Tell Us Where YOU Stand on the Cheeseburger Bill!
by www.SixWise.com
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bill
that protects fast-food chains from being sued by people who
claim the food made them fat. If the bill, the "Personal
Responsibility in Food Consumption Act" - better known
in Congress as the "cheeseburger bill" -- is made
into law, obesity-related lawsuits against both restaurants
and food manufacturers would be banned. (Legal action could
still be taken if contaminated food makes a person sick.)
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If the cheeseburger bill is passed, fast-food companies
won't be held accountable for their customers' obesity.
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To date, a handful of lawsuits have been filed that blame
restaurant food and advertising for obesity. Only one such
case -- filed in 2002 and alleging that McDonald's misleading
advertising caused teens in New York to eat too much of the
food and become obese -- remains open.
Yes, We Need The Cheeseburger Bill ...
The bill passed 306 to 120 in the House - -the second time
they've passed the bill. The same bill was passed back in
March 2004 but not acted upon in the Senate. About 20 states
have already passed similar legislation.
Bill proponents say it's a person's own responsibility to
choose what they do and do not eat, and such matters don't
belong in court.
"As one judge put it, if a person knows or should know
that eating copious orders of super-sized McDonald's products
is unhealthy and could result in weight gain, it is not the
place of the law to protect them from their own excesses,"
said Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wisconsin, chairman of the
House Judiciary Committee.
"We should not encourage lawsuits that blame others
for our own choices and could bankrupt an entire industry,"
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas noted.
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It's a personal choice to eat fast food, say supporters
of the cheeseburger bill.
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The Whitehouse also backs the bill and said in a statement,
"Food manufacturers, marketers, distributors, advertisers
and sellers should not be held liable for injury because a
person's consumption of legal, unadulterated food is associated
with the person's weight gain or obesity."
No, The Cheeseburger Bill is Unnecessary
Those who are against the bill say fast-food companies should
be held accountable for selling harmful products, and passing
the bill would unfairly give restaurants and food manufacturers
special rights.
"Congress has allowed the need of big corporations before
the need of our children," said Rep. Bob Filner, D-California.
Further, they say courts are functioning fine without the
bill and dismissing cases that sound frivolous. Passing the
bill could give food manufacturers free reign to produce any
type of product.
Bill opponents point out that obesity is a major problem
facing the nation, with close to two-thirds of U.S. adults
and 15 percent of children now overweight. Some 30 percent
of adults are considered obese.
"Congress is headed in the wrong direction with this
bill, which removes any and all incentives for the food industry
to improve the healthiness of their products," says Rep.
Bob Filner, D-Calif.
Meanwhile, McDonald's isn't waiting for the bill to become
law before they take some responsibility of their own. The
fast-food giant announced that beginning in 2006 they will
be including nutrition facts information on most of their
fast-food packages.
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Please
Let Us Know What YOU Think!
Select answers will be published in the forthcoming
issue of the SixWise.com e-newsletter!*
*NOTE:
Your answer, or an excerpt thereof, may be published in
a forthcoming issue of the SixWise.com e-newsletter and
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select answers! |
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Sources
CNN
October 20, 2005
CBS
News October 19, 2005