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Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Fast Food Fight
If you can’t eat them…sue them?
The war against trans fats is moving to the courts after the Center for Science in the Public Interest filed suit today (6/13) against KFC for using partially hydrogenated oils in its pot pies, fried chicken, biscuits and other menu items.
The center claims that partially hydrogenated oils, laden with trans fats, are responsible for the deaths of 50,000 Americans a year.
According to CSPI:
“Just one Extra Crispy breast has 4.5 grams of trans fat. A large order of Popcorn Chicken has 7 grams of trans fat, and KFC’s Pot Pie contains 14 grams of trans. A typical 3-piece Extra Crispy combo meal, with a drumstick, two thighs, potato wedges, and a biscuit has a staggering 15 grams of trans fat—more trans fat than an individual should consume in a week.”
Items in your grocery store now have nutrition labels that show trans fat content. That policy change prompted many food makers to change their ingredients for the better. But restaurants continue to stick to the artery-clogging trans fats.
KFC is owned by YUM, which also owns Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. They haven’t commented on their web site.
But my laugh of the day came in the form of a blistering press release from a group concocted by the PR industry which calls itself the Center for Consumer Freedom.
Here’s what they have to say about the KFC lawsuit:
“Throughout the 1980’s CSPI demanded that restaurants end their use of beef fat and palm oil to fry foods.
Instead, CSPI endorsed the idea that restaurants switch to partially hydrogenated oils, which naturally contain higher trans fat levels. CSPI defended trans fats in its newsletter saying, “all told, the charges against trans fat just don’t stand up.�
Now, incredibly, CSPI has completely reversed course.
Center for Consumer Freedom research analyst J. Justin Wilson said: “It’s galling that the group largely responsible for harassing restaurants into switching to trans fats, would now sue those companies for bowing to its demands, especially when the science is still largely out on the subject. It’s just further evidence that CSPI has gone completely lawsuit happy.�
…Wilson continued, “This is a press conference lawsuit. CSPI and its trial lawyer partners want a big splash in the media for a case that likely won’t ever see the inside of a courtroom. Any judge unfortunate enough to be burdened with this court-clogging sham should have the good sense to throw CSPI out of court.â€? “
So where CAN we eat fast food without trans fats?
Ruby Tuesday’s
And what about McDonald’s? This from CSPI: “McDonald’s famously promised to reduce trans fat in cooking oil in 2002, though it quietly reneged on that promise in 2003. In 2004, California trial attorney Stephen Joseph filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s over its broken promise, which the company settled in 2005 by agreeing to pay $7 million to the American Heart Association. McDonald’s still has not changed its oil.”
So what do you think? Should KFC change its oil choice, or should the folks at CSPI stop picking on them?
