NEW YORK, July 26: A lawsuit filed by an obese New Yorker against four leading US fast food chains is testing whether the food industry can be held responsible for health problems in the same way as tobacco firms.

Caesar Barber, 56, filed suit on Thursday against McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s and KFC who he accuses of being responsible for his 123-kilo frame and a series of heart attacks.

Barber, who began eating fast food in the 1950s, said the major chains had been deceptive in presenting nutritional information about their products.

“They said ‘100 percent beef’. I thought that meant it was good for you,” he told reporters.

“Those people in the advertisements don’t really tell you what’s in the food,” he said. “It’s all fat, fat and more fat. Now I’m obese.”

The lawsuit has triggered a heated debate on the extent to which food vendors can be held liable for any health problems associated with eating their products.

A favourable result for Barber could unleash a torrent of suits demanding huge payouts similar to those made by the tobacco industry.

The president of the National Restaurant Association, Steven Anderson, however, rejected the legal action as frivolous.

“It is senseless, baseless and ridiculous to compare food to anything addictive,” Anderson said in a statement.

“Obviously, the lawsuit is a blatant attempt to capitalise on the recent publicity and news stories on the growing rates of obesity, and this type of improper litigation is a clear abuse of our judicial system,” he added.

Barber’s case is important because it moves the focus from the issue of food labelling — the subject of suits in the past — to the issue of deception through marketing, especially where children are concerned.—AFP