Fast Food Obesity Lawsuit Threatens Consumers

Washington, D.C. - Yesterday's (1-30-2005) reinstatement of the obesity liability lawsuit against McDonald's resurrects another trial lawyer campaign that undermines personal responsibility and jeopardizes consumer choice, according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute. 

"If obesity lawsuits succeed, they will turn all Americans into ‘victims,' incapable of bearing responsibility for personal choices," said CEI General Counsel Sam Kazman.

"Such lawsuits may benefit trial lawyers, but they'll hurt consumers on limited budgets who will be forced to pay higher food prices," said Kazman.

"Health control activists hope that obesity lawsuits will be a replay of the tobacco wars," Kazman continued. "The tobacco campaign failed to produce big health gains, but it did enrich trial lawyers," said Kazman.

The McDonald's lawsuit, reinstated Tuesday by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, is part of a larger campaign to make food and restaurant companies responsible for the eating habits of the public. 

The Second Circuit ruling that reverses a trial judge dismissal of the case is couched in technical legal terms, but its ultimate effect may be to open up McDonald's and other companies to a form of legalized extortion, pressuring food companies to settle lawsuits and pass higher costs on to consumers.

Pizzeria Fined $4,000 for Human Tooth Found in Crust

MSNBC.com ROME - A Florence Italian restaurant was fined nearly $4,000 for a lack of hygiene because they sold a pizza with a human tooth baked into the crust, according to a Reuters report at MSNBC.com.

"It's insanity," Massimiliano Manzo, the lawyer for the pizzeria said in a Reuters phone interview. "How is the owner of the pizzeria going to force employees to go to the dentist every day or strap a lid over their mouths?"

The tooth's owner was never discovered. Manzo will not discuss how the tooth ended up in the pizza. He said he will appeal the fine.

Canada Minister in Pizza Scandal

BBC News - Judy Sgro, Canada's immigration minister, resigned because of allegations saying she agreed to help a pizzeria owner avoid deportation for free food, according to a report at BBCNews.com.

Harjit Singh says he delivered free pizza and garlic bread to Sgro and about 16 members of her election staff. He says she had him arrested "to save her job."

Sgro says she resigned because it was necessary to fight Singh's and another immigrant's "outrageous fabrications."

Pizza Dipping Preferred 2-1 Over Slices

DALLAS - Dipping pizza into sauces may be bigger than first thought. The results of a new poll released today by Pizza Hut® indicate that among those surveyed, 67 percent of pizza eaters are dippers.

In the survey, people characterized themselves as either "Little Dippers", "Double Dippers" or "Triple Dippers" most often from a list of six dipping style definitions.

The survey was conducted by i.think inc. among its database of almost 250,000 Internet users asking if they like to dip their pizza into a sauce while eating it. Pizza Hut initiated the survey after its own research in 2004 indicated that 57 percent of pizza consumers dip their pizzas into sauces.

Pizza Hut is conducting a second survey via its website www.pizzahut.com, to gain more information on this dipping trend.

Pizza Robber Calls Victim for Date

ABC News NEW CASTLE, Del. - Two men robbed a Domino's delivery woman recently, and one of them called her on his cell phone to apologize and to ask her for a date, an Associated Press report said.

The 18-year-old victim said "no," and turned the cell phone number over to the police. They arrested Brent Brown, 25, and Andre Moore, 18, and were looking for a minor associated with the crime. The police searched a residence and found the pizza boxes with the original receipt in the trash, the report said.

World Leaders in Pizza Eating

Aftenposten: News from Norway - According to a report at Aftenposten.no and the Norwegian financial newspaper Dagens Næringsliv, Norway's 4.6 million residents eat more pizza than anyone else in the world.

In 2004, the country's citizens spent $2 billion (USD) on 50 million pizzas. This amounts to 50,000 tons of pizza. The breakdown of where they got their pizza is as follows:

• 22,000 tons of frozen pizzas.

• 13,000 tons of take-away pizzas.

• 15,000 tons of homemade pizzas.