By BOB DART Palm Beach Post-Cox News Service
The House of Representatives passed legislation Wednesday that would ban lawsuits against restaurants, grocery stores and other calorie dealers by chubby customers who blame the food industry for making them fat.
Dubbed the "cheeseburger bill," the Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act of 2005 is backed by the Bush administration but faces an uncertain future in the Senate.
"We need to get back to the principles of personal responsibility and away from the culture where everybody plays the victim," said Rep. Ric Keller, R-Fla., the bill's author.
Keller, 41, was unable to vote on his own legislation because he was in an Orlando hospital for treatment of a heart condition.
"There are no plans in the works for lawsuits against the fast- food restaurants" that his boss has frequented, joked the congressman's spokesman, Bryan Malenius. He said the surgical insertion of a heart monitoring device was "non-cheeseburger related."
In a written statement, Keller said the bipartisan vote of 306- 120 shows widespread acceptance of his notion that "we should be practicing common sense in the food court and not blaming others in the legal court."
Specifically, the bill would stop any "civil liability actions brought or continued against food manufacturers, marketers, distributors, advertisers, sellers, and trade associations for claims of injury relating to a person's weight gain, obesity, or any health condition associated with weight gain or obesity."
However, it would still allow such suits when a food manufacturer or seller is alleged to have "knowingly and willingly" broken a contract or violated a law in the making or marketing of a food product.
"While cracking down on frivolous lawsuits, the bill will preserve protections against mislabeled or tainted foods," Keller said.
The House passed a similar bill last year but it was never taken up in the Senate. However, a "cheeseburger bill" was jointly introduced Wednesday by Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Copyright: (C) 2005 The Palm Beach Post. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved
The House of Representatives passed legislation Wednesday that would ban lawsuits against restaurants, grocery stores and other calorie dealers by chubby customers who blame the food industry for making them fat.
Dubbed the "cheeseburger bill," the Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act of 2005 is backed by the Bush administration but faces an uncertain future in the Senate.
"We need to get back to the principles of personal responsibility and away from the culture where everybody plays the victim," said Rep. Ric Keller, R-Fla., the bill's author.
Keller, 41, was unable to vote on his own legislation because he was in an Orlando hospital for treatment of a heart condition.
"There are no plans in the works for lawsuits against the fast- food restaurants" that his boss has frequented, joked the congressman's spokesman, Bryan Malenius. He said the surgical insertion of a heart monitoring device was "non-cheeseburger related."
In a written statement, Keller said the bipartisan vote of 306- 120 shows widespread acceptance of his notion that "we should be practicing common sense in the food court and not blaming others in the legal court."
Specifically, the bill would stop any "civil liability actions brought or continued against food manufacturers, marketers, distributors, advertisers, sellers, and trade associations for claims of injury relating to a person's weight gain, obesity, or any health condition associated with weight gain or obesity."
However, it would still allow such suits when a food manufacturer or seller is alleged to have "knowingly and willingly" broken a contract or violated a law in the making or marketing of a food product.
"While cracking down on frivolous lawsuits, the bill will preserve protections against mislabeled or tainted foods," Keller said.
The House passed a similar bill last year but it was never taken up in the Senate. However, a "cheeseburger bill" was jointly introduced Wednesday by Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Copyright: (C) 2005 The Palm Beach Post. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved