I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 554

To prevent legislative and regulatory functions from being usurped by civil 

liability actions brought or continued against food manufacturers, marketers, distributors, advertisers, sellers, and trade associations for claims 

of injury relating to a person’s weight gain, obesity, or any health 

condition associated with weight gain or obesity. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2005

Mr. KELLER (for himself, Mr. DELAY, Mr. BLUNT, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. 

SENSENBRENNER, Mr. NEY, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. GARRETT

of New Jersey, Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, 

Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Ms. 

GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. 

CARTER, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. PENCE, Mr. SIMPSON, 

Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. AKIN, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. OTTER, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. 

BRADLEY of New Hampshire, Mr. COX, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. FRANKS

of Arizona, Mr. MACK, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. PETRI, Mr. KIRK, Mrs. JO

ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. 

HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania, and Ms. BERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL

To prevent legislative and regulatory functions from being 

usurped by civil liability actions brought or continued 

against food manufacturers, marketers, distributors, advertisers, sellers, and trade associations for claims of 

injury relating to a person’s weight gain, obesity, or 

any health condition associated with weight gain or obesity.
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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Personal Responsibility 

5 in Food Consumption Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to allow Congress, State 

8 legislatures, and regulatory agencies to determine appro9 priate laws, rules, and regulations to address the problems 

10 of weight gain, obesity, and health conditions associated 

11 with weight gain or obesity. 

12 SEC. 3. PRESERVATION OF SEPARATION OF POWERS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—A qualified civil liability action 

14 may not be brought in any Federal or State court. 

15 (b) DISMISSAL OF PENDING ACTIONS.—A qualified 

16 civil liability action that is pending on the date of the en17 actment of this Act shall be dismissed immediately by the 

18 court in which the action was brought or is currently pend19 ing. 

20 (c) DISCOVERY.—

21 (1) STAY.—In any action of the type described 

22 in clause (i) or (ii) of section 4(5)(B), all discovery 

23 and other proceedings shall be stayed during the 

24 pendency of any motion to dismiss unless the court 

25 finds upon motion of any party that particularized 
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1 discovery is necessary to preserve evidence or to pre2 vent undue prejudice to that party. 

3 (2) RESPONSIBILITY OF PARTIES.—During the 

4 pendency of any stay of discovery under paragraph 

5 (1), unless otherwise ordered by the court, any party 

6 to the action with actual notice of the allegations 

7 contained in the complaint shall treat all documents, 

8 data compilations (including electronically recorded 

9 or stored data), and tangible objects that are in the 

10 custody or control of such person and that are rel11 evant to the allegations, as if they were the subject 

12 of a continuing request for production of documents 

13 from an opposing party under applicable Federal or 

14 State rules of civil procedure, as the case may be. 

15 A party aggrieved by the willful failure of an oppos16 ing party to comply with this paragraph may apply 

17 to the court for an order awarding appropriate sanc18 tions. 

19 (d) PLEADINGS.—In any action of the type described 

20 in section 4(5)(B)(i), the complaint initiating such action 

21 shall state with particularity the Federal and State stat22 utes that were allegedly violated and the facts that are 

23 alleged to have proximately caused the injury claimed. 

24 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 
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1 (1) ENGAGED IN THE BUSINESS.—The term 

2 ‘‘engaged in the business’’ means a person who man3 ufactures, markets, distributes, advertises, or sells a 

4 qualified product in the person’s regular course of 

5 trade or business. 

6 (2) MANUFACTURER.—The term ‘‘manufac7 turer’’ means, with respect to a qualified product, a 

8 person who is lawfully engaged in the business of 

9 manufacturing the product in interstate or foreign 

10 commerce. 

11 (3) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means any 

12 individual, corporation, company, association, firm, 

13 partnership, society, joint stock company, or any 

14 other entity, including any governmental entity. 

15 (4) QUALIFIED PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘qualified 

16 product’’ means a food (as defined in section 201(f) 

17 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 

18 U.S.C. 321(f))). 

19 (5) QUALIFIED CIVIL LIABILITY ACTION.—(A) 

20 Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), the term 

21 ‘‘qualified civil liability action’’ means a civil action 

22 brought by any person against a manufacturer or 

23 seller of a qualified product, or a trade association, 

24 for damages, penalties, declaratory judgment, in25 junctive or declaratory relief, restitution, or other re-
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1 lief arising out of, related to, or resulting in injury 

2 or potential injury resulting from a person’s con3 sumption of a qualified product and weight gain, 

4 obesity, or any health condition that is associated 

5 with a person’s weight gain or obesity, including an 

6 action brought by a person other than the person on 

7 whose weight gain, obesity, or health condition the 

8 action is based, and any derivative action brought by 

9 or on behalf of any person or any representative, 

10 spouse, parent, child, or other relative of any person. 

11 (B) Such term shall not include—

12 (i) an action in which a manufacturer or 

13 seller of a qualified product knowingly and will14 fully violated a Federal or State statute applica15 ble to the manufacturing, marketing, distribu16 tion, advertisement, labeling, or sale of the 

17 product, and the violation was a proximate 

18 cause of injury related to a person’s weight 

19 gain, obesity, or any health condition associated 

20 with a person’s weight gain or obesity; or 

21 (ii) an action for breach of express con22 tract or express warranty in connection with the 

23 purchase of a qualified product. 

24 (C) Such term shall not be construed to include 

25 an action brought under the Federal Trade Commis-
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1 sion Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) or the Federal Food, 

2 Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.). 

3 (6) SELLER.—The term ‘‘seller’’ means, with 

4 respect to a qualified product, a person lawfully en5 gaged in the business of marketing, distributing, ad6 vertising, or selling a qualified product in interstate 

7 or foreign commerce. 

8 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes each of 

9 the several States of the United States, the District 

10 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 

11 Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the 

12 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 

13 and any other territory or possession of the United 

14 States, and any political subdivision of any such 

15 place. 

16 (8) TRADE ASSOCIATION.—The term ‘‘trade as17 sociation’’ means any association or business organi18 zation (whether or not incorporated under Federal 

19 or State law) that is not operated for profit, and 2 

20 or more members of which are manufacturers, mar21 keters, distributors, advertisers, or sellers of a quali22 fied product.

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