuel costs, while improving public health. The EPA eventually announced historic standards that will deliver more options for cleaner cars, trucks, SUVs, and minivans that go farther on a gallon of gas, or no gas at all. These latest rules are expected to deliver at least $1 trillion in consumer savings and reduce climate pollution by over 7 billion tons through 2050.

CLEANING UP CREDIT REPORTS

27%

of CR volunteers found serious errors on their credit reports

CR launched Credit Checkup with the group WorkMoney to help people fix costly errors that companies make on their credit reports. More than 4,300 people volunteered to check their reports. Forty-four percent of those participants discovered problems with the financial or personal information in their report, or both, and 27 percent found that the errors were serious enough to potentially affect their creditworthiness. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says that incorrect information on these reports is the No. 1 consumer complaint it receives.

We are now calling on the three leading credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—and the Consumer Data Industry Association to make sure credit reports are accurate, and to make it easier to get reports safely and securely.

In one big win for consumers, the three bureaus finally agreed to provide free weekly access to reports on a permanent basis, instead of limiting people to just one free report per year, following a long campaign by CR and other groups.

MAKING IT EASIER TO CONTROL YOUR DATA

2.5 million

data requests made with
Permission Slip

CR's Permission Slip is an app that makes it easy to take control of your personal data. The app shows you what kinds of data companies collect, and lets you decide what to do. With a simple tap, you can tell a company to stop selling your data or to delete your data entirely. We all know how confusing and time-consuming it can be to communicate how you want companies to handle your personal data. The app got rave reviews from the Washington Post, Fast Company, and CNET, and now 2.5 million data requests have been initiated by Permission Slip.

ADVOCATING FOR FAIR FINANCE

20%

of Americans use "Buy Now, Pay Later" services, as CR presses for consumer protections

One out of 5 consumers used “buy now, pay later” services to pay for at least one transaction between January 2023 and January 2024, according to the Federal Reserve. Available at checkout at retailers like Amazon and Walmart and even at restaurants and grocers, these loans allow you to divide the cost of a big or small purchase into four payments over several weeks or months, usually with no interest or fees.

However, CR found that these fast-growing services lack some basic consumer protections, and we’re working to change that. With input from our advocates, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ruled that buy now, pay later companies must provide consumers the right to dispute charges and demand refunds after returning a product, similar to the protections they have when using a credit card. This is an important step, and we’re now pressing the Bureau to take more actions to fully protect consumers.

HELPING YOU SAVE MONEY, REDUCE WASTE

50 million

consumers gain the right to repair in 3 states

California, Colorado, and Oregon passed three of the nation's strongest "right to repair" laws. These laws were based in part on model legislation written by CR. These laws require many manufacturers to provide parts, tools, and manuals to independent repair shops and do-it-yourself consumers. This is a win for competition and consumer choice: People will not be forced to take their broken devices to the manufacturers’ hand-picked repair service, which may charge a premium price. It will also help reduce the tons of electronics that are piling up in landfills. The Colorado and Oregon laws are the first to outlaw a manufacturer’s practice called “parts pairing.” This is when a manufacturer installs software to identify and authenticate replacement parts, which can make it harder for independent repairers and individuals to make repairs.

WORKING TO REMOVE CANCER-CAUSING CHEMICALS FROM CARS

year-old standard leaves people exposed to toxic flame retardants in vehicles

The air and seat foam inside our vehicles contains harmful flame retardants, according to a 2024 study by researchers at the Green Science Policy Institute, Duke University, and the University of Toronto. Manufacturers add these chemicals to seat foam and other materials—including those in children’s car seats—to meet an outdated 1971 federal flammability standard with no proven fire-safety benefit. Every day, people are exposed to these cancer-causing and neurotoxic flame retardants inside their cars—especially infants and children who spend many hours in car seats.

CR has jump-started the effort to update this half-century-old standard. We’re calling on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to consider a different type of test that would reduce consumers’ exposure to harmful chemicals. For example, the state of California in 2013 replaced an outdated open-flame test for upholstered furniture with a similarly effective smolder test that could be met without the use of flame retardant chemicals. This revised flammability standard, which has also been adopted at the federal level, has led to lower levels of flame retardants in U.S. homes.

More than 30,000 people signed our petition for a modern standard that doesn’t expose us to these toxic chemicals in our vehicles, which we delivered to NHTSA headquarters in Washington, D.C.

MAKING PROGRESS FOR SAFER FOOD

168,000

Americans are sickened by salmonella in poultry every year, prompting new rule

In a major step forward for food safety, the Department of Agriculture declared salmonella to be an “adulterant” in raw breaded stuffed chicken. This means food inspectors can stop the sale of these products when they find levels of salmonella contamination that could make people sick. CR has long advocated for salmonella to be prohibited in poultry products. Before the USDA policy change, our testers and advocates shared our data about salmonella in poultry, and we urged the government to crack down on the problem. About 168,000 Americans are sickened by salmonella in poultry every year.

SENDING OUT A WARNING FOR RISKY PRODUCTS

4.8 million

portable blenders recalled due to fire and injury risks

The maker of the popular BlendJet 2 portable blender recalled 4.8 million products, after customer complaints led CR to perform tests and alert consumers. The recall cited reports of blenders overheating or catching fire. Some said the blender blades broke off—which is what happened when CR put it through our durability test. We alerted the company and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and we amplified our warning to consumers during the December holiday shopping season as the complaints kept stacking up. We asked the CPSC to immediately investigate potential hazards and take whatever action was necessary to protect the public. The company recall came nine days later.