A $50-million class-action lawsuit launched against a food manufacturer in the United States has created concerns in the food and restaurant business that obese Americans may now seek damages for being overweight. Parallels are being drawn with the campaign against tobacco companies that saw billions of dollars being paid out.
The civil action seeks damages for those people who have put on weight or had to spend extra time at the gym because of the mislabelling of the fat content of a supposedly healthy snack.
It was brought by a New York Newsday columnist, Meredith Berkman, who had been feeding her two-year-old daughter a low-fat puffed rice snack called Pirate’s Booty.
One day she noticed that the fat content listed on the label had suddenly more than doubled, meaning a supposedly healthy snack was not much different from junk food.
Berkman launched the class action last month seeking $50-million for ”emotional distress and nutritional damage” on behalf of those who may have been misled.
The suit, couched in ironic language, claims damages for all those who have put on weight or had to spend longer at the gym.
”To me this is about truth in labelling, which can be a life-and-death issue,” said Berkman last week. ”I have always said that if we win any damages they will go to charity.”
The food’s manufacturers, Robert’s American Gourmet Foods, has recalled the Pirate’s Booty labelled with a low-fat content, but has still to respond to the suit. It had no comment last week.
Berkman says that she sees the action as being strictly about mislabelling, but in the food and restaurant business her ironic claims of distress because of weight gain are ringing alarm bells.
”These actions are the precursors of things to come,” said Mike Burita, of the Centre for Consumer Freedom, which represents the food and restaurant industry. The centre is warning members on its website: ”The lawsuits are coming, and Big Food is slated to become the next Big Tobacco.”
The National Council for Chain Restaurants is also concerned. It said that lawsuits of this nature would be ”baseless”. ”But we wouldn’t be at all surprised,” it added. ”Isn’t this the most litigious country in the world?”