Pure Comedy as Minnesota Lawmakers Debate a “Cheeseburger Bill”

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In the North American republic known as the United States, the most powerful and so-called freest country on Earth, lawmakers are fervently and passionately engaged in a debate over whether or not to pass a Cheeseburger Bill.

Somehow I doubt those involved in the massive uprisings currently sweeping through North African countries, where scant food supplies are grossly inflated in price, would believe a Cheeseburger Bill could be anything but a scandalously amusing repose from the serious duties of legislating.

But as students new to philosophical studies have undoubtedly remarked time and again in crowded study halls and lazy cafes: “It’s all relative”.

The bill, formally known as the “Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act“, was proposed by Republican Representative Dean Urdahl in Minnesota, and passed by a state house panel on a voice vote.

The bill would give the food industry immunity from lawsuits by preventing consumers from suing for weight gain, obesity and health problems caused by fattening foods and soda.

The Cheeseburger Bill, which has twice passed the House and died in the Senate, must still pass the full House and the Minnesota Senate before it becomes law.

Dave Orrick with the TwinCities Pioneer Press claimed the debate descended into a battle of analogies, as well as a referendum on whether society is too litigious.

“People are responsible for their own actions, particularly where food is concerned,” said Urdah in the debate.

“Responsibility cuts both ways,” said Rep. John Lesch, a St. Paul Democrat, who used as the bases for his argument comparisons to lung-damaging asbestos and exploding Ford Pintos.

“Let’s say I choose to eat 100 bananas and my stomach ruptures,” said Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen, a Glencoe Republican. “That’s not the banana growers’ fault.”

Laws have already been passed for calorie counts on restaurant food menus, and went into effect this year. Restaurant chains with 20 or more retail stores are required to display menu calorie counts for their food items, along with reminders of the USDA’s recommended 2,000-calorie daily intake.

Despite the new menu calorie counts, research conducted at New York University, whose findings were published last month in the International Journal of Obesity, proves Americans are still gorging themselves with food like there’s no tomorrow, as if dining out was an eating contest.

The study examined 427 parents and teenagers in New York City and Newark, New Jersey. Fewer than one in 10 teenagers used the calorie information in their purchase choice. And among adults, only 28 percent said the calorie information influenced what they ate.

The researchers concluded that having the calorie information ahead of time made no difference in the amount of food adults and teens stuffed themselves silly with. “What counted most was taste, followed by price,” said people who completed a survey afterward.

So the debate will continue, as lawmakers decide whether people whose diets are dictated by sensual pleasures should blame their compromised health on Ronald McDonald.

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