On Sun, 28 Jul 2002, Marilyn Harris wrote:

> >from what i saw on TV last night there has been a class action launched over
> >your way [in the US] against McDonalds for making people fat. so why not one
> >against the government for its false Food Pyramid and its contribution to
> >diabetes?
>
> Come on - let's not get ridiculous. You would have to prove that there was
> intent to make people malnourished which means you would have to prove that
> the Food Pyramid is in fact injurious to your health.

Some class action lawsuits are intended only as grandstanding, to
make a point.  However, intent would not have to be proven in any
case; culpable negligence would suffice for damages.  To show
that, however, you'd have to show that the evidence against the
Food Pyramid is unequivocal enough that the USDA *should have
known better*, and I doubt that this could be done.

> And people have every right to choose whether they want to eat at
> MacDonald's or not and they know that the more junk food they eat, obviously
> the more weight they will gain.

True.  The suit against McDonald's is frivolous because no one is
forced to eat there.  A suit against the USDA over the Food
Pyramid is something else, since it is an official
recommendation, from a source that citizens are supposed to be
able to trust.  I think a case can be made that the USDA should
not be in the business of promulgating official dietary
recommendations of any kind, especially when its recommendations
have not had the benefit of long-term study and testing.  But I
don't think that would be enough to win a suit.

Todd Moody
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