McDONALDS ACCUSED OF SELLING CANCER CAUSING GRILLED CHICKEN!

McDonald’s Corp., Burger King Holdings Inc. and Friendly Ice Cream Corp. were accused in a lawsuit of selling chicken they know contains a chemical that can cause cancer even in small amounts.
McDonald’s, the world’s biggest restaurant company, and the other dining chains were sued Wednesday in state court in Hartford, Connecticut. The complaint, filed by Washington-based Cancer Project on behalf of two Connecticut residents, seeks class-action, or group, status on behalf of people who bought or ate the grilled chicken from October 2006 to this month.

“We’re not looking to have them stop selling the product,” Daniel Kinburn, a lawyer with the Cancer Project, said in a phone interview. “The product is a legal though dangerous product that should be sold with a warning, like a chainsaw.”

A similar suit against seven restaurant chains in 2006 and another against Yum! Brands Inc.’s KFC unit last month were filed in California. That state listed the chemical, PhIP, which forms during the grilling process, as a known carcinogen in 1994, according to the complaint.

“At McDonald’s we have some of the highest food safety standards in the industry,” Cynthia Goody, director of nutrition at the company, said in an e-mailed statement. “There is no scientific evidence to suggest the small amount of PhIP that can be created as a byproduct of cooking methods humans have employed for thousands of years poses a health risk.”

“Burger King Corp. believes the lawsuit filed in Connecticut by the Washington-based Cancer Project has no merit,” the company said in an e-mailed statement. “The compound referred to in the lawsuit, PhIP, is a naturally occurring by-product of the normal cooking process and is produced when any poultry, meat or fish is broiled, fried or grilled. There is no evidence that the small amount of PhIP contained in food poses a significant health risk.”

“We ensure that we meet or exceed all guidelines and regulations for food preparation and safety,” Maura Tobias, a spokeswoman for Friendly’s, said in an e-mailed statement. “Very low levels of PhIP occur naturally when any meat is grilled, including cooking at home.”

The companies “concealed the presence of a known carcinogen in their grilled-chicken products to retain profits that would be lost, in whole or in part, as a result of properly informed consumers choosing other food products,” the residents said in their complaint.

Burger King settled the first suit and agreed to post warnings in its California restaurants, Kinburn said. The company wouldn’t agree to a national settlement, he said. The case is otherwise unresolved, he said. KFC was sued separately because it added grilled chicken to its menu in April, he said