Thread: House Passes 'Cheeseburger' Bill

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/ ... 6858.shtml

House Passes 'Cheeseburger' Bill

Oct. 19, 2005
(CBS/AP)

Fast Fact

Goldfield's team struck a bargain with kids about TV time and physical activity. All they needed were pedometers -- little devices that count steps taken and distance walked or run.

(WebMD) Overweight Americans who blame fast food restaurants for causing their obesity won't get their day in court if the U.S. House of Representatives gets its way.

House lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill banning obesity-related lawsuits against restaurants and food manufacturers. More than 20 states already have such laws on the books.

Supporters said the bill was intended to prioritize personal responsibility among an increasingly obese American population.

"The bill seeks to block lawsuits by people because they ate too much and got fat," says Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, one of the bill's sponsors.

"We should not encourage lawsuits that blame others for our own choices and could bankrupt an entire industry," notes Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas.

Fast-Food Fights

Still, there is little evidence that obesity lawsuits are threatening the food and restaurant industry. Only a handful of cases blaming restaurant food or advertising for obesity have ever been filed, and only one major case remains open.

That's a case first filed in 2002 alleging that misleading advertising by McDonald's restaurants influenced New York teenagers to eat too much of the food and become obese. If Wednesday's bill â€â€

I try to avoid eating at fast food places and restaurants altogether, because one never knows how many illegals are cooking my meal.

This law has to be another win for big business, the additives that they put in this type of food causes people to want to eat more. One such additive is MSG. Here is what the MSG website says about it

Improving Taste Means Improving Nutrition
What most people don't realize is that the importance of taste doesn't stop at simply enjoying the flavor of the foods we eat. Although treating yourself to a meal at a superb restaurant or enjoying a scrumptious dinner at home seems reward enough, taste is actually an integral and important part of nutrition. To a large degree, it is our taste buds that actually trigger important digestive and metabolic functions allowing us to better use the essential nutrients we get from our diet. When food passes over our taste buds, those wonderful tastes not only trigger pleasure and satisfaction, they also send an important message to our body Û nutrition is on its way. Those tiny taste buds are, in essence, telling our bodies to get to work, and metabolize the foods we are eating.

Not only does MSG make good food taste better for consumers, new studies show that MSG may play a role in the overall health and nutrition of people who need it most. Aging, as well as a number of diseases and illnesses, decrease our ability to taste and smell. This decrease in our senses is a major contributor to poor nutritional status in populations like the elderly, making it increasingly difficult for doctors and nutritionists to ensure that their patients get much-needed nutrients. Studies have found that adding MSG to certain foods, such as soup and mashed potatoes, has been successful in increasing the food intake in institutionalized elderly populations.
http://www.msgfacts.com/facts/msgfact12.html

They use MSG to help increase the food intake of the elderly who need it, great. But why add it to the foods of the general population? I wonder if it could be to get us all to eat more and thus more $$ in their coffers.

There are some good articles on Rense about this;

http://www.rense.com/general52/msg.htm

http://www.rense.com/general67/msg.htm

I just say the best thing to do is not eat at these places.