NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Is food, with all its virtues and vices, on its way to becoming the tobacco of the 21st century?

Food industry analysts balk at this suggestion. But retail industry watchers and some within the legal profession think the comparison isn't too far-fetched.

"There's no question about it," said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of New York-based national retail consulting firm Davidowitz & Associates Inc. "There is so much publicity about obesity in America. You hear politicians talking about it daily. You even hear the president of the United States talking about it as a growing concern."

"Food companies need to listen to the whispers before they become roars," Davidowitz said. "If they're not careful, certain types of food could be legislated off the shelf."

The whispers Davidowitz refers to are a growing crop of lawsuits against fast-food chains and food companies such as McDonald's (MCD: up $0.36 to $21.44, Research, Estimates) and Kraft Foods (KFT: up $0.03 to $28.55, Research, Estimates).

Even though most of these "obesity-lawsuits," in which plaintiffs alleged that certain food products were responsible for making them overweight, have either been withdrawn or dismissed by judges, some analysts are worried that it takes just one or two successful ones to hurt a company's image and its stock.

Yum! Brands (YUM: up $0.49 to $29.05, Research, Estimates)' KFC unit faces a lawsuit of another kind. The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said it planned to file a lawsuit Monday claiming that the company issued misleading statements about how it processes chickens.

"It's not so much a question of whether or not these lawsuits could affect the companies' stock. They will to some extent. The real question is by how much," said James Morris, analyst with Utendahl Capital Partners LP.

"The risk to [Kraft] stock is unquantifiable at this point. We don't know yet how many of these suits are in the future. But if everybody jumps onto this bandwagon, then it will cost the company a lot of money to defend itself."

Morris does not own shares of Kraft Foods but his firm does have an investment banking relationship with the company.

Shares if Northfield, Ill.-based Kraft are up 23.4 percent this year. Last year Kraft's revenue fell 12.5 percent to $30 billion from a year earlier. Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's shares are up 87 percent this year, and its sales for its fiscal year 2002 last year rose to $16 billion, up 3.5 percent over the previous year.

Added Morris, "Kraft and McDonald's make a lot of money. So legal costs or settlements won't affect earnings. I'm worried about changing consumer attitudes about food. Will people stop buying their favorite brand of cookies because of a lawsuit that says the product is unhealthy?"

Kraft, apparently, is anxious about that possibility after it faced a lawsuit this year seeking to ban its popular Oreo cookies because the company did not warn consumers that the product contains trans fat -- hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils -- which poses a health risk to consumers.

So Kraft this week announced it is putting a cap on the size of its single-serving packages and stopping all in-school marketing in its bid to combat the nation's obesity problem, even admitting that it would be fine with the company if these measures also discouraged "unfair litigation."

McDonald's late last year announced it was cutting the amount of "bad" fat in its french fries. The company also introduced salads on its menu this spring. Food and beverage company PepsiCo (PEP: up $0.46 to $47.13, Research, Estimates) is in the process of making its Frito-Lay snacks more diet-friendly by using non-hydrogenated cooking oil in its Doritos, Cheetos and Tostitos snacks and introducing low -fat versions of some snacks.

Amy Greene, analyst with Avondale Partners, calls these moves "prudent."

"These are proactive steps that companies are taking instead of being forced into compliance later," Greene said. "Companies know that public perception and goodwill go a long way, especially in this environment."

However, Greene is not concerned about the lawsuits. "These lawsuits are just public relations gimmicks. They won't hurt these companies at all."

But John Banzhaf, professor of public interest at George Washington University and founder of Action on Smoking and Health, predicts more health-related lawsuits ahead.

Banzhaf said he already has sent letters of legal notice to the top six fast-food chains, including McDonald's, Burger King, KFC and Taco Bell, requesting that the companies put appropriate warning labels on products alerting consumers to potential harmful effects of consuming their products.

"With tobacco, the litigation issue did not involve addiction but liability. It's the same issue here with fast-food chains and food companies," Banzhaf said.

"Food right now competes on price and not on nutrition. Now there's hope that these lawsuits can usher in that era," he said.