Minnesota Governor Vetoes “Cheeseburger Bill”

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton (D) has vetoed legislation (House File 264/ Senate File 160) aimed at giving fast-food chains civil immunity if consumers gain weight after consuming their products.

“Unfortunately, this bill provides to companies that manufacture, distribute, or sell food and nonalcoholic beverages civil immunity, except for: ‘any other material violation of federal or state law applicable to the manufacturing, marketing, distribution, advertising, labeling, or sale of food, if the violation is knowing and willful,’” Dayton said in his May 27, 2011, veto. “That requirement of being ‘knowing and willful’ creates too broad an exemption from liability, according to legal experts with whom I consulted.”