13-05-2003 21:57									#1
	Lawyer seeks ban on Oreos Support Apolyton

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/05/13/o...reut/index.html

quote: SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- A lawyer who has spent much of his life enjoying Oreo cookies has sued Kraft Foods Inc. seeking to ban the much-loved cookies in California because they contain trans fat, an ingredient he calls inedible. Kraft boasts that people have eaten 450 billion Oreo cookies since they introduced the chocolate wafer sandwich cookies with a creamy filling in 1912. But if British-born attorney Stephen Joseph has his way, that culinary love affair will come to an end, at least until Kraft stops using hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils to make the cookies. Kraft calls the suit filed in Marin County Superior Court just north of San Francisco baseless but Joseph says he is taking advantage of a provision of the California civil code that holds manufacturers liable for common products if not "known to be unsafe by the ordinary consumer." The ingredient is used in thousands and thousands of products. In an interview on Monday, Joseph said, "I am probably full of hydrogenated fat because until two years ago I didn't know about it. I resent the fact that I have been eating that stuff all my life." Hydrogenation adds hydrogen gas to vegetable oil, helping to solidify it into products such as margarine. Health experts say the process makes them as unhealthy as real butter, if not more so, as the hydrogenated fats act like cholesterol in the body. Trans fats are common in cookies and crackers and part of both the cookie and filling in Oreos. 'Shocking' case "That's what's so shocking; that it has been so well hidden," said Joseph, who has set up an advocacy group called BanTransFats.com Inc. "I hope if nothing else comes of this lawsuit that more people know about trans fat than before." Kraft says it is already testing alternatives to trans fats but said they will vigorously fight the lawsuit. Its parent company Altria Group Inc. is also the owner of cigarette maker Philip Morris USA, itself no stranger to legal battles over product safety. "We know the importance of good nutrition and we are committed to helping people lead a healthy lifestyle, but we have no choice than to draw the line against baseless lawsuits like this," Michael Mudd, Kraft's senior vice president for corporate affairs, said in an interview. "We've been ... exploring ways to reduce trans fat in Oreos and those efforts are continuing," he continued. "You can make a cookie without trans fat but what you're trading off is the unique taste and texture that people have come to expect." U.S. companies, the world masters in processed foods, are showing an awareness of trans fats. Frito-Lay, part of PepsiCo Inc., announced last year it would eliminate trans fats from snacks such as Doritos. McDonald's Corp. also said it would make French fries with less trans fat. In February, a federal court threw out a lawsuit against McDonald's that claimed its burgers and fries cause obesity. The commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said the agency will soon require labeling information about trans fats in foods.

Rediculous Did anyone ever think eating Oreos is healthy? Don't eat them if you don't want to, but don't stop those who want to eat them from enjoying them!

	13-05-2003 21:59									#2
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Everything takes a turn at being bad for you.

	13-05-2003 22:02									#3
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I agree this is ridiculous... but let's be honest... if this leads to a new type of Oreo cookie that tastes the same (or better) but doesn't make you a fat ass, would this lawsuit be a bad thing?

	13-05-2003 22:02									#4
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Copy cat thread alert!

BTW he wants to sue and ban every food maker which has a product which contains transfatty acids. Transfatty acids are food in just about every type of processed or prepackaged food and are basically made when other compounds under go hydrogenation.

	13-05-2003 22:03									#5
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It's the second-hand trans fat that's the problem.

	13-05-2003 22:47									#6
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"Health experts" blah blah blah

Worse than lawyers, except that lawyers have a way of forcing their ignorance on the rest of us.

	13-05-2003 22:50									#7
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Second thread about the subject, but I think this should be left open because of the poll.

That's a humble opinion.

quote: Did anyone ever think eating Oreos is healthy?

No: Ridiculous, indeed. They should be fined from the waste of court's time and resources.

	13-05-2003 23:16									#8
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i just had a tube this morning, and i always thought they gave me a day's worth of vitamans, burned fat, cured cancer and acted as birth control.

guess i have a few phone calls to make.

	13-05-2003 23:27									#9
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Should Oreos be banned ? Probably not ?
Should they be forced not to use hydrogenerated oil if the dangers of it are proven ? Definitely

So, banana for me

	13-05-2003 23:29									#10
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OK, Nabisco and other corporations aren't responsible if people abuse their products, or get fat and die of coronaries eating unhealthy food all day long.

A reasonable person who eats a reasonable amount of oreos won't die from oreos - if you have clogged arteries, don't eat oreos, and don't eat 2 boxes a day, and you'll be fine. Duh.

	13-05-2003 23:31									#11
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But I can't be held responsible for my own actions! It simply MUST be somebody else's fault.

	13-05-2003 23:36									#12
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If the trans fat of Oreos is a real health hazard, and the general public isn't informed of this (much like the general public wasn't informed of the real dangers of tobacco before the 70's), it is the role of the law to stop it.

If trans fat is really dangerous, I don't see anything wrong in having Oreos' recipe being changed, to get rid of trans fat. After all, the product is 90 years old, I doubt there was trans fat in its contents all along...

	13-05-2003 23:40									#13
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banning oreos? hm... i see a lot of people running 'cross the border to buy them... will we have border guards to make sure that they aren't smuggled in?

how about a regulation that only allows people over 21 to purchase them?

	13-05-2003 23:42									#14
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quote: Originally posted by Oerdin But I can't be held responsible for my own actions! It simply MUST be somebody else's fault.

Remember, there are stupid people out there. As Spiffor said:

quote: If the trans fat of Oreos is a real health hazard, and the general public isn't informed of this (much like the general public wasn't informed of the real dangers of tobacco before the 70's), it is the role of the law to stop it. If trans fat is really dangerous, I don't see anything wrong in having Oreos' recipe being changed, to get rid of trans fat. After all, the product is 90 years old, I doubt there was trans fat in its contents all along...

It seems to me that this guy is suing to get them to get rid of trans fat. Not to make his wallet as fat as he is.

	13-05-2003 23:46									#15
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quote: McDonald's Corp. also said it would make French fries with less trans fat.

WHAT !?!? FRENCH fries ? Where is the world coming to ?

	14-05-2003 02:37									#16
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quote: Originally posted by Sava I agree this is ridiculous... but let's be honest... if this leads to a new type of Oreo cookie that tastes the same (or better) but doesn't make you a fat ass, would this lawsuit be a bad thing?

It's not just fat that makes you fat...the thousand grams of sugar is probably worse than the fat.

	14-05-2003 02:43									#17
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Well the difference between cis and trans fatty acids would not result in a taste difference or anything, but it would just be very hard to differentiate between the two, making it highly expensive.

	14-05-2003 02:48									#18
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Transfatty acids are actually purposefully put into many snack foods because technicly they are not fats (just fat like substances) so on the nutrition label the maker can claim it is a low fat food even though the junk is loaded with trasfatty acids.

The last time I heard most store bought peanutbutter was just jampacked with fatty acids as are low fat cookies, low fat cakes, and most supposed "diet" foods.

	14-05-2003 05:21									#19
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quote: Originally posted by Sava It seems to me that this guy is suing to get them to get rid of trans fat. Not to make his wallet as fat as he is.

Nah, he's suing for the attention-getting, to make a name for himself, and if he could get lotsa $$$ out of it, too, all the better.

If he was serious about changing the recipe, there's more PR-friendly ways to do it. Start a letter-writing campaign, a grassroots organization, a public education program, etc. But since all that would take time, work, and effort, this no-good sonuva***** just slaps a lawsuit on them because he's a lawyer himself and it's all he knows how to do .

	15-05-2003 00:10									#20
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Found one of the two threads on this, so I thought I would reiterate what I originally said in my thread, since I asked it to be closed.

This is just one example I suppose, of some Americans who want to avoid taking responsibility for their own well-being and health.
Rather than change one's lifestyle by exercising more often on a regular basis, and eating a more healthy diet, it is much easier for them to sue a food company.

Is trans-fat harmful to your health? Yes, of course -- but you CHOOSE whether you want to intake any of it.

Should companies find a healthy substitute for trans-fat? Yes, they should -- but suing them for your own choices is absurd.

These type of Americans need to start taking responsibility for their own choices.