Senator seeks to stop fat suit feeding frenzy
www.reutershealth.com, Health eLine, 7/17/03
Senator seeks to stop fat suit feeding frenzy Last Updated: 2003-07-17 15:35:01 -0400 (Reuters Health) By Joanne Kenen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top Senate Republican tried to head off a potential wave of lawsuits against purveyors of high-fat foods on Thursday with a bill to protect the food industry from suits alleging they cause obesity. "You shouldn't be able to sue someone else because of your own eating habits," said Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, the second-ranking Republican Senate leader and sponsor of the "Commonsense Consumption Act." The proposed legislation would only apply to suits claiming injury from weight gain or obesity. It would not block other legal action involving the food industry. McConnell said he did not believe it would block a claim based on knowingly false labels, which he said is already against the law. Some claims have already been dropped or thrown out of court but other cases are pending. Earlier this month, Kraft Foods Inc., maker of Oreos and many other foods, said it would begin reformulating many of its products and stop marketing in schools. One suit in California aiming to ban Oreos has been dropped, but Kraft acknowledged it was concerned about potential future suits. Additional lawsuits are being discussed by some of the same lawyers who spearheaded the 1990s suits against tobacco companies. McConnell said he wants to "nip it in the bud." McConnell, a slender man who had heart bypass surgery earlier this year, said he personally reads food labels when he goes to the grocery store. But he insisted that much of the nation's obesity problem may be solved by common sense and discipline, not by looking for someone to sue. "Some things are obvious," he said, when asked if McDonald's should put on a label warning people not to eat too many Big Macs. Michael Jacobson, director of the Center of Science in the Public Interest, known for its reports on movie theater popcorn and fast food, said in a statement: "It's interesting that Sen. McConnell thinks the $200 billion restaurant industry desperately needs special protection from judges and juries. I suppose he fears that courts would look dimly on some of the fatty foods and marketing practices of big restaurant chains." The National Association of Food Processors President John Cady applauded McConnell's bill as a "timely, strategic and needed response" to the lawsuit threat. |
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