11 Secret Herbs and Spices Make the Sky Fall: CSPI Sues KFC in Your Name
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) mean well, but so did Lennie.
This is an excellent tale from Steve Chapman, The Chicago Tribune, of lawsuits and knee-jerkery all in our name. The unassuming drooling public.
The CSPI is suing* KFC over their use of frying oil and its trans-fat content, but it’s a bit of a mis-fire coinsidering they were singing an opposite tune a few years back.
Excerpt:
Prudence is commendable, but the lawsuit stems from a less useful impulse: panic. It’s easy to exaggerate the threat posed by this type of fat, and CSPI happily seizes the opportunity.
The lawsuit says KFC’s continued use of partially hydrogenated oil is “outrageous” and betrays the company’s “evil motive, intent to injure, ill will” and other nasty traits. It argues that KFC “recklessly puts its customers at risk of a Kentucky Fried Coronary.” CSPI also claims that a panel commissioned by the federal Institute of Medicine “concluded that the only safe level of trans fat in the diet is zero.”
I asked one member of the panel, Tufts University nutrition science professor Alice Lichtenstein, if that is an accurate summary of its findings. “No,” she replied. What the report concluded, she said, is that “consumption should be as low as possible because there’s no human requirement for trans fat. That’s different.” Saying we don’t need trans fat to sustain life is a long way from saying the tiniest exposure could be lethal.
Full story after the jump!
Extra Crispy Chicken and Deep Fried Panic (pops)
Technorati Tags: KFC, trans, fat, frying, CSPI, center, science, public, interest, lawsuit
*It all started back in June, but it’s still going on and costing a lot of time and money, so I’m covering it. It’s also still stupid. -Ed.
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POSTED IN: Food, Media, Prevention
2 opinions for 11 Secret Herbs and Spices Make the Sky Fall: CSPI Sues KFC in Your Name
jigga scrooge
Aug 8, 2006 at 2:03 pm
I don’t understand how they can tell a company to not put something that isn’t illegal in their food. It’s how they make it, If you don’t like it, then don’t eat it.
Wade
Aug 9, 2006 at 8:57 am
Well, Jigga, they really shouldn’t be able to, but right and wrong has almost nothing to do with the law.
This is the kind of frivolous crap that makes my blood boil. And what’s even more obnoxious is they’re doing it in OUR name, or “public interest”. They either have ulterior motives, like a settlement, or they’re just dumb and got talked into something by a lawyer.
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