
	Where results make sense

Topic: Food libel laws

Related Topics

fast food

Food and Drug Administration

Oil for food

fast food restaurant

soul food

food chain

food additives

food preservation

organic food

genetically modified food

Food Network

snack foods

In the News (Mon 28 Dec 09)

Northern Trust

Marvin Harrison

Peter Chernin

Gary Locke

Match Play

Penelope Cruz

Mickey Rourke

AR Rahman

Danny Boyle

Hugh Jackman

	Food libel laws - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-19)
		Food libel laws, also known as food disparagement laws, are laws passed in 13 U.S. states that make it easier for food industry interests to sue their critics for libel.
		Proponents of food disparagement laws often cite the Alar "scare" as proof of the necessity of such laws, as farmers' protection against a loose-lipped public.
		Apple growers subsequently sued CBS under existing libel laws and lost (perhaps because the chemical is, in fact, carcinogenic.) "Never again--not another Alar" became a rallying cry for the food industry.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Food_libel_laws (357 words)

	Food
		Food libel laws Food libel laws, also known as food disparagement laws, are laws passed in 13 U.S states that make it e...
		Incompatible Food Triad The Incompatible Food Triad is a http://www.georgehart.com/triad.html.
		Snack food A snack food is seen in Western culture as a type of food that is not meant to be eaten as part of one of the...
	www.brainyencyclopedia.com /topics/food.html (1807 words)

	Take the Gag Off Food Safety Issues Environment
		The safety of food is mired in a deep, politically charged battle being waged on many fronts: in Congress, convincing legislators of the safety of many types of food and drugs; in the courts, silencing consumers from voicing opinions; and in the media, via huge advertising budgets.
		In the last half-century, the modern food purveyors have centered their efforts on the use of chemicals--many of which are harmful--to produce larger crops, plumper livestock and better textured and flavorful food with long shelf lives.
		Food libel laws have made a mockery of our First Amendment rights to free speech and need to be quickly repealed.
	www.vegsource.com /articles/food.safety.gag.htm (806 words)

	Book Publishing & Food Libel Laws
		In those states a food critic may be held to legal account if he or she claims any "perishable food product or commodity" is unsafe for human consumption.
		Colorado’s law is reminiscent of 18th-century libel law: It subjects a publisher to criminal prosecution for disparaging food.
		It has long been a common law and constitutional law principle that, in order for an allegedly defamatory statement to give rise to a cause of action, any statement must be "of and concerning" a particular person or corporation.
	www.cspinet.org /foodspeak/oped/nlj.htm (1004 words)

	Food libel laws -- Facts, Info, and Encyclopedia article (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-19)
		In 1996, (Click link for more info and facts about Oprah Winfrey) Oprah Winfrey and one of her guests, Howard Lyman, were the first people to be sued under a new kind of law that agribusiness had spent considerable effort lobbying for.
		The subject that Engler and Cactus Feeders were suing Oprah and Lyman over was (A fatal disease of cattle that affects the central nervous system; causes staggering and agitation) BSE, which has notoriously seen respected, reliable researchers reach quite different conclusions.
		Proponents of food disparagement laws often cite the (A growth-regulating chemical sprayed on fruit trees; entire crop can be harvested at one time) Alar "scare" as proof of the necessity of such laws, as farmers' protection against a loose-lipped public.
	www.absoluteastronomy.com /encyclopedia/f/fo/food_libel_laws.htm (312 words)

	Food Fright! Consumers' Perceptions of Food Safety Versus Reality (Restaurants USA, June/July 1998) \| Restaurants USA \| ...
		By now, the foodborne-illness hysteria has risen to the point where some states have had to institute "food libel" laws to protect their local industries, and reports of isolated outbreaks of illness are receiving national attention and causing fear in every state.
		Although the fascination with food safety has definitely raised public awareness about a timeless concern and probably has made consumers more cautious about their food-handling practices at home, the emphasis on this topic appears to be turning concern into suspicion.
		Consumers are scrutinizing their food — and the places where they purchase that food — looking for any indication that it might not be safe to eat.
	www.restaurant.org /rusa/magArticle.cfm?ArticleID=302 (2357 words)

	alar (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-19)
		In 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decided to ban Alar because "long-term exposure" posed "unacceptable risks to public health." The ban followed a February 1989 broadcast by CBS's 60 Minutes highlighting a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council claiming that Alar was a dangerous carcinogen.
		Elizabeth Whelan and her organization, the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), were working to establish a narrative of the Alar episode as a scare.
		The Alar scare also prompted the introduction of food libel laws in 13 states.
	www.yourencyclopedia.net /alar.html (331 words)

	Online NewsHour: Oprah Winfrey Vs. The Beef People -- January 20,1998
		The food libel laws currently on the books in Texas and other states were triggered by a 1989 "60 Minutes" segment, "A is for Apple." It alleged that alar, a chemical used to lengthen the time that apples ripen on trees, could cause cancer, especially in children.
		This law simply says that if farmers get hurt by someone knowingly making a false statement about the safety of the food, the farmers can go to court and try to prove their case.
		These laws simply allow those farmers to go to court and say, you've damaged a commodity market by lying to the public about a food scare, and you should be accountable.
	www.pbs.org /newshour/bb/law/jan-june98/fooddef_1-20.html (2268 words)

	Farmers’ Right To Sue Grows, Raising Debate on Food Safety
		One such law was used, unsuccessfully, by a group of Texas cattlemen to seek damages from Oprah Winfrey, the talk-show host, after she made disparaging remarks about beef.
		Though some publishers and broadcasters continue to put out new reports on food, other media companies, especially smaller ones worried about the high cost of defending a lawsuit, have stricken information from manuscripts, avoided certain food issues or, in one case, dropped a book project that was already at the printer.
		The laws, which are aimed at plugging holes in existing libel laws, differ in each state.
	www.foxbghsuit.com /nyt060199.htm (1706 words)

	NCAC Resources Online (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-19)
		NCAC opposes food disparagement laws, sometimes called "veggie libel" laws, which have been enacted in more than a dozen states and are pending in many others.
		Most impose penalties if the speaker "should have known" that a statement disparaging to food is false, and some penalize a speaker who "implies" that food is unsafe or "casts doubt" on food safety.
		It is ironic that the food industry seeks to invoke science in its efforts to inhibit debate over food safety, since robust debate protected by the First Amendment is itself an essential aspect of scientific inquiry.
	www.ncac.org /issues/foodspeak.html (643 words)

	Oprah Winfrey and Mad Cow (by L. Proyect)
		Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials say that it's not uncommon for some feedlot operators to mix industrial sewage and oils into the feed to reduce costs and fatten animals more quickly.
		The "food libel" laws started to appear shortly after news coverage on the dangers of ALAR caused apple sales to plummet.
		Since almost all food produced by agribusiness in the United States is produced under potentially unhealthy conditions, such controversies are almost inevitable.
	www.columbia.edu /~lnp3/mydocs/ecology/winfrey.htm (1417 words)

	California Veggie Libel Law
		In an era when food scares are parading into the limelight--E. coli in beef, basil and unpasteurized apple juice, cyclospora in raspberries, salmonella in eggs and hepatitis A in frozen strawberries--it is little wonder that agribusiness interests have banded together.
		Veggie libel laws have their roots in the 1989 crisis involving apples and alar, a growth regulator.
		The highest-profile test of a veggie libel law to date involves none other than talk-show doyenne Oprah Winfrey, who, along with her production company, her program's distributor and a guest on one of her programs, is a defendant in a suit brought by Texas cattle interests.
	www.vegsource.com /lyman/veggie_libel.htm (1178 words)

	FIRST AMENDMENT COMMENTARY (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-19)
		The Texas Legislature and a number of other state legislatures passed their agri disparagement laws in reaction to the Alar-apple controversy which is said to have cost Washington State apple growers millions of dollars after "60 Minutes" aired its "`A' is for Apple" segment on Alar in 1989.
		Jurors in this case will not decide whether the food libel law is unconstitutional, they will decide whether the actions of Oprah and her guest violated that law.
		Toy libel laws -- so, the head comes off and is small enough to be swallowed by a toddler -- tough.
	fact.trib.com /1st.lev.oprah.lawsuit.html (912 words)

	Guardian Unlimited \| Special reports \| Libel law review over McDonald's ruling
		The government is to review the libel laws after two penniless environmental campaigners who were sued by McDonald's, the global burger chain, yesterday won a ruling at the European court of human rights that their rights to a fair trial and freedom of expression were violated when they were denied legal aid.
		The libel battle pitted Helen Steel, a part-time barmaid earning £65 a week, and David Morris, a single parent on income support, against an expert legal team headed by a £2,000-a-day libel QC in a 313-day trial, the longest in English legal history.
		The unanimous ruling from Strasbourg will also prompt a re-examination of the libel laws, which many believe are too technical and complex and too heavily weighted in favour of claimants.
	www.guardian.co.uk /food/Story/0,2763,1415518,00.html (812 words)

	Sierra: Vegetable hate crimes - laws prohibiting criticism of agricultural products - includes list of resources and ...
		The food industry has concluded that the only way to win public acceptance is to force its critics to shut up.
		The guardians of vegetal virtue claim their laws are aimed not at individuals or small fry, but at large environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council.
		Sadly, the lesson the food industry drew from the affair was not that the public didn't want to risk cancer for the sake of a useless food additive, but that the media and environmental groups, in publicizing the (admittedly small) risks, were disseminating "junk science"--a view that has now attained the status of conventional wisdom.
	www.findarticles.com /p/articles/mi_m1525/is_n6_v80/ai_17579556 (986 words)

	West Texas is test site of 'veggie libel' laws
		Veggie libel statutes began sprouting up after "60 Minutes" aired a segment in 1989 that linked Alar, an apple growth regulator sprayed on the fruit, to cancer risks in children.
		The laws are intended to prevent uninformed challenges to the wholesomeness of food products and allow producers to sue those who falsely disparage the products.
		Both supporters and opponents expect no constitutional determination of the veggie libel laws to be made soon, as the beef defamation lawsuit likely will wind its way through appeals courts.
	www.texnews.com /1998/biz/libel0215.html (997 words)

	Food Fights
		But the Texas law is just one of a baker's dozen of so-called "veggie libel" laws which agribusiness has pushed through state legislatures in recent years; the others are in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.
		Meanwhile, as its one-of-a-kind beer-labeling law fights for its life in court, the Missouri legislature is considering—surprise!—a comprehensive food-disparagement law.
		The burger giant, using strict British libel laws that force defendants to prove the truth of everything they say regardless of intent, figured a timely lawsuit would quickly silence the troublemakers.
	www.motherjones.com /news_wire/kretkowski.html (1319 words)

	Book Publishing & Food Libel Laws
		Jonathan Bloom is an associate at the New York law firm of Weil, Gotshal and Manges L.L.P. They collaborated on an amicus brief presented to the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in support of Oprah Winfrey.
		Food disparagement laws, like the ones in Texas and in 12 other states, encourage just such protracted litigation.
		The common law provides adequate means for redress in appropriate circumstances for knowing or reckless false statements, assuming the speech is sufficiently targeted to satisfy the constitutional “of and concerning” requirement.
	cspinet.org /foodspeak/oped/winorloss.htm (812 words)

	Online NewsHour: Oprah Winfrey Vs. The Beef People -- January 20,1998
		Under these laws individuals can be sued for questioning the safety of any food product without verifiable scientific proof, for ridiculing radishes or picking on pears, for example, or, as TV personality Oprah Winfrey discovered, belittling beef.
		John Bode was assistant secretary of agriculture for food and consumer services in the Reagan and Bush administrations.
		The moment we have a lawsuit filed and the moment we have one of these agricultural disparagement statutes on the books, we are basically converting a question of scientific inquiry and public policy into a legal question converted into questions of burden of proof before lawyers and judges.
	www.pbs.org /search/redir/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/jan-june98/fooddef_1-20.html (2268 words)

	EFR: "Veggie Libel Laws" and free speech (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-19)
		On one end of a continuum is the Texas law, in which the burden of proof is on the accuser(s) to prove that the defendant(s) made false statements about the producers.
		Even without a legal challenge, in which case the laws would remain on the books, producers in other states would be much less likely to initiate a lawsuit they were likely to lose.
		Reggie James, director of the southwest regional office of Consumers Union, predicts that if the Texas law falls, the "veggie libel laws" in other states would eventually be ruled unconstitutional as well, with the possible exception of the Idaho law with its close resemblance to common libel law.
	www.penpages.psu.edu /penpages_reference/12101/121012477.html (1037 words)

	NCPA - Environment - Maligning Food (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-19)
		Those opposing such laws argue that scientists should not be muzzled and the consumer has a right to know when an agricultural chemical or process might threaten the nation's health.
		While such laws vary from state to state, they are not as strict as traditional libel laws because they do not usually require proof of malice or that a specific person or product be falsely defamed, according to legal experts.
		A federal judge ruled in the case that the cattlemen could not sue under the Texas food libel law and a Texas jury ruled in Winfrey's favor.
	www.ncpa.org /pi/enviro/pd060199b.html (295 words)

	freedomforum.org: Veggie-libel laws chill free speech, say panelists
		A new body of libel law that has cropped up in 13 states stifles public debate on food-safety issues and threatens free-speech rights, said speakers at a Saturday panel discussion held at the First Amendment Center.
		Agriculture businesses first began lobbying for special libel protection after a federal district court in 1990 dismissed a libel lawsuit brought by a group of Washington apple growers against CBS for comments made on 60 Minutes about the harmful effects of the pesticide Alar.
		One of the statutes, the Alabama law, basically imposes a measure of strict liability (liability without fault) and flagrantly violates the First Amendment, he said.
	www.freedomforum.org /templates/document.asp?documentID=9193 (817 words)

	Veg.ca: Protecting your bones
		Laws that say you can sue food critics to keep the public from knowing the dangers in what they eat.
		Behind all of this is the fact that North America's food has undergone a startling change since World War II.
		Food libel laws have made a mockery of our rights to free speech and need to be quickly repealed.
	www.veg.ca /lifelines/julaug/gag.htm (812 words)

	BUSL: History (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-19)
		But his courtroom savvy made headlines when he successfully defended Oprah Winfrey in the 1998 "veggie libel" suit brought against her by Texas cattlemen.
		Under Babcock’s leadership, Jackson and Walker’s media law practice has grown significantly over the past twenty-one years, and Babcock’s expertise in media and First Amendment law has earned him a national reputation.
		The case attracted national attention not just because of its celebrity defendant, but because it involved the first real challenge to Texas "food libel" laws — the laws make it illegal to make knowingly false and defamatory statements about certain food products and therefore, raise significant First Amendment issues.
	www.bu.edu /law/alumni/profiles/bios/charlesbabcock.html (276 words)

	Oprah lawyer: Food libel law bad news for journalism
		The Texas False Defamation of Perishable Food Products law doesn't require the speech in question to be specific and allows plaintiffs to claim libel by implication, lawyer Charles "Chip" Babcock said.
		Ultimately, the law may be declared unconstitutional, something the judge in Ms.
		The Texas law was originally cited in the lawsuit Ms.
	www.texnews.com /1998/texas/libel0627.html (428 words)

Try your search on: Qwika (all wikis)