Man sues big food companies over diabetes

[Amity Island]

A man is suing Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola and other major food manufacturers, claiming they intentionally designed and marketed ultra-processed foods to be addictive to children.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, claims Bryce Martinez, 18, of Warrington, was diagnosed at 16 with type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease after a history consuming Bagel Bites, Swedish Fish, Honey Comb cereal, Gatorade, Tostitos and other ultra-processed food products.

Ultra-processed foods contain few, if any, whole foods and have high amounts of sugar and salt. The lawsuit claims the food manufacturers engaged in "predatory marketing" and failed to warn of the potential health dangers of eating highly-processed foods.

Bucks County man with diabetes sues 11 major companies for marketing 'addictive,' ultra-processed foods to kids

Coca-Cola, Kraft Heinz and other manufacturers used tactics similar to Big Tobacco to lure children to unhealthy products, lawsuit claims.

www.phillyvoice.com

 

[Merluza]

I hope he has a healthy bank balance.

 

[Amity Island]

@indio02 @Inka

I've not heard of such a case before.

This potentially, could have huge implications for those advertising (and selling) junk and processed food.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I hope he has a healthy bank balance.

I'm going to guess the lawsuit will be a no win no fee type lawsuit. It'll likely be expensive, but the payoff (for the inevitable class action afterwards) would be huge) and worst case it gets lots of publicity.

 

[Inka]

@indio02 @Inka

I've not heard of such a case before.

This potentially, could have huge implications for those advertising (and selling) junk and processed food.

I imagine they’d have to prove he was unaware of the healthy eating messages from the government, etc, or that the foods were so addictive that he couldn’t stop. That latter one will be hard as clearly some people do resist.

 

[indio02]

Personally I doubt they'll 'win' anything and it's unlikely any laws will change because of this just look at the current situation with Kelloggs. The one huge benefit of this thought is the amount of publicity it will get.

 

[pjgtech]

Get Erin Brockavich (sp?) on the case....

 

[paultrose]

Cant see him winning somehow......not against the combined legal depts of those companies

True culprit is american corporate greed........make food as cheap as possible to make the biggest profit...and to make it cheap its highly processed and full of additives.....and the fact that junk food is so easily available..... and that this country too

 

[nonethewiser]

At best companies might award him a freebie of bagel bites.

There's plenty of warnings about over consumption of processed food, argument will be no one forced him to eat it & who can argue with that.

 

[Merluza]

Cant see him winning somehow......not against the combined legal depts of those companies

True culprit is american corporate greed........make food as cheap as possible to make the biggest profit...and to make it cheap its highly processed and full of additives.....and the fact that junk food is so easily available..... and that this country too

Looking at his eating history it's probably not just corporate greed. He hasn't a chance of winning and I hope he has some wealthy backers.

I see he lives in Bucks County rather than the county of Buckinghamshire, there are maybe well funded groups in the USA and he is acting as the front.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I imagine they’d have to prove he was unaware of the healthy eating messages from the government, etc, or that the foods were so addictive that he couldn’t stop. That latter one will be hard as clearly some people do resist.

One might make the same arguments over tobacco (and they were made).

Seems doubtful that he'll win, but it doesn't seem impossible. And if there's even a partial victory the lawyers will do very well out of it (not this lawsuit, but the class action afterwards).

 

[Amity Island]

I imagine they’d have to prove he was unaware of the healthy eating messages from the government, etc, or that the foods were so addictive that he couldn’t stop. That latter one will be hard as clearly some people do resist.

Thing is, most of the food in supermarkets is junk, with little nutrition. You can barely call it food. Many will grow up to think this is normal. We're a long way away from freshly made meals from raw ingredients.

Food prepared with love, care and attention always tastes better than mass produced machine made meals.

 

[Merluza]

I can only wish him, and whoever is working with him, well. They should be able to create a stir in the press and online which would be useful and it did eventually have an effect on Big Tobacco but given the fractious nature of the world I don't think I would want to be at the centre of it.

 

[Amigo]

I thought ‘Swedish fish’ sounded incredibly healthy until I read the ingredients;

Swedish Fish are made with the following ingredients:- yum yum! 😱

• Sugar
• Glucose syrup
• Corn syrup
• Modified corn starch
• Citric acid
• Vegetable oils, such as coconut and rapeseed
• Flavorings
• • Beeswax as a glazing agent
  • Dyes, such as E160e, E141, and E160a
  • White mineral oil
  • Carnauba wax

 

[Merluza]

Do you suppose the flavouring is fishy tasting, like roll mops? I feel queasy just reading that. I'd assumed they were biscuits but obviously not.

 

[louisew]

A man is suing Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola and other major food manufacturers, claiming they intentionally designed and marketed ultra-processed foods to be addictive to children.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, claims Bryce Martinez, 18, of Warrington, was diagnosed at 16 with type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease after a history consuming Bagel Bites, Swedish Fish, Honey Comb cereal, Gatorade, Tostitos and other ultra-processed food products.

Ultra-processed foods contain few, if any, whole foods and have high amounts of sugar and salt. The lawsuit claims the food manufacturers engaged in "predatory marketing" and failed to warn of the potential health dangers of eating highly-processed foods.

Bucks County man with diabetes sues 11 major companies for marketing 'addictive,' ultra-processed foods to kids

Coca-Cola, Kraft Heinz and other manufacturers used tactics similar to Big Tobacco to lure children to unhealthy products, lawsuit claims.

www.phillyvoice.com

Maybe he should sue his parents who fed him this crap

 

[Eddy Edson]

The lawsuit, if anybody wants to wade thru it: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/g...tinez v Kraft Heinz et al complaint 12-10.pdf

 

[dannybgoode]

Do you suppose the flavouring is fishy tasting, like roll mops? I feel queasy just reading that. I'd assumed they were biscuits but obviously not.

They are quite one of the nicest sweets on the market!

 

[Merluza]

I'll take your word for it.

 

[Amity Island]

Maybe he should sue his parents who fed him this crap

Could these "foods" even be considered food? Yes people eat it, but is it food?

Food: Something that people and animals eat, or plants absorb, to keep them alive:

food

1. something that people and animals eat, or plants absorb, to keep them alive…

dictionary.cambridge.org