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Fast-food chains that stuff diners with super-sized hamburgers and greasy chicken fear being fried by obesity lawsuits but the theory behind such cases has proven so far to be half-baked, legal experts say. While the continuing publicity over a three-year-old obesity suit against McDonald's makes it seem the courts are bulging with cases blaming the food industry for weight problems, few really exist. … Fearing a flood of such cases and lobbied by the restaurant industry, more than 20 states have enacted or are considering legislation that bars or limits obesity suits against restaurants and food manufacturers. Nation's Restaurant News, a trade publication, said restaurateurs nationwide remain hopeful that Congress will pass a federal "cheeseburger Bill" limiting such suits. The House of Representatives passed such a Bill last year. In the meantime, the landmark 2002 suit against McDonald's is the only pending US action blaming a restaurant chain for obesity. "There is nothing else like this case," said Richard Daynard, a Northeastern University law professor who has hosted the Legal Approaches to Obesity conference in Boston for the past two years and is planning a third in September. "The plaintiffs' bar is not rushing to bring these cases." … But lawyers did agree the publicity over the case has had a positive effect of leading McDonald's and other fast food restaurants to include healthier selections on their menus. "These guys are really scared," Daynard said.
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