man sues to ban selling oreo cookies in california

[rainstorm]

the food police are coming people.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lawsuit seeks to ban sale of Oreos to children in California
Nabisco taken to task over trans fat's effects

Kim Severson, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, May 12, 2003

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Oreo cookies should be banned from sale to children in California, according to a lawsuit filed by a San Francisco attorney who claims that trans fat -- the stuff that makes the chocolate cookies crisp and their filling creamy -- is so dangerous children shouldn't eat it.

Stephen Joseph, who filed the suit against Nabisco last week in Marin County Superior Court, is a public interest lawyer who last battled the city to remove graffiti from traffic signs.

He took up the trans fat battle after reading about the dangerous artificial fat in several stories published by The Chronicle that showed how trans fat is hidden in many of the popular snack foods Americans eat. Joseph also believes his father's death from heart disease was caused in part by a lifelong diet of margarine and other foods made from trans fat.

The suit, the first of its kind in the country, asks for an injunction ordering Kraft Foods to desist from selling Nabisco Oreo Cookies to children in California, because the cookies are made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, also called trans fat.

Partially hydrogenated oil is in about 40 percent of the food on grocery store shelves, including most cookies, crackers and microwave popcorn, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

But doctors and government researchers believe it is linked to several debilitating diseases and might be one of the worst ingredients in the American diet -- in part because we eat so much of it without knowing.

The Institute of Medicine, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, last summer confirmed that trans fat is directly associated with heart disease and increases in LDL cholesterol, the kind that can clog arteries. Because of that, the institute report said there is no safe amount of trans fat in the diet.

Prompted by those findings, and after being petitioned by health advocates, the Food and Drug Administration decided to force food manufacturers to list trans fat among the other fats and nutrients printed on the side of food packages. But the rule has been challenged by food manufacturers. A final version is pending.

As it stands, U.S. consumers have no idea how much trans fat is in food because it isn't required on nutrition labels. Even products marked "low in cholesterol" or "low in saturated fat" might have high levels of trans fat.

Providing information about trans fat on labels could prevent 7,600 to 17,100 cases of coronary heart disease and 2,500 to 5,600 deaths every year -- not only because people would be able to choose healthier foods but because manufacturers could choose to reduce trans fat amounts rather than list high levels on nutrition panels, the FDA has estimated.

[JetMaxx]

That's scary...I could someday be on "Cops" or "America's Most Wanted" if this fruitcake wins his lawsuit..

WANTED:
Perry Lee Williams aka JetMaxx aka PerryXXL

CHARGES:
a) Unlawful possession and distribution of controlled dessert snacks.

b) Consumption of said narcotic (chocolate, creamy filling)

c)Unlawful flight to avoid prosecution across state lines

NOTE: This fugitive is also Politically Incorrect -- reportedly a lifelong member of V.R.W.C...the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy...should be considered ARMED and extremely dangerous (especially if you try and take my cookies away


***Think I'm joking?? Well, I am...for now. In twenty years, it might be closer to reality than many think. I was stunned last Friday evening when I saw people being forced to put out their cigarettes at the threat of arrest...OUTDOORS at a high school football stadium

[rainstorm]

that was very funny!! some people, liberals in particular want the govt to control every aspect of our lives. i am amazed this country has survived years of eating oreos. hehe

[thumper]

You know it always amazes me how much money is spent on dumb lawsuits. Then we wonder why we hear about how the courts are all backed up. It really is getting disgusting.

[Rainband]

I can't wait till hurricane season starts..I AM SO SICK OF POLITICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[breeze]

Makes me wanna hum that 'ole Lonnie Mack song,
"Oreo Cookie Blues"...

[streetsoldier]

Never thought I'd see the day when a Californicator would want to ban the most "politically correct" cookie in the country...

[mf_dolphin]

Perry you better hope I'm on the jury when they bring you in! Maybe we could start an Oreo smuggling ring. Adult toys from California to Alabama and Oreos to California on the return trip!

[JetMaxx]

OMG Marshall...what on earth will I do if they ban fudgesicles?

[coriolis]

the food police are coming people.
Stephen Joseph, who filed the suit against Nabisco last week in Marin County Superior Court, is a public interest lawyer who last battled the city to remove graffiti from traffic signs.

He took up the trans fat battle after reading about the dangerous artificial fat in several stories published by The Chronicle that showed how trans fat is hidden in many of the popular snack foods Americans eat.

Doesn't this guy have anything better to do? He just read an article and decided to go on the warpath? So what's he do, create a class action lawsuit and then recruit "victims?"

We need to protect ourselves against people like this.

[streetsoldier]

He's trying to achieve two things...(a) gain a reputation and (b) line his pockets with "real and punitive damage" money and "court costs".

Another reason tort law needs a radical overhaul.

[pojo]

What ever you do...DO NOT take away my Oreos! I will get extremely dangerous...especially when I'm craving chocolate! That is one way to bribe me...bring out the oreos!

[CajunMama]

Leave it a goofball from California. (Not everyone is a goofball in California, just making myself clear so I don't offend anyone! In fact, all California S2K members are wonderful!)

Duh, isn't it theparents who usually buy the Oreos for their kids? Shouldn't he be suing the parents for endangering their children? Oops, I hope I didn't give him a new idea for a lawsuit!

[weatherlover427]

That includes me! *raises his hand*

This HAS to be the freaking most STUPIDEST lawsuit in YEARS, and to think that some idiot from my home state did it is insane.

(this does not include the Pledge of Allegiance lawsuit btw)

[streetsoldier]

Ladies and gentlemen, let us pause to take a look at the liberal psyche here...

(a) The very idea that someone "has to protect the people from themselves"...no one is holding a gun to the heads of people who purchase, and love Oreos!

(b) The Ivy-League-engineered notion that the courts should be used to make law (first promulgated in a 1969 article in TIME of a "brillliant" Swarthmore graduate named...Hillary Rodham)...before she married Bill Clinton.

(c) Resulting in the mistaken belief that "Government has the right to tell people what they can do, when they can do it and how to do it" because some ivory-tower academic publishes a "paper" denouncing something or other...which, in turn, fattens the purses and political power of lawyers, professors and certain office-holders AT THE EXPENSE of the "common man" they claim to be "protecting".

Take notice, and be afraid...be VERY afraid.

[bfez1]

Will you guys visit me in prison???
I will "kill" for my Oreo's. What we won't do for love!

[rainstorm]

Ladies and gentlemen, let us pause to take a look at the liberal psyche here...

(a) The very idea that someone "has to protect the people from themselves"...no one is holding a gun to the heads of people who purchase, and love Oreos!

(b) The Ivy-League-engineered notion that the courts should be used to make law (first promulgated in a 1969 article in TIME of a "brillliant" Swarthmore graduate named...Hillary Rodham)...before she married Bill Clinton.

(c) Resulting in the mistaken belief that "Government has the right to tell people what they can do, when they can do it and how to do it" because some ivory-tower academic publishes a "paper" denouncing something or other...which, in turn, fattens the purses and political power of lawyers, professors and certain office-holders AT THE EXPENSE of the "common man" they claim to be "protecting".

Take notice, and be afraid...be VERY afraid.

[JCT777]

Well, then someday the food police will have to hunt me down and kill me. Because Oreos - and most other kinds of cookies - are one of my favorite snacks. I wonder if baking cookies in your home at Christmas time, and giving them to family and friends, would be seen as a much greater crime?

[rainstorm]

Well, then someday the food police will have to hunt me down and kill me. Because Oreos - and most other kinds of cookies - are one of my favorite snacks. I wonder if baking cookies in your home at Christmas time, and giving them to family and friends, would be seen as a much greater crime?

is growing stronger every day

[mf_dolphin]

Sorry Rainstorm but this isn't about Government control at all. It's about a private citizen trying to control our personal choices! This country is all about freedom, I don't need someone telling me what I can or can't eat. The idiot that filed the suit wants someone else to take responsibility for our personal choices. IMO, the biggest problem we face in this country is the loss of personal responsibility. In my eyes if you do something stupid and get hurt you have no one to blame for it other than yourself...