索賠,索賠,索賠

在搜索方麵的個人食品和飲料製造商和銷售商負責當前的危機的肥胖,該行業的薄弱的側翼似乎在其營銷。這是危險的境地。在美國打官司,目前超過64%的成年人超重或肥胖,16%的兒童肥胖,問題是全球增長。和肥胖是一個昂貴的條件。外科醫生把成本與肥胖有關的疾病在1170億年達到2001美元,接近年均1500億美元與吸煙有關。毫不奇怪,尋求某個人支付。律師現在相信他們找到了攻擊的地方。他們越來越針對一些公司的方式宣傳他們的產品,聲稱他們違反欺詐法令誤導消費者認為某些產品是健康和營養。因此,當紐約法官羅伯特甜裁定起訴麥當勞的青少年讓他們知道脂肪吃巨無霸和炸薯條的危險,2003年修改後的訴訟法律團隊及時提交。這一次,他們聲稱麥當勞從事欺騙性廣告,部分原因是它未能充分披露添加劑和加工方法,使其不健康的食物。 This change of tack is now picking up speed, with lawsuits increasingly setting aside what makes people fat and instead concentrating on how food was marketed or labelled. It's an approach that food makers need to wake up to quickly. Billions of dollars are spent every year linking food products that contribute to obesity to health, sports, fun and glamour - with never an overweight consumer in sight. And much of this advertising is pitched at children. A recent study found that 97.5 percent of the food commercials appearing on US weekend morning TV network programming were for unhealthy foods - defined as products containing significant amounts of fat, sodium, cholesterol or sugar. For weekend evening programming, 78.3 percent of the commercials were for unhealthy foods. In addition, children are being bombarded with health claims in television advertising, creating a whole generation of Americans confused about which foods are in fact healthy. Being low in fat or having almost no calories does not automatically make a product good for you. But such health claims may end up being very bad for food makers. The spotlight on obesity and food makers has already seen the US confront the issue of personal responsibility. Consumers, it has been decided, ARE responsible for what they buy and what they eat: a verdict that has been backed by bills around the country shielding the food industry from lawsuits related to obesity. Obesity class actions are now blocked in 16 states, with blocks pending in 22 more. How rash then to reopen the door on litigation with poor labelling and suspect advertising. If the food industry wants to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that it is in no way connected with obesity, it needs to be seen to be correctly informing consumers, leaving would-be litigants with only themselves to blame if they didn't know three burgers a day was bad for them. And then the lawyers, rubbing their hands at the possibility of a lucrative blood bath that would see the food industry go the way of the tobacco and chemical industries, will have to look elsewhere for their hard-earned salaries. Anthony Fletcher is the editor of FoodNavigator-USA.com, a specialist writer on food industry issues and the former editor of FoodProductionDaily.com. With an international focus, he has lived and worked in the UK, France and Japan. If you would like to comment on this article please e-mail anthony.fletcher@novisgroup.com.