Законы о защите репутации продуктов питания в США: практика и последствия

Laws passed in some US states to make it easier for food producers to sue their critics for libel

Food libel laws, also known as food disparagement laws and informally as veggie libel laws, are laws passed in thirteen U. S. states that make it easier for food producers to sue their critics for libel. These thirteen states are the following: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas. Many of the food disparagement laws establish a lower standard for civil liability and allow for punitive damages and attorney's fees for plaintiffs alone, regardless of the case's outcome. These laws vary significantly from state to state, but food libel laws typically allow a food manufacturer or processor to sue a person or group who makes disparaging comments about their food products. In some states these laws also establish different standards of proof than are used in traditional American libel lawsuits, including the practice of placing the burden of proof on the party being sued.

On February 26, 1989, CBS News' 60 Minutes aired a segment entitled A' is for Apple," in which 60 Minutes anchors investigated a report published by the Natural Resources Defense Council on the safety of daminozide, a growth regulator used on apples to preserve their freshness. The NRDC, and 60 Minutes along with them, claimed that daminozide, sold under the brand name Alar, was carcinogenic, especially when consumed by children. According to the report, Alar remained in apple skin even after processing, meaning that not only raw apples, but also apple products, like apple juice and apple sauce, could pose health risks. Immediately after the segment aired, consumers panicked and apple sales declined by nearly 60% nationwide. Growers reported revenue losses of $100M as a result. The growers failed to do so, and their case was dismissed as a result. In response, lobbyists affiliated with the agricultural industry began to campaign for stricter trade libel laws specific to agricultural products. They argued that agricultural products deserved special protections because of their perishability: they might spoil before the truth of claims regarding their safety had been verified. As a result, thirteen states adopted food libel laws, which offer larger settlement sums than regular trade libel laws and, unlike trade libel laws, often place the burden of proof on a case's defendant, rather than its plaintiff. The Economist reported that "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) eventually decided that Alar was indeed a carcinogen."

In 1998, television talk show host Oprah Winfrey and one of her guests, Howard Lyman, were involved in a lawsuit, commonly referred to as the Amarillo, Texas, beef trial, surrounding the Texas version of a food libel law known as the False Disparagement of Perishable Food Products Act of 1995. The words "Cows are herbivores. They shouldn't be eating other cows It has just stopped me cold from eating another burger." were attributed to Winfrey as part of a 1996 episode of her show. It was accused that the two made disparaging comments about beef in relation to mad cow disease. Although they were not the first people to be sued using this type of legal action, this case created a media sensation. In a normal U. S. libel suit, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant is deliberately and knowingly spreading false information. Under the Texas food disparagement law under which Winfrey and Lyman were sued, the plaintiffs—in this case, beef feedlot operator Paul Engler and the company Cactus Feeders—had to convince the jury that Lyman's statements on Winfrey's show were not "based on reasonable and reliable scientific inquiry, facts, or data." As a basis for the damages sought in the lawsuit, the plaintiffs noted that cattle futures dropped 10 percent the day after the episode, and that beef prices fell from 62 cents to 55 cents per pound. Engler's attorneys argued that the rancher lost $6.7 million, and the plaintiffs sought to recoup total losses of more than $12 million. The jury in the case found that the statements by Winfrey and Lyman did not constitute libel against the cattlemen. However, Winfrey no longer speaks publicly on the issue, and declines to make videotapes of the original interview available to inquiring journalists.

On March 7, 2012, ABC News aired a segment dedicated to investigating a beef product called lean finely textured beef (LFTB) sold by the South Dakota beef company Beef Products, Inc (BPI). ABC News correspondents, including Diane Sawyer, reported on a whistleblower's claim that BPI's LFTB was used as a filler in the ground beef sold by many American beef companies, as a way of cutting costs. According to the unknown whistleblower and ABC News, BPI's LFTB was derived from beef trimmings sprayed with ammonia, and resembled "pink slime". Throughout March and April, ABC News continued to run segments and publish articles about BPI's LFTB, including publishing updates on the company's financial losses after the original segment's airing. The case went to trial in June, 2017. Under South Dakota's Agricultural Food Products Disparagement Act, BPI could have received as much as $5.7 billion in statutory trebled damages were ABC News found liable. After the case had been tried for only three out of the expected eight weeks, ABC News and BPI reached a settlement of $177 million. At the time, this was the largest settlement recorded for a media defamation case. The terms of the settlement were not released.

Food libel laws have faced opposition from free speech defenders, who argue that they restrict speech about agricultural products to a degree which is unconstitutional. Of particular concern is that some states' food libel laws seem to violate the "of or concerning" precedent which was established in the Supreme Court's 1964 decision on New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. The Supreme Court's ruling in favor of the New York Times was supported in part by their argument that the advertisement was not explicitly "of or concerning" Sullivan, and so did not constitute libelous speech. In a legal context, the "chilling effect" describes the phenomenon by which speech on a certain subject is indirectly curtailed by the passage of laws. The former was subject to extensive editing by its publisher—whole sections related to links between meat and cancer were deleted—and the latter was canceled entirely after its publisher received a letter from Monsanto warning of a possible suit. In the introduction to the book's chapter on consumption, Zehner wrote, "So called food disparagement laws (also known as "veggie libel laws") enable the food industry to sue journalists, writers, and other people who criticize their products, often placing the burden of proof on the defendant Unlike Winfrey, I do not have the financial resources to defend myself in such a suit, and as a result you and other readers will be cheated out of the whole story," referencing the Texas Beef Group v. Oprah Winfrey case. Correspondingly, food libel cases have been alleged to be strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP). In the specific context of food libel, the implication of the term is that agricultural companies sue under food libel laws in hopes of disincentivizing other potential critics lest they too be subjugated to a costly and inconvenient legal battle, rather than to necessarily win the case and recoup the costs of a damaged reputation.

Public awareness of food libel laws and their impacts rose after the airing of Robert Kenner's 2008 documentary Food Inc., which attempted to investigate the commercial production of food.