House OKs “cheeseburger” bill barring lawsuits

By Joanne Kenen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives on
Wednesday easily passed the so-called “cheeseburger bill” that
would block lawsuits blaming the food industry for making
people fat.

The “Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act”
passed on a bipartisan 300 to 120 vote. The House approved a
similar bill last year but it died in the Senate and no Senate
action is scheduled on companion legislation.

Leading business groups and the White House back the bill.
The White House in a statement said, “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.”

The bill would block in state and federal courts what
backers consider “frivolous lawsuits against the manufacturers,
distributors or sellers of food or nonalcoholic

beverage products” arising from obesity claims. It would
not block civil lawsuits stemming from tainted food.

The bill comes amid growing awareness of the public health
implications of the U.S. obesity problem. But supporters of the
bill said obesity and overeating should be dealt with by
doctors, exercise routines and personal responsibility, not by
lawyers and courts.

Democratic critics said the bill was unnecessary, that
courts were throwing out such lawsuits and state legislatures
were drawing up their own rules to prevent cases.

The best-known case, filed by several teenagers against
McDonald’s Corp., was thrown out of federal court.