The American Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act (), also known as the Cheeseburger Bill, sought to protect producers and retailers of foods—such as

McDonald's Corporation McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger s ...

—from an increasing number of suits and

class action A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...

suits by

obese Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...

consumers. To date these suits have been turned down by the courts, sometimes in strong terms. The Act never became a law. The Act was passed by the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in March 2005, and did receive a Senate vote. The Act states that food-producing or retailing corporations cannot be legally held responsible for obesity, heart disease, or other health-related issues caused by consumption of their food, save for situations where actual food quality or handling was held responsible for such issues. The bill was reintroduced in 2005 by

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Congressman

Ric Keller Richard Anthony "Ric" Keller (born September 5, 1964) is an American politician, author, and lawyer who served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 8th congressional district from 2001 to 2009. His district included much of the Central Flori ...

. Keller had taken the maximum level of PAC donations up to $300,000 for his personal campaign funding from restaurants including McDonald's,

Wendy's Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was t ...

, and Burger King. On October 19, 2005, it once again passed the House with a 306–120 vote although Keller actually missed the vote due to being rushed to the hospital after suffering a

cardiac arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, heart arrhythmias, or dysrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beats per minute in adults ...

. Once again, it failed to achieve a Senate vote. Many state legislatures have considered their own versions of the bill.

References

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External links

Article Center for Consumer Freedom
*Prof. John F. Banzhaf III'
obesity activism homepage
*

BBC News Online BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. It is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the U ...

US approves 'Cheeseburger bill'
United States proposed federal health legislation Food law Proposed legislation of the 108th United States Congress Proposed legislation of the 109th United States Congress