Judge Throws Out Obesity Suit Against McDonald's
 

Well, I suppose now McD's can breath easily and go back to the lab and work on a new flavor *McFrankenstein creation.*
IMO, this was a frivolous lawsuit with no merit.
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http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...t&section=news
Thu September 4, 2003 05:12 PM ET

By Gail Appleson
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday threw out a revised lawsuit against McDonald's Corp. that accused the largest fast food company of using misleading advertising to lure children into eating unhealthy foods that make them fat.

U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet had previously dismissed the plaintiffs' original case but allowed them to submit a new filing with information backing up their advertising allegations.

In dismissing the current suit, Sweet said the plaintiffs had not followed his detailed instructions and he barred them from filing another version, quelling litigation fears the suit had sparked in the food industry.

"The plaintiffs have made no explicit allegations that they witnessed any particular deceptive advertisement and they have not provided McDonald's with enough information to determine whether its products are the cause of the alleged injuries," Sweet said.

"Finally, the one advertisement which plaintiffs implicitly allege to have caused their injuries is objectively non-deceptive," he said.

The suit raised fears in the food industry of a new wave of tobacco-like litigation against restaurants and manufacturers. The possibility of bringing more suits over fattening foods was the focus of a seminar during the spring in Boston attended by anti-tobacco lawyers.

Indeed, when the judge threw out the first case in January, he left the door open to further litigation. In that ruling he referred to Chicken McNuggets as a "McFrankenstein creation" made of elements not used in home cooking.

Responding to Thursday's ruling, McDonald's spokeswoman Lisa Howard said the company has maintained all along that its advertisements are "truthful, accurate and fair."

At least one Wall Street analyst said the lawsuit was not a factor in the stock's value.

"The obesity lawsuits have very little implication for the stock because the industry hasn't been demonized enough by the plaintiffs' lawyers for investors to care," said Howard Penney, restaurant analyst with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Shares of McDonald's, which also on Thursday announced improved August sales in its major markets of the United States and Europe, rose 70 cents to close at $23.39 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Sweet had said in January the plaintiffs could amend the suit with information backing their claim that diners have no idea what is really in their food or that the products have allegedly become more harmful because of processing.

Although the plaintiffs' lawyer initially refiled the suit with the allegation that consumers were unaware of the health hazards of processed food, he dropped the claim in June.

The new filing, and Sweet's decision, thus focused primarily on deceptive advertising claims. But Sweet's decision also precludes plaintiffs from developing the case surrounding the harmfulness of processed foods in the future.

Sweet said he had warned the plaintiffs that they had to make specific allegations about particular advertisements that could have caused their injuries and to give details about the connection between those injuries and eating McDonald's foods.

"They have failed to remedy the defects of the initial complaint in the face of those warnings," Sweet said.

The two plaintiffs in the case, which sought class action status, were born in 1984 and 1988. McDonald's lawyers had argued that the plaintiffs were too young to have seen or be affected by the 1987 print ads attached as exhibits in the suit. The plaintiffs' lawyer could not be immediately reached for comment. (With additional reporting by Lauren Weber and Deborah Cohen)

Thank god. These morons should place the blame squarely where it belongs- on themselves. How could you be so thick to think fast food- fried potatoes, grilled hamburgers, milkshakes- would not make you fat? McDonalds has not even tried to mislead anyone to think that a Big Mac (tm) is lowfat or even healthy.

America constantly continues to dissapoint me.

I hate mcdonalds and I hate the people who blame there problems on it. No on forced you to eat there, face it. I love the taste, I have to say, but I just can't bring myself to line up, or order, or choke any of it down becuase I just feel dirty. I get the same feeling with Starbucks and every other place etc. for Tim Hortons.

aaah...the sweet smell of justice. Obesity is one problem in America, the other is lazy pricks who blame everyone but themselves for their troubles.

I don't believe in these frivolous lawsuits either but I found this right off of mcdonalds.com

Q: Can Happy Meals be part of a healthy diet for kids?

A: Yes. McDonald's Happy Meals provide a great nutrient package for kids ages 5 and 6. According to Food and Drug Administration labeling guidelines, the meals are an "excellent" or "good" source of nine or more nutrients, depending on which Happy Meal combination you choose.

Whenever a person files an obviously stupid lawsuit such as this the payoff should only be enough to fix the problem.

Fattie sues McDonalds = Gets a free liposuction instead of 30 million dollars. (assuming he/she wins).

It's people like this that are driving the speedign bus which is society heading towards a cliff.

Exactly, Jenny Craig is advertising $1 a pound plus the cost of food. If I was on a jury I would award the person a few hundred bucks to spend at Weightwatchers or Jenny Craig, not 30M.

Good thing this didnt go through otherwise I'd gave to sue the video game companies for making me broke. Maybe this person will start blaming themself for their problems. In any case I don't like the way their food tastes.

I'm glad to see this it is about time people answer for what they do. If you smoke you can get sick if you eat too much you get fat if you drive 100 mph you could wreak

havoc? :D

People? Taking responsibility for their actions? Outrageous! :p

I wonder if the fat ass that started this whole lawsuit against McDonalds still eats there??


OF COURSE HE DOES!!!! :D

Bout damn time the fatass's loose somthing.. next they gotta lose the weight.

I was beginning to worry, Im fat because Mcdonalds makes me eat there fat burgers. Ha, Im glad to here that we are responsible for our own actions.

Hey, there is still some common sense in the justice system.

Yay!

:) makes my day

As you know, it is my firm opinion that the statement below describes exactly what this company and many others are, in fact, guilty of:

"...using misleading advertising to lure children into eating unhealthy foods that make them fat."

I agree 100%. Although part of the blame needs to go on the parents who take their children to these places on a regular basis.

Hey, let's take some responsibility for our lives shall we? It was the booze/food/lack of warnings that made me fat, drunk, burn myself with coffee, etc. etc. etc.

I think it's more to do with the dumbing down of America. Come on people, have some common sense, PLEASE. The government can't watch out for you all the time. There shouldn't be a warning label on life.

McDonalds was running a campaign here in New Zealand claiming just that, using a triathlete to front for them, so yes, they have.

McDonalds are happy to spend billions of dollars per year in advertising convincing people to eat their food; they have a stated goal of every McDonalds customer eating at McDs at least 20 times per month.

They're increasing the HFCS content of their breads (a known cause of type 2 diabetes) so they don't have to cook them as long to brown them. I don't see them publicising the downside, though.

McDonalds are happy to take the money. Why aren't they happy to take responsibility?

Go read Fat Land. Come back and tell me you still think the latter.

Of course, what they don't tell you, unless you read the busines spages, is that the stated goal is to have you and your kid both eating there twenty times per month or more.

Healthy diet my arse.

Happy meals were introduced when McDs noticed parents sharing "food" with their kids. Can't have that!

Yeah, revolting. Imagine that people who spend billions of dollars convincing you their products are healthy, nutritious, and ought to be eaten as often as possible, spend billions of market research to work out how to develop new products to lure people into their restaurants, and huge amounts of money working out how to make their food cheaper using constituent products that are known to have serious health consequences, well, it would be outrageous to expect those people to take responsibility for their actions, now, wouldn't it?

it's not a black-and-white issue.
yes, human beings are responsible for what they do.
and yes, irresponsible corporations who use intentionally deceptive behavior modification techniques are guilty of illegal advertising and marketing practices.

Yeah, that would be my solution: if the plantif wins, they get their money and they are never allowed in a mcdonalds ever again, or any fastfood place for that matter.

Damn. I guess I will have to go back to work on Monday.

I am not sure if this is happening anywhere esle, but recently in Australia, the McDonalds have started to do salads and vegetarian dishes, to cater for the health conscious or vegetarian market. When i was in their about 3 weeks ago, i was surpirsed that you could buy an apple for 75 cents (AUS)
Just seems a little weird atm. Although some of their salads look pretty good and maybe are healthy, although you never know???

Good. The suing thing is getting highly mistreated. Robbers can break into your house, injure themselves, and collect money from you. That has always pissed me off.