Sunday, August 28, 2005

Want Fries With That?

The Nanny State is alive and well in California:

Potato chips and french fries could soon come with a warning label in California if the state's top attorney prevails in a lawsuit filed Friday against nine fast food chains and snack-food makers.

Attorney General Bill Lockyer asked for a court order requiring McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Frito Lay and other companies to warn consumers that their fries and chips may contain acrylamide, a chemical the state says causes cancer.


Acrylamide, as it turns out, is not an additive to these foods, but the natural by-product of heating starches in hot oil. And the evidence linking it to cancer, though found in some studies is not a slam dunk. Yet, it's full steam ahead for the Health Food Police.

Everyone knows that eating fried foods is not healthy - yet they eat them anyway. On the other hand, attempts by fast-food chains to introduce healthier fare to their menus have had mixed results, at best. Make no mistake, the issue here is *not* the health of the consumer. The proposed labelling of fries as a carcinogen is the start of the trial-lawyer assault on the fast-food industry.

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