Originally published October 4 2005
California's Attorney General exposes the danger of french fries
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The chemical called acrylamide, known to cause cancer in lab rats, is an ingredient in french fries that the California Attorney General feels should be disclosed to the consumer, but his conviction will be opposed by powerful food companies and the FDA.
That discovery a few years ago has raised questions about the safety of fries, as well as potato chips, which are also packed with acrylamide.
It led to a showdown this summer over whether such foods should bear health warning labels and whether companies should be required to reduce acrylamide levels in their food.
The battle pits the activist attorney general of California against the food industry and the Food and Drug Administration.
What happens over the next few months could have a huge bearing on the eating habits of Americans and may make a dent in the bottom lines of restaurants and food companies.
French fries are the most consumed food in restaurants, according to the NPD Group, a research firm.
Acrylamide is not put into food, but is formed when starchy food is heated at high temperatures.
The FDA is also opposed to labeling, pending its own review of the matter, which began in 2002 when scientists discovered that acrylamide could be formed in food.
The California Environmental Protection Agency, which has also been looking at acrylamide for several years, says it will issue regulations by the end of this year.
Proposals include displays of warning labels and signs in supermarkets and restaurants, as well as a total exemption for acrylamide in food -- an option the food industry has lobbied heavily for, but which is considered unlikely to be adopted.
Alise Cappel, research director at the Environmental Law Foundation, a nonprofit group that recently sued four potato chip companies over acrylamide (the suit is expected to be joined with the attorney general's), says people are increasingly eating foods with acrylamide.
The FDA is not convinced that such consumption is necessarily bad.
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