030219 McDonald's Blasts New Obesity LawsuitFebruary 21, 2003New York - McDonald's Corp. dismissed as "senseless" the filing of an amended lawsuit in New York alleging the fast-food chain sells foods that are more hazardous than customers expect. The reaction from the world's largest restaurant chain came after new court papers were filed in a previously dismissed suit that had blamed the company's Big Macs, french fries and Chicken McNuggets for obesity in children. U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet received the filing on Thursday, his chambers said. "This senseless lawsuit's selective focus on only one food organization is not only absurd when you look at the facts, but is a serious disservice to anyone who is looking for real answers and information about healthy lifestyles, energy balance and personal responsibility," McDonald's said in a statement. The National Council of Chain Restaurants also blasted the new lawsuit, calling it "ridiculous. "Ironically, this lawsuit attempts to attack common and everyday foods and ingredients which are FDA-approved and keep American food safe and sound," said the council's president Terrie Dort. "It's unfortunate that this attorney didn't do his homework to find out the real facts," she said. McDonald's stock closed down 12 cents at $13.38 in Thursday trading on the New York Stock Exchange. In January, Sweet threw out the original suit on behalf of a group of overweight New York children. But the judge said it could be refiled with information backing the plaintiffs' claim that diners have no idea what is really in their food or that the products have allegedly become more harmful because of processing. To that end, the amended suit alleges the company served up advertisements promoting its calorie-laden food as being nutritious enough to eat every day. Hormel First-Quarter Profit Falls February 21, 2003 Austin, MN - Hormel Foods Corp., the maker of Spam luncheon meat and Dinty Moore Stew, on Thursday said first-quarter profit fell as its contract price for hogs continued to exceed open-market prices. Hormel posted net income of $46.9 million, or 34 cents a share, in the quarter ended Jan. 25 compared with $50.4 million, or 36 cents a share in the same period a year earlier. Analysts on average were forecasting earnings of 36 cents a share, with a range of 34 cents to 39 cents, according to Thomson First Call. Revenue rose to $1.02 billion from $983 million. In December, Hormel bought the pudding and dry food mix business of Imperial Sugar Co. The Austin, Minnesota-based company also said it expects to earn about 22 cents to 28 cents a share in The reaction from the world's largest restaurant chain came after new court papers were filed in a previously dismissed suit that had blamed the company's Big Macs, fries and Chicken McNuggets for obesity in children. US District Judge Robert Sweet received the filing on Thursday, his chambers said. "This senseless lawsuit's selective focus on only one food organization is not only absurd when you look at the facts, but is a serious disservice to anyone who is looking for real answers and information about healthy lifestyles, energy balance and personal responsibility," McDonald's said in a statement. In January, Sweet threw out the original suit but said it could be refiled with information backing the plaintiffs' claim that diners have no idea what is really in their food or that the products have allegedly become more harmful because of processing. To that end, the amended suit alleges the company served up advertisements promoting its calorie-laden food as being nutritious enough to eat every day. The filing alleges that the company has promoted its Chicken McNuggets, fish and chicken sandwiches, fries and hamburgers as being healthy when, in fact, researchers and even the company's own nutritional division in France has warned otherwise. The plaintiffs allege that the researchers have said that certain of these foods should not be consumed more than once a week or diners could suffer a range of health problems including obesity, diabetes and heart disease. The amended complaint also alleges that a McDonald's advertising executive has previously testified that the company targets frequent diners in its advertising campaigns in an effort to get them to increase their purchases. In response, the McDonald's statement said: "McDonald's continues to be a leader in providing customers with nutritional information about our food through in-store brochures, our Web Site, or toll-free customer telephone number."
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