French Fry Freak-Out - Want cancer with that?

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French Fry Freak-Out

Health Experts May Slap Cancer Warnings on Popular Fast Food Fare

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0421.html?Scitechad=true

By Marc Levenson

 

 

April 21— They pack loads of fat, calories, and often salt, but that still

doesn't stop Americans from gobbling up $20 billion in french fries every

year. What could stop them now?

 

 

 

How about acrylamide?

 

Even if you are unfamiliar with the word, your stomach isn't. It's a

chemical that commonly forms when sugars or carbohydrates are heated with

certain kinds of amino acids. That means it's in almost any kind of cooked

food.

 

And one other thing: Acrylamide, at least in laboratory rats, appears to

cause cancer.

 

 

Want Cancer With That?

 

Now, the state of California may force fast-food chains to add

cancer-warning labels to french fry packages. The labeling proposal stems

from Proposition 65 (www.calprop65.com/prop65.html), a California regulation

that requires cancer warnings posted on anything with known risks — from gas

stations to liquor stores.

 

But food scientists think the cancer concerns are premature and possibly

even misguided.

 

" We've been eating foods with acrylamide ever since the discovery of fire, "

says Takayuki Shibamoto, an environmental toxicologist at the University of

California at Davis.

 

 

Nothing to Fear

 

You can biochemically engineer food so it won't produce acrylamide, but it

might cost a fortune.

 

" In order to make just one potato chip, you don't want to spend thousands of

dollars, " Shibamoto says.

 

Shibamoto's laboratory colleague, Matt Hengel, adds, " Pretty much anything

that has a starch source or is cooked heavily will more than likely have

acrylamide in it. "

 

The Proposition 65 movement has prompted attorney Raphael Metzger to file

suit against fast-food giants including McDonald's and Burger King to force

the labeling of food.

 

" Customers have the right to know, " Metzger says. " They should have the

information before they decide to eat. "

 

 

Go Raw or Go Home

 

The lawsuit is one reason the fast-food industry is weighing in on

acrylamide. David Martosko of the Center for Consumer Freedom

(www.consumerfreedom.com), a Washington, D.C.-based organization backed by

the food industry, thinks the french fry flap is a big fried sham.

 

" Food is full of chemicals, " Martosko says. " Everything we eat and drink is

full of chemicals. It's nothing to be scared of. "

 

The FDA is reviewing the cancer connection anyway, and the possibility of

adding warnings to french fry packages. There's no proof that acrylamide

poses any risks to people, and if you cook your food, there may be no way to

eat without acrylamide.

 

Shibamoto suggests one possible solution for anyone who's really scared. " If

acrylamide bothers you, " he says, " then don't cook your food anymore. "

 

 

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