Kraft Dropped From Lawsuit Against Dairy Product Companies
WASHINGTON -- A group of doctors that has sued several dairy product manufacturers, claiming their weight loss claims are untrue, said this week that it has dropped Kraft Foods from the suit.
According to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), since Kraft has stopped running ads claiming that eating dairy foods can help people lose weight, there is no longer a reason to sue the company.
The decision was reported yesterday by Brandweek Magazine, a sister publication to Progressive Grocer. In a followup interview with Progressive Grocer, Mindy Kursban, PCRM’s executive director and chief legal counsel, said Kraft had additionally made changes to its Web site, which now says that the scientific link between dairy consumption and weight loss has not yet been proved.
"We believe Kraft did the right thing by making these changes," Kursban told Progressive Grocer, noting that the PCRM would like to see every dairy producer adopt a similar policy to Kraft's.
In late June the advocacy group sued Kraft, General Mills, Dannon, McNeil Nutritionals, and Lifeway Foods in two linked suits in Alexandria, Va., circuit court, alleging that all of them had advertised claims that eating dairy products can make consumers slimmer. The PCRM believes there is little evidence to back this claim.
According to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), since Kraft has stopped running ads claiming that eating dairy foods can help people lose weight, there is no longer a reason to sue the company.
The decision was reported yesterday by Brandweek Magazine, a sister publication to Progressive Grocer. In a followup interview with Progressive Grocer, Mindy Kursban, PCRM’s executive director and chief legal counsel, said Kraft had additionally made changes to its Web site, which now says that the scientific link between dairy consumption and weight loss has not yet been proved.
"We believe Kraft did the right thing by making these changes," Kursban told Progressive Grocer, noting that the PCRM would like to see every dairy producer adopt a similar policy to Kraft's.
In late June the advocacy group sued Kraft, General Mills, Dannon, McNeil Nutritionals, and Lifeway Foods in two linked suits in Alexandria, Va., circuit court, alleging that all of them had advertised claims that eating dairy products can make consumers slimmer. The PCRM believes there is little evidence to back this claim.