Twelve Black Code Monkeys

Looks like suing is the next resort that some interest groups are entertaining! I hadn’t thought this was a possibility, but i guess I should have. This article describes the Florida Citrus Department’s new “get tough” policy. I can’t imagine that defamation can be extended to products, even in the general sense. How many products have been demonized by diet books for in past 30 years?? But this is the first time to my knowledge that a group/company is contemplating suing over it. They really must be getting desperate!

An editorial in the St. Petersburg Times published today actually surprised me in how they took on the powerful group in their own state and scolded them for being so ridiculous! All I can say is bravo! You so seldom see anything in the mainstream media that actually vigorously attacks a critic of low-carb. I was impressed. As for the Florida Citrus Department, I’m sure if they attempt to sue, they will get the same verdict as the Texas ranchers did in the Oprah case.

The problem is that there is disagreement about health claims and the healthiness of most products, except for possibly raw low-carb vegetables and fruit. There are “raw food” who advocates who claim not only that all animal-based foods are bad for you, but that simply cooking things is bad for you! Even in the 80’s and 90’s when low-fat advocates were proclaiming that almost any amount of fat was bad for one’s health, producers of oil did not get together and contemplate suing authors of low-fat diet books. So with all this debate and difference of opinion, instead of trying to prove that there is some merit in their claims about the health benefits of orange juice, or disprove the critics, the Citrus Dept. is suing. To me this says that they cannot credibly make their argument in the court of public opinion so they are resorting to threats of legal action. It truly is sad.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Evernote lets you save all the interesting things you see online into a single place. Access all those saved pages from your computer, phone or the web. Sign up now or learn more. It's free!