Lawyers Aim at Food Manufacturers

On Friday, August 17, 2012, Stephanie Strom discussed cases against the food industry, in the article “Lawyers From Suits Against Big Tobacco Target Food Makers” from New York Times. Don Barrett, a Mississippi lawyer, and other lawyers, took in millions of dollars after suing Big Tobacco. Now they have turned to food manufacturers, and have filed twenty-five cases against industries like, PepsiCo, Heinz, and ConAgra Foods. They assert that food makers are deceiving consumers by falsely labeling ingredients and products. For instance, Barrett’s group has brought a case against Chobani, the Greek yogurt maker for listing “evaporated cane juice” in its ingredients for a yogurt. The Food and Drug Administration has warned companies not to use that term because it is “false and misleading”. “If you’re going to put sugar in your yogurt, why not just say it’s sugar?” said Pierce Gore, who is part of Barrett’s group. The Barrett’s group is also asking a federal court in California to stop the sales of Pam cooking spray. Consumer Christina Sturges heard about the lawsuit involving this. She took a closer look at the ingredients and read “propellant”, which is petroleum gas, propane, and butane. The only way she could have found out was by looking at a materials safety data sheet, which is filed to the government only. This is dangerous and frightening, and unhealthy for people. “I’d been spraying that on muffin tins to make muffins for my grandchildren,” said Christina Sturges.

         When Mr. Barrett was fighting tobacco cases a decade ago, he lost because the juries agreed with tobacco companies that it is a personal choice to smoke. It was not until he and his partner sued on behalf of the states that they won the case. Food companies can claim the same belief as the tobacco companies. Even though people do not realize that they are deceived, it is important to be aware. Moreover, every person should claim that it is the job of the government to protect the consumer. The government should set more strict rules regarding ingredients for food companies to protect the health of consumers.