Tobacco Foe Banzhaf Predicts New Onslaught of Big Food Lawsuits

George Washington University Law Professor John Banzhaf, who is known
for his anti-tobacco advocacy, contends that recent court rulings involving
food company defendants facing consumer-fraud and product-mislabeling
allegations have opened “the door even further to a growing wave of such
suits.” He argues that class action lawsuits over labeling terms such as “natural”
and “all natural” will lead to increased transparency in food advertising and a
reduction in obesity. He also claims that The American Lawyer attributed this
exploding wave of litigation to “the movement started by Prof. John Banzhaf
several years ago to use legal action as a weapon against the problem of
obesity, just as he had earlier done in leading the use of legal action as a
weapon against smoking.” See John Banzhaf News Release, February 27, 2014.

Issue 515