Posted 1:42 PM by Robert

On Suing Ben & Jerry

Many people believe the next target of class action lawsuits will be food companies that make people fat.

Surely there can be no better example of such a company than Ben & Jerry's, the left-wing Vermont ice cream company that has recently announced its intent to honor Democratic Presidential contender Howard Dean while making some people obese.

For example, a 1/2 cup serving of Ben & Jerry's "original" ice cream equals 3-5 fat servings, where a 1/2 cup serving of Breyers, Edy's or Dreyer's is only 2 fat servings - and a 1/2 cup serving of "light" ice cream, such as Breyers Light, equals only 1/2-1 fat serving.

And Ben & Jerry's "low fat" products are no better. Most nonfat or fat-free ice creams, all of which contain virtually no fat, contain 90 to 100 calories per half cup. But Ben and Jerry's No Fat Vanilla Fudge weighs in at 150 calories per half cup due to its high sugar content. And Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Low-Fat Frozen Yogurt contains 190 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, and 36 grams of carbohydrates per serving, where plain old Breyers Chocolate Ice Cream has 160 calories, 9 grams of fat, and 18 grams of carbohydrates per serving.

Of course, the Man Without Qualities views such suits as meritless - just as the tobacco suits were and are meritless.

But if they have to happen to someone, why not the worst?