Wednesday, February 16, 2011

‘Cheeseburger bill’ would block obesity lawsuits

Food Safety News reports that Minnesota's State Rep. Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City, has reintroduced legislation to bar Minnesotans from suing their favorite fast food restaurants for making them fat. The Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act, also known as the "cheeseburger bill," would prevent anyone in Minnesota from suing a fast-food restaurant for making them fat.

Twenty-three other states have passed similar laws according to the National Restaurant Associa
tion. Of course, anyone can sue anyone in America, but suits like this are summarily thrown out of court—even without hamburger shield laws. "You made me fat" lawsuits are going forward nowhere except on television. ABC's "Harry's Law" recently had a story with an overweight mother of several plump children who won $880,000 in an out-of-court settlement.