California Sues French Fries

[MegaRock]

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has filed a lawsuit to force top makers of potato chips and french fries to warn consumers about a potential cancer-causing chemical found in the popular snacks.

In a complaint filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Lockyer sought an injunction to stop restaurant chains such as McDonald's Corp. and Wendy's International Inc. from selling french fries without some form of warning.

Also named were producers of potato chips and other packaged potato products like PepsiCo's Frito-Lay Inc. and Procter & Gamble Co., makers of Pringles chips.

The suit asks manufacturers of these products to identify the dangers of high levels of acrylamide, a chemical that studies have found is created when starchy foods are cooked at high heat.

"I know from personal experience that, while these snacks may not be a necessary part of a healthy diet, they sure taste good," Lockyer said in a statement. "But I, and all consumers, should have the information we need to make informed decisions about the food we eat."

The lawsuit alleges that companies have violated a state law passed in 1986 requiring companies to provide warnings before exposing people to known carcinogens or reproductive toxins.

In 2002, scientists found potatoes and other starchy foods cooked at high temperatures contained low levels of acrylamide. Other studies have discounted the potential toxicity of acrylamide to humans.
Acrylamide study

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is studying the impact of acrylamide levels in food. In a March press release, the FDA said "acrylamide can cause cancer in laboratory animals at high doses, although it is not clear whether it causes cancer in humans at the much lower levels found in food."

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/08/27/fr...cnn_topstories

[MidnightViper88]

Can we brand these kind of idiots with derogative words like "IDIOT" or "MORON" when they try to file frivolous lawsuits like this?

You'd think we'd be more worried about something far deadly like the bird flu that's going on Europe, but noooo...Let's waste the courts' time and dictate people on what they should and shouldn't eat...After all, french fries are deadlier than cigarettes too!



Yes, maybe you'll clog up an artery or two if you eat french fries on a more-than-daily basis, but come on...Let's gain some common sense and let people deal with their lives without feeling like we're underneath a gun...You throw fuckin' warning labels on shit like that and you're gonna make people think they're gonna die for eating a single fry...

This is a free-living America, and I'm sick and tired of people taking advantage of the courts to slap warnings on things and throw lawsuits over people...I don't want people to tell me how to live my fucking life...I have common sense, and to those who don't have any is their problem...Don't make their problem my problem before I make you my problem...

[Phyltre]

I'd always wondered why I loved freshly cooked french fries so much, but now I know.

I'm addicted to cancer.

[mikm]

midnightviper: you realize that they aren't suing because the food is unhealthy but because the companies illegally failed to warn consumers of a potential carcinogen (which, imho, is unethical anyways).

Even if the store/food container says it contains acrylamide, it is not common sense (like you assert) that it is possibly cancerous.

I agree that it is stupid to put labels on Oreos or at McDonalds because they are unhealthy and the lawsuits against companies for serving fatty foods are completly unnecessary, but not EVERY regulation is frivolous (e.g. the Pure Food and Drug Act).

[Phyltre]

More importantly, how many people will stop eating french fries because they might have a little acrylamide in them? I mean, there aren't many people that have stopped using artificial sweeteners (besides Splenda) but ya know what they say about them...

[Print]

Mmmmm.. cancer... uh I mean fries.

[gaekwad2]

Originally posted by MidnightViper88
Can we brand these kind of idiots with derogative words like "IDIOT" or "MORON" when they try to file frivolous lawsuits like this?

You'd think we'd be more worried about something far deadly like the bird flu that's going on Europe,

Or maybe in Asia? Nevermind.

Originally posted by MidnightViper88
but noooo...Let's waste the courts' time and dictate people on what they should and shouldn't eat...After all, french fries are deadlier than cigarettes too!



Yes, maybe you'll clog up an artery or two if you eat french fries on a more-than-daily basis, but come on...Let's gain some common sense and let people deal with their lives without feeling like we're underneath a gun...You throw fuckin' warning labels on shit like that and you're gonna make people think they're gonna die for eating a single fry...

This is a free-living America, and I'm sick and tired of people taking advantage of the courts to slap warnings on things and throw lawsuits over people...I don't want people to tell me how to live my fucking life...I have common sense, and to those who don't have any is their problem...Don't make their problem my problem before I make you my problem...

You're only free to choose if you are informed of the consequences of your choice.

Otherwise you can easily be tricked into doing exactly what others want you to do, while still believing you're free.

Mandatory warning labels only infringe on the manufacturers' freedom to screw the consumer. For the consumer's freedom of choice it's essential to be able to know what exactly he's buying.

[ElChevelle]

As a consumer of french fries, I demand that I not be warned about the hazards involved with sticking a spork in an electrical outlet.

[deeder7001]

doesn't everybody already know that french fries aren't very healthy?

[MegaRock]

I should sue the manufacturers of Crisco. I mean come on - there should be a warning label that say melting a cup of it and then drinking it is bad for my health. And as insane as that may sound it's the main ingredient in Oreo cookies so not that far fetched.

[MidnightViper88]

I have the right to uninformily harm myself too!

*cuts up a slab of raw steak*

[sgtfuzzbubble011]

* sgtfuzzbubble99 shovels in a big bowl of Cookies'N'Cream ice cream...

[xzxzzx]

Originally posted by Phyltre
More importantly, how many people will stop eating french fries because they might have a little acrylamide in them? I mean, there aren't many people that have stopped using artificial sweeteners (besides Splenda) but ya know what they say about them...

It doesn't really matter. In California, the law is to inform people whenever they will be potencially exposed to a cancer-causing chemical. Therefore, if there is one in french fries, they need to add the usual label.

[rockouthippie]

Originally posted by MidnightViper88
I have the right to uninformily harm myself too!

*cuts up a slab of raw steak*

/me eats the fat off a medium rare rib steak, eats a spud with a half a container of sour cream, has a cigar and says "bugger off"

[ElChevelle]

Sue the French!
It's their fries

[MegaRock]

DOWN WITH THE FRENCH!!!

Their salad dressing don't impress me much either.

[gaekwad2]

Yeah right, just because you don't know the difference between France and Belgium.

[CaboWaboAddict]

Belgium Fries?

Belgium Dressing?

Belgium Toast?

Belgium Kiss?