oreos illegal?

I would sooo buy 'Death Biscuits', and I don't even like Oreos...

Cav - You had me nearly on the floor.

This may already be covered a ways back, and apologies if it has, but there is a reason why some make it their business to be overbearing about the health quality of our food.

There's a bit of an obesity problem in this country, in case no one's heard. Especially in children.

Obesity lends itself to a smorgasbord of health issues.

And hey, somewhere I read that a whole lot of people don't have health insurance.

So who's going to pay, eventually, for the poor eating habits of people who don't care what they eat, what their children eat?

Me? You? Us?

Nearly every single state in this country is in the midst of financial crisis, and most of them are there because of ballooning Medicaid expenditures (which of course is the indigent's healthcare program).

Everyone willing to have their taxes raised to pay for more Medicaid say, 'Aye'...

Maybe this is less of a personal choice issue and more of a public health issue than any one would like to admit.

PDiddie- I think you make a valid point. On the other hand there are people who eat junk, and will choose junk no matter how many healthful alternatives there are available.

Here is a for instance. There is a casual restaurant in our area that is a soup, salad, pizza, pasta & dessert bar. My husband & I used to go there. One of the reasons we stopped going is that I always felt like a barrel when I walked out of there. At one point I realized, that I could actually go there, and stay on a strict diet at the same time. It was just a matter of picking and choosing apppropriately. Because pigging out was such a temptation in that place, we decided that it would just be wiser if we avoided it.

When I go to the Chinese Restaurant, there is a buffet. I avoid that and order off the menu. I do that for two reasons. One is that at a buffet, there is a huge temptation to overeat. The other is that if I have something made up for me, I can ask for no cornstarch, no MSG, and easy on the oil.

I think that the key to all of this junk eating is education. I don't know what they are doing in the schools now, but the kids really need to be taught about healthful eating when they are in the early grades.

Phoenix! Education yes! That lawyer is educating the public. You're right, pigging out is actually a survival trait from when we had less abumdant food sources. We are actually hardwired to bulk up on fat - not just in winter.

PDiddie, there was an article I just read that says obesity is costing the US as much, if not more, than smokers do. And I think numbers of overweight people is growing faster than that the numbers of smokers is.

I'm sure as hell not calling Nabisco a victim here and I can't stand Tipper Gore, but hear me out for a second.
When Tipper was looking to get warning labels placed on "harmful" music, she pulled together a group of people who believed the same thing she did and barraged the Senate until they relented. Her publicity came not from a fake lawsuit but from appearances on talk shows which eventually got her a Senate hearing. She didn't attack any one product or defame anyone in the process, but she got a pretty good compromise out of the deal. Almost twenty years later, the music industry still self regulates, but Joe Public still has his freedom to choose whether to purchase music that sports a "Tipper Sticker."
Are you saying that her SUCCESSFUL tactics were not realistic?
As for "no harm done": Hasn't this case just served as a precedent to prove that all one has to do to get a little publicity is file a false lawsuit?

LittleK, you have done a splendid job of explaining reality to the others here.
There is not a lot of forthrightlyness in the world today. There may never have been much. "Let the buyer beware." say some here and that is so and so is "Let the buyer be made aware." To expect Joe Public (my cousin) to find his way through the thickets of lies and omissions generated by advertisers and corporate heads is either the height of naivete or callous indifference to the health and welfare of the average citizen.
What should this lawyer have done? Called Nabisco on the phone, asked them to stop putting the crap in the cookies? Or 'found an investigative reporter to cover the story', you think Fox would have taken the idea and run with it?
Wait, I know, he should have minded his own business, right, New Haven and Phoenix? And one day, one of the middle managers at Nabisco would have written a memo on a side panel of a restroom stall saying 'We should stop putting the crap in our cookies.' and all the VPs would slap their foreheads and say 'Yow, look at this handwriting on the wall.' and change their ways and their formula.
Yeah, that's it. We should all mind our own business and accept the word of those who speak for the manufacturers of the things we consume, buy some stock, and secretly hope they are being forthright.

Joe Nation

Hahahaha!

TerryDo, you may be right, but while the 'harmful music' won't actually damage anyone's health immediately when listened to, the Oreo cookies might, even if not significantly or dangerously. In this case I prefer a fast action, as this one, as opposed to a campaign that would take years. I don't want it to take years in this case, it's a health issue. So normally I would be on your side fully, but I think it did work well in this case. I have no problem with a false lawsuit, in this country it became a tool for propaganda long time ago. I still don't see any harm done to anyone involved.

the "oreo" suit has been dropped, stating that he got the information out to the public via the media coverage of his suit it was no longer necessary to pursue legal action.

I think there must be a better way to get information out to the world besides filing frivolous lawsuits.

What is it? and can it work as fast? in that case i am all for it, but i can't think of anything that would.

Budabing!

I wish I knew a better way dag. Let's see, he could dress up like a big Oreo and get arrested somewhere?

The efficacy of this case does NOT make it morally right; that's what I'm trying to say. This guy may have gotten the attention of the American public, but will it make the FDA or Nabisco move any faster to remove transfats from supermarket shelves? How many similar lawsuits will we see in the future because of it? Will he, or someone else, go after Skippy next? Who's to say that it had any REAL or LASTING effects? Who's to say Joe Public even watches CNN and got the whole story? The media has been against him in every news piece I've seen, so Joe Public may simply remember this as the "Moron Who Sued Oreos." In the end, it's possible that all this guy gets is his fifteen minutes of fame and a countersuit from Kraft. The chain of bureaucracy has still not been broken.

oreos illegal?
Who knows it mat spawn a tv series called "As the cookie crumbles".

oreos illegal?
Oops. Meant to say may spawn. Sorry.

we don't know yet what effect will it have. the lawsuit is one thing, but the fact that the information is out in the press market being grabbed, another. and that's what i care about right now. besides, if skippy has some harmful ingredient, meaning, some OTHER harmful ingredient than those listed in nutrition facts, by all means something should be done against skippy as well! if it does not, well then, why would anyone sue them? i know you are trying to say ends don't justify the means, but i don't see the means to be as vicious as you do, i suppose. people here sue microwave companies when their dogs explode in them for not including a warning in the instructions. when you look at the litigious history of this country, the lawsuit file was not at all that insensible. We are talking about a serious health issue.

Puuhh-leeze....information about the dangers of trans-fatty acids has been availible to the public for years. This lawyer just wanted his name in the papers to further his career. Plus, the case would never have gone to court anyway, based on medical evidence. What year is it now? 2003...check this article out from 2000 (and note that the trans-fat gram study was done in 1995):

http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/957902041.html

Do I think trans-fatty acids are okay? No, but I don't really consume much trans-fat anyway. Should they be banned? No, I think people should just be a little more moderate in their eating habits.

One solution: eliminate Medicaid.

Then I no longer have the heavy burden of telling you
how to live your life.

When my taxes no longer pay for your lifestyle, then we can all be free people ... So get rid of the taxes!