Making a case against trans fats

The latest effort is a lawsuit filed May 1 by San Francisco attorney Stephen L. Joseph seeking to stop the marketing and sale of Oreo cookies to California children because they contain trans fats, a type of fat that has been linked to high cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes. The suit, filed in Marin County Superior Court against Kraft Foods North America Inc., is said to be the first case nationally to target a product containing trans fats. Many scientists now say that trans fats, which are commonly found in cookies, crackers and margarine, appear to be as unhealthful as saturated fats found in meat and dairy products.

Commenting on the suit, Michael Mudd, a Kraft spokesman in Northfield, Ill., said: "Nutrition issues are best left to health professionals and regulatory agencies." He said the company has been exploring ways to reduce levels of saturated and trans fats in its products.

Critics of these suits say that courtrooms are not the appropriate place to deal with such pervasive health problems as obesity, heart disease and diabetes, and that individuals should take responsibility for what they eat and what they feed their families. A better strategy, they contend, is to improve food product labeling and provide more nutrition education to help people make better-informed dietary decisions.

Earlier this year, a federal judge in New York threw out a class-action lawsuit that blamed the McDonald's hamburger chain for obesity, diabetes and other health problems in children. U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet said the plaintiffs did not demonstrate that McDonald's products "involve a danger that is not within the common knowledge of consumers."

That decision, however, did not dampen interest among some attorneys and public health advocacy groups.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 15% of U.S. kids ages 6 to 19 and 64% of U.S. adults were overweight or obese in 1999-2000.