Post by ♪ *~ Lola ~* ♪ on Sept 23, 2006 9:47:24 GMT -5
(old article .. from July)
Gregory Rhymes, 15, has eaten at McDonald's almost every day since the age of six. His Macaholic addiction has taken his weight to 400lbs, although he is only 5ft 6in tall. 'I normally order the Big Mac, fries, icecream or shake - I like to Super Size my orders,' he said. Gregory has developed diabetes.
Now Gregory, nine other children and their parents have become prime movers in a court case that could deal a significant blow to McDonald's, the already beleaguered burger giant.
The suit, filed in New York last week, claims that addiction to McDonald's has led to obesity. The core of the case is that the company does not provide the necessary information on the health risks associated with its food. This is the first such case against a food company to find its way into a courtroom. But for some time fast food firms have been dreading the moment when their liability for the crisis of obesity is called to account.
For McDonald's, the suit is especially ominous, coming on the slipstream of a 22 per cent drop in share price this year, 175 franchise closures, mass lay-offs in the US and overseas, and growing worldwide protest against nutritionally troublesome food. The company was recently forced to reduce the fatty content of some of its products, notably French fries.
Big American companies have become wary of such cases: the multi-billion dollar settlement by tobacco companies began with a simple writ by a lawyer whose friend died of lung cancer.
Rhymes' mother, Ruth, claims that she would not have let her son gorge himself if she had known the food contained such high levels of fat, cholesterol and salt. 'I always believed McDonald's food was healthy for my son,' she said.
Other teenagers filing suit have similar stories. Jazlyn Bradley, 19, of Brooklyn, told the New York Times how she starts the day with a Super Sized McMuffin, and ends it with a Big Mac and an apple pie. The diet piled 270lb onto her 5ft 6in frame. Ashley Perlman, 14, is more of a Happy Meal girl; she likes to collect the heavily marketed free toys that come with the food.
The suits dovetails into a sharp rise in obesity in America. More than half of US adults were judged overweight by recent research; serious obesity now accounts for 280,000 deaths a year; 11 per cent of children are obese. The low price of junk food means the disease is generally entwined with poverty.
The suit has been filed against both the multinational company and the teenagers' favourite local franchises - one on Bruckner Boulevard, made famous by Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities.
Their lawyer, Samuel Hirsch, said in court on Wednesday: 'McDonald's has the information that a child consuming this food more than one time a week may result in a child developing juvenile diabetes. It's become an insipid, toxic kind of thing... Nobody thinks that going to McDonald's can be unhealthy because they promote their foods as healthy.'
Hirsch said McDonald's had targeted young people with offers of toys. 'Young people are not in a position to make a choice after the onslaught of advertising and promotions,' he said.
The writ also invokes the bitter and public row between McDonald's France and the parent US company over a decision by the former to advise customers to limit consumption.
McDonald's came under the spotlight after the publication of a book called Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser last year, and is bracing itself for another volume next January, Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World, by Greg Crister, which is reportedly even more pessimistic and accusatory.
McDonald's has outwardly responded with derision. 'No one cares more about children than McDonald's,' spokesman Walt Riker said. Their lawyer, Brad Lerman, has filed a motion to have the suit dismissed, calling it 'frivolous'.
'The understanding and comprehension of what hamburgers and French fries do has been with us for a long time,' he told Judge Robert Sweet, who has reserved a decision on whether to allow the suit to proceed. 'People do not go to sleep thin and wake up next day suddenly obese. They realise it when their clothes are too tight and their pants don't fit.'
Gregory Rhymes, 15, has eaten at McDonald's almost every day since the age of six. His Macaholic addiction has taken his weight to 400lbs, although he is only 5ft 6in tall. 'I normally order the Big Mac, fries, icecream or shake - I like to Super Size my orders,' he said. Gregory has developed diabetes.
Now Gregory, nine other children and their parents have become prime movers in a court case that could deal a significant blow to McDonald's, the already beleaguered burger giant.
The suit, filed in New York last week, claims that addiction to McDonald's has led to obesity. The core of the case is that the company does not provide the necessary information on the health risks associated with its food. This is the first such case against a food company to find its way into a courtroom. But for some time fast food firms have been dreading the moment when their liability for the crisis of obesity is called to account.
For McDonald's, the suit is especially ominous, coming on the slipstream of a 22 per cent drop in share price this year, 175 franchise closures, mass lay-offs in the US and overseas, and growing worldwide protest against nutritionally troublesome food. The company was recently forced to reduce the fatty content of some of its products, notably French fries.
Big American companies have become wary of such cases: the multi-billion dollar settlement by tobacco companies began with a simple writ by a lawyer whose friend died of lung cancer.
Rhymes' mother, Ruth, claims that she would not have let her son gorge himself if she had known the food contained such high levels of fat, cholesterol and salt. 'I always believed McDonald's food was healthy for my son,' she said.
Other teenagers filing suit have similar stories. Jazlyn Bradley, 19, of Brooklyn, told the New York Times how she starts the day with a Super Sized McMuffin, and ends it with a Big Mac and an apple pie. The diet piled 270lb onto her 5ft 6in frame. Ashley Perlman, 14, is more of a Happy Meal girl; she likes to collect the heavily marketed free toys that come with the food.
The suits dovetails into a sharp rise in obesity in America. More than half of US adults were judged overweight by recent research; serious obesity now accounts for 280,000 deaths a year; 11 per cent of children are obese. The low price of junk food means the disease is generally entwined with poverty.
The suit has been filed against both the multinational company and the teenagers' favourite local franchises - one on Bruckner Boulevard, made famous by Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities.
Their lawyer, Samuel Hirsch, said in court on Wednesday: 'McDonald's has the information that a child consuming this food more than one time a week may result in a child developing juvenile diabetes. It's become an insipid, toxic kind of thing... Nobody thinks that going to McDonald's can be unhealthy because they promote their foods as healthy.'
Hirsch said McDonald's had targeted young people with offers of toys. 'Young people are not in a position to make a choice after the onslaught of advertising and promotions,' he said.
The writ also invokes the bitter and public row between McDonald's France and the parent US company over a decision by the former to advise customers to limit consumption.
McDonald's came under the spotlight after the publication of a book called Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser last year, and is bracing itself for another volume next January, Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World, by Greg Crister, which is reportedly even more pessimistic and accusatory.
McDonald's has outwardly responded with derision. 'No one cares more about children than McDonald's,' spokesman Walt Riker said. Their lawyer, Brad Lerman, has filed a motion to have the suit dismissed, calling it 'frivolous'.
'The understanding and comprehension of what hamburgers and French fries do has been with us for a long time,' he told Judge Robert Sweet, who has reserved a decision on whether to allow the suit to proceed. 'People do not go to sleep thin and wake up next day suddenly obese. They realise it when their clothes are too tight and their pants don't fit.'
) on the stand, demanding to know what their kids' diet is like, and if they EVER ordered any of McDonald's salads. Because if she knows what "healthy" is, lets see how many salads her fat-assed kids got from the place. Or how often they exercised.