Which states have food libel laws?
Currently, thirteen states — Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas – have food libel laws. These laws have sometimes put farmers and manufacturers on a collision course with the media.
Is there a law in Texas against defaming beef?
But on the West Texas cattle range, seldom is heard a disparaging word about beef. But apparently no one told Oprah Winfrey about a Lone Star State law that prohibits bad-mouthing beef, forbids slandering citrus, and penalizes critics of corn.
What is a veggie libel law food Inc?
Food Libel Laws (Veggie Libel Laws) State laws that allow food production corporations and interests to sue individuals who speak negatively about a food category, product, or production process.
What set of laws got Oprah in trouble for saying because of the mad cow disease she wouldn’t eat another burger?
Twenty years ago, images of staggering cattle and descriptions of brains resembling Swiss cheese became associated with one of the most popular television programs of the day when Texas Panhandle cattlemen sued “The Oprah Winfrey Show” for defamation under Texas’ “veggie libel law.” They claimed the program’s negative …
What are food disparagement laws?
Known as food-disparagement, food-libel, or “veggie-libel” laws, these statutes were designed to enable agricultural and food corporations to prevent potential critics from publicly impugning the safety of their products.
Is slander illegal in Texas?
Under Texas defamation law, defamation of character is when a person or entity speaks or writes false information about another that causes damage. For businesses, a defamatory statement could result in damage to the company’s reputation and negatively impact its business dealings.
What is spoken defamation?
Libel and slander are the legal subcategories of defamation. Generally speaking, libel is defamation in written words, pictures, or any other visual symbols in a print or electronic medium. Slander is spoken defamation.
Can you defame a product?
Product disparagement — also called commercial disparagement, product defamation, trade libel or slander of goods — is a false statement about a product that hurts its maker.
What is the veggie libel law why is this an important part of the so called Veil ‘?
These food disparagement laws have come to be known as “veggie libel laws” because they have often been used against animal rights and vegetarian activists working to expose the harmful consequences of meat consumption.
Did Oprah win the beef lawsuit?
Talk show host Oprah Winfrey celebrates what she called a victory for free speech in the jury verdict against Texan cattlemen who claimed that her show on mad cow disease defamed the beef industry.
What are food libel laws?
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.
Can you sue for libel in the food industry?
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.
What is the Texas food disparagement law under which Winfrey was sued?
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,…
Is disparagement of perishable agricultural products a form of libel?
Food libel legislation which defines disparagement of perishable agricultural products as any false statement that implies a product is unsafe, like the legislation present in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and South Dakota, has been thought by some commentators to contradict this “of or concerning” element.