Fat and Fed Up
"Would you like fries with that?" If that is a question you hear at every meal, you might want to rethink your diet. You might think about getting a lawyer, too.
In 2002, Caesar Barber decided to sue McDonald's, Wendy's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Burger King. Barber was dangerously overweight. He was 56 and had suffered two heart attacks. He blamed the fast-food chains for his health problems.
"I think all the food I ate from McDonald's and all the three other chainswith the calories, with the grease-was like a time bomb exploding in my arteries," Barber said.
Many people saw the lawsuit as a bit of a joke. But the food industry isn't laughing. Even though Barber's case was dismissed in court, more lawsuits are coming.
In the United States, 64 percent of adults are overweight. More than 15 percent of children are too heavy. Being overweight can lead to serious health problems, even death. Americans are becoming supersized. Some people think the food industry is to blame.
Yes! It's the Food Industry's Fault
Everyone knows that smoking can cause illness and death. For that reason, lawyers have sued the big tobacco companies. One of those lawyers was John Banzhaf. Now he's going after the huge fast-food industry.
Banzhaf wants fast-food chains to warn people about the dangers of fatfilled fries and supersized sodas. He wants fast-food restaurants to offer healthful menu choices. He wants schools to stop selling sodas. And he plans to sue to make those changes happen.
"For a large number of people, a steady diet of fast food is almost as harmful and as difficult to resist as heroin is to an addict," says Banzhaf.
No! It's Your Own Fault for Eating Too Much Junk
"An expensive waste of time!" That's what a Burger King spokesman calls lawsuits such as Barber's.
Florida Congressman Ric Keller wants to pass a law to put a stop to them. Suing fast-food companies "would make the lawyers' bank accounts fatter," Keller says, but it "won't make anyone skinnier."
It is, Keller says, "a matter of personal responsibility." People have only themselves to blame if a fast-food diet makes them fat.
As Keller says, "Nobody is forced to supersize their fast-food meals."
