Big lawsuit with a side of fries by Celeste LeCompte - 1.30.06
In late August 2005, the State of California filed suit
against nine companies — including Salem, Ore.-based natural foods
manufacturer Kettle Foods Inc. — for selling potato chips or French
fries without warning customers about exposure to acrylamide, a
chemical believed to cause cancer.
Since 1986, California has required businesses to post
consumer warnings about potential exposure to chemicals that cause
cancer or reproductive harm. Acrylamide was listed on the register of
chemicals subject to Proposition 65 in 1990. Some studies show French
fries and potato chips contain concentrations 125 to 75 times the
amount requiring a warning, according to a California Department of
Justice press release.
The state notes products made by the nine companies in
the suit don’t contain more acrylamide than other products — just that
the products were inadequately labeled. Other food manufacturers named
in the suit are Burger King Corp., Cape Cod Potato Chips Inc./Lance
Inc. (Nasdaq: LNCE), Frito-Lay Inc./PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP), H.J.
Heinz Inc., KFC Corp., McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD), Procter &
Gamble (NYSE: PG), and Wendy’s International Inc. (NYSE: WEN).
