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Item #11
McDonalds Fat Lawsuit Chucked!
But Hold On!
A
Manhattan judge has chucked the Big Mac attack lawsuit brought on
behalf of eight tubby teens who sued McDonald's for making them
diabetic or fat.
Saying
the law is not intended to protect people from their own excesses, a
federal judge threw out a class-action lawsuit that blamed McDonald's
food for obesity, diabetes and other health problems in children.
But
Robert Sweet, a sprightly, 80-year-old federal jurist in fine health,
gave the kids the ingredients for a replacement lawsuit - and offered
them 30 days to cook one up.
The
judge suggested an amended complaint focusing on whether McDonald's
products had been so altered that their unhealthy attributes were
beyond consumers' understanding.
For
example, the judge said, it could be argued that Chicken McNuggets,
rather than being merely chicken fried in a pan, are a
"McFrankenstein creation of various elements."
After
listing McNuggets' ingredients, Sweet pointed out that customers might
not know that they contain twice as much fat per ounce as a hamburger.
"If
plaintiffs were able to flesh out this argument . . . it may establish
that the dangers of McDonald's products were not commonly well known
and thus that McDonald's had a duty towards its customers," Sweet
wrote in his 64-page ruling.
Sweet
said if the kids can't prove deception or negligence by the owners of
the Golden Arches, their best recourse is to stop supersizing their
meals.
"If
consumers know, or reasonably should know, the potential ill health
effects of eating McDonald's, they cannot blame McDonald's if they,
nonetheless, choose to satiate their appetite with a surfeit of
supersized McDonald's products," he said.
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DID
YOU KNOW:
Researchers
from the University of Minnesota note that
"About
9% of average dietary energy intake in the United States comes from
fructose. Such a high consumption raises concern about the metabolic
effects of this sugar."
Check
out the Open Fiber Study (Click
Here)
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