Posted on 08/19/2012 7:20:33 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Don Barrett, a Mississippi lawyer, took in hundreds of millions of dollars a decade ago after suing Big Tobacco and winning record settlements from R. J. Reynolds, Philip Morris and other cigarette makers. So did Walter Umphrey, Dewitt M. Lovelace and Stuart and Carol Nelkin.
Ever since, the lawyers have been searching for big paydays in business, scoring more modest wins against car companies, drug makers, brokerage firms and insurers. Now, they have found the next target: food manufacturers.
More than a dozen lawyers who took on the tobacco companies have filed 25 cases against industry players like ConAgra Foods, PepsiCo, Heinz, General Mills and Chobani that stock pantry shelves and refrigerators across America
The suits, filed over the last four months, assert that food makers are misleading consumers and violating federal regulations by wrongly labeling products and ingredients. While there has been a barrage of litigation against the industry in recent years, the tobacco lawyers are moving particularly aggressively. They are asking a federal court in California to halt ConAgra’s sales of Pam cooking spray, Swiss Miss cocoa products and some Hunt’s canned tomatoes.
“It’s a crime — and that makes it a crime to sell it,” said Mr. Barrett, citing what he contends is the mislabeling of those products. “That means these products should be taken off the shelves.”
The food companies counter that the suits are without merit, another example of litigation gone wild and driven largely by the lawyers’ financial motivations. Mr. Barrett said his group could seek damages amounting to four years of sales of mislabeled products — which could total many billions of dollars.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
They don’t want us buying Hunts canned tomatoes until the labeling meets their specs? Is that it?
Nanny State PING!
When she heard about a lawsuit involving the Pam cooking spray, she took a closer look. “There was nothing scary on it, just this innocuous word, ‘propellant,’ ” said Ms. Sturges, a hairdresser from Los Gatos, Calif.
After digging deeper, she learned that “propellant” included petroleum gas, propane and butane. “I’d been spraying that on muffin tins to make muffins for my grandchildren — oh my God!”
So did Pam cooking spray make her or the grandkids sick? If not, what are her damages?
The same lawyers?
I’m shocked I tell you,really shocked.
I can see both sides of the coin here. On one hand I hate all the crazy lawsuits and the government getting involved to pass even more crazy laws. On the other hand I want to know what’s in the food I buy. I have a hard time believing that, using Pam as an example, there couldn’t be some long term effects from consuming petroleum, butane, etc., even in small quantities. There’s warning about inhalation of gasoline fumes causing cancer at the gas station, why not be clear that the same ingredient is in something that’s meant to be eaten.
The food companies also seem to be spending an awful lot of money to hide the fact that they’re using genetically engineered foods in their products. Whether you, or anyone else, agrees with the reasons I don’t want to eat the GM foods, I think it’s proper to include the info in the ingredients list and let me make my own decision.
The propellants evaporate immediately at room temp, much less the oven........
I’ve used PAM ever since it first came out. I think it’s healthier to oil a pan with PAM rather than the old Crisco we used to use.
Uh, dumb lady? I assume you were screwing the football team and missed chemistry, but all those things are going to be in gas phase as soon as they get outside the can, so you don't have to add another ingredient to the recipe for your muffins. [facepalm]
You know, cases like this make me think there should be minimum intelligence/knowledge qualifications for jurors in lawsuits like this. Joe Sixpack might sit there and say "OMG, they're feeding us propane? Yuck! Give her a hundred mill!"
Cheaper to buy a spray bottle from the dollar store, fill it 3/4 full with olive or cooking oil, 1/4 with grain alcohol. Works really well Android is much cheaper.....
Great hint! I’ll try it.
I have to take Synthroid and saw a suit against its makers years ago. If I joined the suit and won, I'd get one months worth of the drug free. The lawyers would get millions. I declined.
Android = and.
Stupid Autocomplete on tablet.......
You may have to adjust the oil/alcohol content according to the bottle’s sprayer ability to pump thick liquids through its orifice........
Thanks for the ping!
So...what?
Did she spray the Pam directly into her grandchildren's mouths?
If so, how were they damaged?
Would she not cook anything over a propane flame?
Would she not chill a can of beer by spraying propane on it?
I assume she would never flick her Bic if it were butane-fired?
Is firing up the charcoal grill with lighter fluid totally out of the question?
Are only hysterical women qualified to launch lawsuits?
Mainly. I don’t want it to explode in skillet!
They’re suing over whether the companies are following FDA labeling regulations. It’s got nothing to do with whether the foods are safe or not.
If the lawyers get away with this, food prices will skyrocket.
What makes you think you actually consume the propellant -- unless you spray the Pam directly down your throat.
Petroleum gas, propane and butane are gasses! They don't stick to the surface, like the oil does. They're simply used to physically propel the oil out of the can and toward the surface. The gasses enter the air...and quickly disperse and degrade.
All aerosol sprays have propellants! Be they insecticides, room air deodorants, paints, waxes, whatever. You've used all these things, right? And they're perfectly safe to use inside the house.
Don’t know much about chemistry, gases, and evaporation, do you? And “petroleum” isn’t one of the propellant gases, you made that up.
There is nothing harmful about GM foods that I am aware of, and you failed to note anything.
So why are you being all alarmist in ignorance?
you need to pay closer attention to time lines....is inhaling Gasoline fumes good for you????of course not....will it harm you??? yeah, probably 75 years after sticking your head in a gas tank. The American life span has been increasing for many years. Eventually, everything that you do will add to your demise but changing your way of life to include “being green”, eating tofu, buying an electric car (?) , championing windmills to produce electricity....won’t gain you 10 seconds of additional life.....so why PAY to do it???
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