December 7, 2005 -- Lawsuits to Target Beverages in Schools

Lawyers who successfully brought lawsuits against the tobacco industry for damage caused by tobacco products say they will file suit in Massachusetts next year against beverage companies who sell soda and other sugary beverages to students in schools. Expected to be the first of many suits to be brought in state courts, the Massachusetts case will name Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and their local bottlers and will charge that large, illuminated Coke and Pepsi machines in school halls and cafeterias are an “attractive nuisance” and constitute unfair and deceptive marketing to a captive audience. Attorneys say they have not yet decided whether to seek financial damages, which in the Massachusetts case could amount to $25 per violation—in other words, $25 for every time a student has purchased a soda in a Massachusetts public school over the past four years. There is no mention in the plans outlined so far of whether schools that contract with beverage companies to place dispensing machines on school property will also be considered to be maintaining an “attractive nuisance.” Sodas, sports drinks, iced tea drinks, and juice drinks without much juice tend to add calories, since they do not give a sense of “fullness” and are taken in addition to other foods, the Center for Science in the Public Interest points out, thereby contributing to soaring rates of childhood and youth obesity.