Congress looks to end "lawsuit lotto".

Legal action against McDonald's over obesity health risks has had a chilling effect throughout the food industry. Fortunately, the latest abusive litigation against the fast food giant was dismissed on September 4 by Judge Robert Sweet of the United States District Court Southern District of New York. The suit alleged that the fast food chain had been hiding the health risks of consuming Chicken McNuggets and Big Macs.

In January, Judge Sweet threw out the original complaint against McDonalds filed on behalf of two New York City children and a class of others who consumed McDonalds products.

In an effort to insulate the food industry from these frivolous lawsuits, Congress will consider a pair of bills to head off tobacco-sized paydays sought by personal injury class-action lawyers. U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell--the Senate's second-ranking Republican--recently introduced a bill (S. 1428) that would protect the food industry from lawsuits alleging their products are responsible for obesity and weight gain.

The Commonsense Consumption Act of 2003 would prohibit any claim based on an alleged injury related to obesity or weight gain, in state or federal court, against a lawful food manufacturer or seller. McConnell's bill covers all food, as defined in the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, including food ingredients and beverages. The only claims prohibited by this bill are those related to obesity and weight gain.

Congressman Ric Keller (R-Fla.) also wants to curb what he calls "lawsuit lotto" and has a bill similar to McConnell's pending in the U.S. House of Representatives. H.R. 339 would protect from frivolous litigation manufacturers, distributors, or sellers of food or non-alcoholic beverage products that comply with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

Of the two bills, Keller's Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act is seen as having the best chance of passage. It already had a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee where Keller pleaded for "common sense in the food court, and not blame others in the legal court." At present, H.R. 339 is a stand-alone bill but, according to Keller's staff, it's now a matter of attaching it to other tort reform legislation. Consideration by the full House of Representatives is expected by the end of the year.

H.R. 339 has the support of the broad-based Lawsuit Abuse Reform Coalition which has helped recruit 65 co-sponsors.

Both Keller and McConnell have made it clear that their legislation does not provide widespread legal immunity for the food industry. According to McConnell, the legislation only provides protection for abusive suits by people seeking to blame someone else for their poor eating habits. SFA, of course, supports both bills.

David W. Dexter,

SFA Sr. V.P. of Government

and Public Affairs