Lawsuit targets dairy industry

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Ten area residents are demanding the dairy industry put warning labels on milk cartons for lactose-intolerant consumers.

The group is expected to file a class-action lawsuit today in the District of Columbia's Superior Court on behalf of all District residents who are or may become lactose intolerant.

Plaintiffs said in an advance copy of the suit they unwittingly suffered lactose intolerance for an unspecified time period by buying and drinking milk from several local stores.

Defendants include supermarket chains Giant Foods LLC and Safeway Inc. in addition to Nestle Holdings Inc., part of Swiss food giant Nestle SA.

The group is being represented by a lawyer with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a Washington public health group that advocates a vegetarian lifestyle.

"We believe a majority of the people in the District are lactose intolerant," said Dan Kinburn, the committee's associate general counsel.

The committee plans to file suits about other dairy products, such as yogurt and cheese, depending on how successful the new suit is, he said.

Lactose intolerance, which affects about 25 percent of the U.S. adult population, is the inability to digest significant amounts of lactose, the main sugar in milk, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Common symptoms include nausea, cramps, bloating, gas and diarrhea, which begin about 30 minutes to two hours after eating or drinking foods containing lactose, NIH said.

Plaintiffs include District residents Rashid Gholson, 7 years old and the only child, Norma Humphries, Lynette Garner, Darrell Bransome, Paula Miller, Glenda G. Costner, Sibyl Harold and Elizabeth Russell.