F
fist of fury
Guest
An excellent waste of taxpayer money.
Fast-food makers sued
By Robert Lusetich
July 27, 2002
THIS could be the mother of all class actions. A group of obese Americans is taking on the fast-food giants, claiming they knowingly served products which made them overweight and damaged their health.
Taking his lead from the successful litigation of tobacco companies over the past decade, Washington lawyer Samuel Hirsch has filed a lawsuit against McDonald's, Wendy's, KFC and Burger King alleging they, and not their customers, are responsible for the consequences of consuming fatty foods.
The latest estimate is that a third of American adults are technically obese.
Among those Mr Hirsch represents is Caesar Barber, a 125kg 56-year-old maintenance supervisor from New York, who alleges his array of illnesses were caused by an "addiction" to fast food, which he consumed four or five times a week, for years.
"My doctor said it was killing me and I don't want to die," Mr Barber said, claiming he ate the food "out of necessity", although he stopped in 1996 because his health was deteriorating.
"I ate it more often than not because I was single," he said.
"It was quick and I'm not a very good cook. I always thought it was good for you. I never thought there was anything wrong with it."
Mr Hirsch accuses the fast- food companies of "irresponsible and deceptive behaviour" for not supplying proper nutritional information or offering enough healthy alternatives.
He alleges also a "de facto addiction" for the poor and children.
"You don't need nicotine or an illegal drug to create an addiction, they're creating a craving," Hirsch said.
"I think we'll find that the fast-food industry has not been totally upfront with their customers."
The reference to nicotine is by no means coincidental. Many of the legal forces behind the decades-long war on tobacco -- won in the '90s when the big tobacco companies made multi-billion dollar settlements with governments -- have been mulling a similar attack on fast food to pay for the health consequences of obesity.
Kelly Brownell, head of the Yale Centre for Eating and Weight Disorders, who has advocated taxing fatty foods and subsidising healthy foods said recently that he saw "no difference between Ronald McDonald and Joe Camel".
"We have to start thinking of this in a more militant way," he said.
The National Restaurant Association is preparing to fight, calling the lawsuit "senseless, baseless and ridiculous ... a nationwide ambulance chase against the restaurant industry in response to hysteria over the nation's expanding
Fast-food makers sued
By Robert Lusetich
July 27, 2002
THIS could be the mother of all class actions. A group of obese Americans is taking on the fast-food giants, claiming they knowingly served products which made them overweight and damaged their health.
Taking his lead from the successful litigation of tobacco companies over the past decade, Washington lawyer Samuel Hirsch has filed a lawsuit against McDonald's, Wendy's, KFC and Burger King alleging they, and not their customers, are responsible for the consequences of consuming fatty foods.
The latest estimate is that a third of American adults are technically obese.
Among those Mr Hirsch represents is Caesar Barber, a 125kg 56-year-old maintenance supervisor from New York, who alleges his array of illnesses were caused by an "addiction" to fast food, which he consumed four or five times a week, for years.
"My doctor said it was killing me and I don't want to die," Mr Barber said, claiming he ate the food "out of necessity", although he stopped in 1996 because his health was deteriorating.
"I ate it more often than not because I was single," he said.
"It was quick and I'm not a very good cook. I always thought it was good for you. I never thought there was anything wrong with it."
Mr Hirsch accuses the fast- food companies of "irresponsible and deceptive behaviour" for not supplying proper nutritional information or offering enough healthy alternatives.
He alleges also a "de facto addiction" for the poor and children.
"You don't need nicotine or an illegal drug to create an addiction, they're creating a craving," Hirsch said.
"I think we'll find that the fast-food industry has not been totally upfront with their customers."
The reference to nicotine is by no means coincidental. Many of the legal forces behind the decades-long war on tobacco -- won in the '90s when the big tobacco companies made multi-billion dollar settlements with governments -- have been mulling a similar attack on fast food to pay for the health consequences of obesity.
Kelly Brownell, head of the Yale Centre for Eating and Weight Disorders, who has advocated taxing fatty foods and subsidising healthy foods said recently that he saw "no difference between Ronald McDonald and Joe Camel".
"We have to start thinking of this in a more militant way," he said.
The National Restaurant Association is preparing to fight, calling the lawsuit "senseless, baseless and ridiculous ... a nationwide ambulance chase against the restaurant industry in response to hysteria over the nation's expanding
This kind of stuff drives me up the wall! :angry:
