Posted on 02/03/2006 7:03:12 AM PST by ZGuy
GET READY for the next mass-tort crusade: protecting our kids from the ravages of Big Cola. According to reports, a group of lawyers is gearing up to file lawsuits that will seek to blame Coke, Pepsi and others for obesity, tooth decay and other childhood health ailments. An article in the Boston Globe Magazine has called it part of a "national legal movement to make soft drinks the next tobacco." Instead of tar and nicotine, we'll be hearing about corn sweeteners and caffeine; maybe Dr. Pepper can stand in as the new Joe Camel.
Ridiculous? More like inevitable. For some time, a noisy campaign has been underway to portray the food and beverage industry as the villain in the nation's ongoing battle with the waistline. Without the snack hucksters' machinations, it seems, we'd all eat raw bell peppers and be reed thin.
Backed by "progressive" foundations, nutrition advocates are demanding a national obesity policy aimed at changing our collective diet, by force of law if necessary — or quite possibly by force of litigation. As one advocate, Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, put it: "If someone is saying that a 64-ounce soda at 7-Eleven contributed to obesity, that person should have his day in court."
That brings us to Northeastern University law professor and associate dean Richard Daynard, point man in the forthcoming courtroom onslaught against fizzy drinks. Long quoted in the media as a cheerleader for tobacco lawsuits, Daynard has now set out to assemble a legal strike force to file obesity actions. He wants to duplicate the success of the tobacco campaign, whose strategies included invoking "the children" and launching scores of suits on novel legal theories in hopes that one would stick.
WALTER OLSON is senior fellow of the Manhattan Institute.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
So is unsweetened tea of any source, LOL! Blackbird.
Much more dangerous than tobacco smoke, and PROVEN to be so (unlike tobacco smoke).
Keep your kids off of property where the owner of the premisis allows smoking and they won't be exposed to it. Is that so hard? Now, quit giving them all that sugar so I don't have to supplement your income with my tax dollars.
See how easy it is to come up with excuses to justify meddling in other people's lives?
I'm hoping all of these crap lawsuits will be stopped. How pathtic to sue someone else for your choices and what you put into your mouth.
I'm drinking a Cherry Coke and eating venison tacos right now mmm.. My Cherry Coke is a treat, I love em.
And thanks for adding so much to the discourse.
Simple statement: We make choices. We should be held responsible for those choices.
And if it's children who are making bad decisions, then their parents and guardians that should be held responsible. Otherwise once all the companies that can be sued, have been sued, children will begin to sue their parents.
Mark
Thanks for the ping!
Comparatively, this is a NON-issue. Most good parents permit sweets in moderation.
I had an interesting discussion with the head of the peanut marketing board in Georgia once. I had asked him about peanut allergies and what impact this issue had on the peanut business. He told me that they are putting a pile of money into developing a 'safe' allergy free peanut and hoped to have it out in a few years (it was a year or two ago when I met him). Anyway, it occurs to me that they will have it out by about the same time that places like our school board have declared that all nuts should be banned.
If kids went out and ran and played like they did before video games, it would also help.
The Mexican Coca-Cola with real cane sugar is also much better than the corn syrup version.
So I can get $$$$$$ because of my addition to Coke? I'm also addicted to breathing...
Especially when you pour home made black powder, gasoline, fertilizer and diesel down ground squirrel holes and light it! Great fun for 12 yr olds with more brains than common sense. Sometimes I wonder how I survived early adolescence.
You can't die from drinking Coke.
Correct-but it WON'T take 30 years. Try 5-6. Now that they've learned the ropes with smokers, it'll all move much faster now.
School boards dismantling themselves. Cool!
Good gravy these imbeciles are probably salivating over us today........we've done everything they are trying to get people to stop doing through their litigation and laws.
Drove my husband's pickup instead of my more gas efficient compact into 3 different states today, had burgers and fries and sodas from McDonald's (we were in Delaware and we DO NOT eat in restaurants there in the winter), we then purchased alcoholic beverages and put more gas in the truck, allowed someone else to pick our child up from school and keep her for several hours so that we were able to partake in some adult beverages with friends while smoking cigars and cigarettes in a private business, ate salty pretzels dipped in mustard, fried chicken livers, and fried tortillas........
I'm sure I did some other things that will drive the nannies bonkers, but I want a beer and I left my cigarettes out in the truck...........
Coca-Cola is a cola drink, similar to others in this category. Cola drinks have 3 ingredients that possibly be harmful to health: 1. Sweeteners. Sugar in soft drinks (including non-cola drinks) increases the possibility of dental caries ("cavities").
Non-nutritive sweeteners such as saccharin and aspartame also have undesirable side-effects in specific population segments. Nutritive sweeteners are a significant source of calories in the diet (about 250 per serving of a soft drink). 2. Caffein.
This "upper" is added specifically to cola drinks as a class. It is a diuretic and can elevate blood pressure. It has been suggested as connected to development of rheumatoid arthritis. 3. Phosphoric acid.
This acid is typically only used in cola drinks, which are very acidic (low pH) compared to other soft drinks. This can increase the rate of enamel loss from teeth. Phosphates in general are a nutritional problem when ingested in volume without corresponding calcium.
This results in decalcification of bone tissue, accelerating osteoporosis in the aged. The example of Coke removing tarnish from a penny is irrelevant to health issues. Water and salt will cause iron to rust away, but they're both essential to life. Your stomach acid is much stronger than that in Coke.
By the way, I've heard a microbiologist say he used to drink a Coke quickly after accidentally sucking up diluent through a pipet. He claimed the Coke was protective against the bacteria. I don't think I accept this argument, but it shows the "flip-side" of the penny example.
Here are my recommendations based on a rational assessment of the above: 1. Soft drinks and coffee should be ingested in moderation. Avoid more than 4 servings a day. 2. If you are at risk for osteoporosis, avoid soft drinks with phosphoric acid (e.g., colas). 3. Drinking the diet form of soft drinks can eliminate 1000 calories or more per day from the diet and will reduce the incidence of sugar-related dental caries.
And you'll have home-brew basement cola makers a la marijuana grow ops.
I'll pop for gas if I get to go along on the next road trip.
Why would having a beer and leaving your cigarettes in the truck leave the nannies bonkers? I dont understand?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.