California Sues Potato Chip Makers

Something worth reposting… something worth knowing!

 

 

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has filed a lawsuit intended to force

makers of potato chips and French fries to warn consumers about a potential

cancer-causing substance in their products

 

Acrylamide

The chemical in question is acrylamide, which is created when starchy foods

are cooked at high heat. The lawsuit states that producers of French fries

and potato chips are in violation of a 1986 law requiring California companies

to warn consumers about known carcinogens

 

"Can Cause Cancer"

In a March press release, the FDA stated that acrylamide "can cause cancer

in laboratory animals at high doses, although it is not clear whether it causes cancer

in humans at the much lower levels found in food."

 

Acrylamide is also used for sewage treatment and other industrial purpose.

 

Using high temperatures to cook foods can contribute to the formation

of many carcinogenic substances. Acrylamide is produced in starches;

heterocyclic amines can be formed in meats.  For this and other reasons,

French fries and potato chips are two of the worst foods you can eat.

 

·                     They are loaded with acrylamide

·                     They contain trans fats

·                     Because of the oils in which they are cooked, they produce

large amounts of damaging free radicals in the body

 

These problems are typical of highly processed foods in general. Ideally,

you should consume foods that are minimally processed. Over half

of the foods you eat should be uncooked and eaten in the raw state.

 

It may take you awhile to get to that point, but in the meantime,

you can start by avoiding the foods which simply have no redeeming qualities

whatsoever, such as doughnuts, all sodas, French fries, and potato chips. 

 

I am certain that there are other currently unrecognized toxins

that are created in foods that are heated at high temperatures

that are far worse than acrylamide.

 

Oils are very fragile and highly perishable foods and are easily damaged

when they are heated. Damage done by frying starts at about 320 degrees Fahrenheit

and goes up exponentially as the temperature rises. The nature of chemical reactions is that

for every 10-degree rise in temperature, the rate of chemical reactions (with oxygen, light and metals)

at least doubles, and may even triple or quadruple.

 

Most people believe that frying creates trans fats. That is not the major problem;

although some are created, they are relatively minor. There are FAR more toxic chemicals

produced by frying than trans fats.

 

Frying destroys the antioxidants in oils and as such oxidizes the oils and causes cross-linking,

cyclization, double-bond shifts, fragmentation and polymerization of oils that cause

far more damage than trans fats.

 

The issue is to eat as much raw food and low temperature cooked food as possible.

So it is best to not cook your food if at all possible. For those times when you must heat your food

you will certainly not want to use your microwave but consider the rapid cooking and inexpensive oven

that our readers are raving about.

 

The Most Dangerous Potato Chips to Eat

Public knowledge of the serious dangers found in potato chips may finally be surfacing.

The California-based Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) has filed notices with the state's

attorney general against potato chip manufacturers:

·                     Lay's potato chip maker PepsiCo Inc.

·                     Pringles maker Proctor & Gamble Co.

·                     Cape Cod potato chip parent Lance Inc.

·                     Kettle Chips maker Kettle Foods Inc.

 

... that would require them to place labels on their products warning consumers

about the high levels of acrylamide found inside. Acrylamide is formed when starchy foods

are baked or fried at high temperatures and is considered a cancer-causing chemical

by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

CNN August 27, 2005   Reuters June 17, 2005   Environmental Law Foundation June 16, 2005