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medpundit |
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Friday, November 29, 2002If it's true that misery loves company, the Golden Arches should be cheered about the $50-million suit that free-lance journalist Meredith Berkman, 37, launched earlier this year against Robert's American Gourmet Food, makers of the snack food Pirate's Booty, for ruining her diet. Researchers at the Good Housekeeping Institute found that the addictive (pardon the editorializing) corn puffs contained three times the fat listed on the label, and this inaccurate information, claimed Ms. Berkman, caused weight gain and emotional distress. Other snackers in a separate class-action suit agreed to a settlement requiring American Gourmet Food to distribute $3.5 million in product coupons. I thought this must be a joke. But it isn’t. And I thought it must really be over the mislabeling of the food, but the woman's argument isn’t that the higher fat content made her or her family have higher cholesterol levels. She really is blaming the fat content for her weight gain: The suit, couched in ironic language, claims damages for all those who have put on weight or had to spend longer at the gym. But “fat content” has nothing to do with caloric content. If the calories had changed on the label, then she would have a case. Please tell me, though, that the bit about other class-action litigants settling for coupons from the company is a joke. posted by Sydney on 11/29/2002 08:14:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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