KFC has come under fire from a retired Maryland doctor and, for a second time, the Center for Science in the Public Interest for their continued use of partially hydrogenated oil, the Associated Press reported. Aside from financial compensation, the two are asking that a judge require KFC to either stop using the high-fat oils or require employees to inform customers of trans fats prior to ordering. Class action status is also being sought for anyone that has eaten at a certain Washington, D.C. KFC in 2004-2005. Now, I suppose you can argue that fast food chains should take steps to make their products healthier, but this is fried chicken. Next to maybe a chili dog or a Krispy Kreme donut, I don't think anything says "I"m throwing nutritional caution to the wind right now" like a piece of fried chicken, let alone a bucket of it.
A KFC spokesperson told the AP that KFC will fight the suit in court, adding that the chain has made their nutrition information available in stores and online "for a very long time."
[Via Restaurant News Resource]
6-16-2006 @9:23AM Alex said... I disagree about the 'throwing nutritional caution to the wind' statement ... I'm happy to be corrected but trans-fats are pretty much accepted to be worse than other fats. You can have fried chicken without having the trans-fats so if KFC's chicken is worse/more trans-fat laden than other fast processed food then it should be appropriately labelled.
Not sure about the class action though - kind of like blaming McDs if you are fat!
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6-16-2006 @9:28AM Beatrix McGee said... Am a nurse and a fat person thats on a diet,but anyone knows that KFC chicken should been eaten by those that can use the weight gain or have no medical problems. Saying they need to change or post it is stupid. What we need is for our courts to stop allowing people to sue for the obvious people need to take charge of thier own lives, not I do this then blame you.
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6-16-2006 @10:25AM Spoonman said... Anyone stupid enough to not know what they're sticking in their mouths doesn't deserve a long lifespan. The information is available, you just have to ask or look.
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6-16-2006 @10:44AM Baron said... Yup. KFC is forcing all those folks to eat its chicken. I don't care if they are using motor oil to cook it, as long as it tastes good. People should be smart enough to know that fried food, in general, is not the best choice for your health. Kinda like smoking. Even if they never put a label on it and even if they have all this stuff "geared for kids," you have to be about as smart as a rock to think breathing in smoke is not bad. A cave man standing in front of a fire starts coughing because of the smoke, so he moves out of the way of the smoke... Anyway, stopping now before I get on a soap box! :)
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6-16-2006 @11:37AM Punisher2k said... Well it's all about forcing companies to be responsible. We have know trans-fats are unhealthy (even deadly) for sometime now. The problem is the worse something is for you the better it tastes.
And frying and unhealthy are no mutually inclusive. Frying at the correct temperature in the correct oils and you can fry safely.
Much of the fat that we get from fried food comes from the batter.
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6-16-2006 @11:57AM Spoonman said... You know how you force companies to be responsible? Stop purchasing their products. Every other fast food chain has made some kind of concession towards the healthy side because of increasing market pressures. Apparently, the customers of KFC just don't care.
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6-17-2006 @2:46AM Gabriella said... Ridiculous. Yes, they should change fats but it is hardly illegal to use bad fats. PLEASE! It is a restaurant with the word FRIED in its name. People need to get a clue. Take responsibility for what goes in your mouth.
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6-18-2006 @11:47AM Jim said... Punisher2k is so far off the mark. I don't really want companies to be responsible. I want the PEOPLE to be responsible. KFC isn't sticking its food in anyone's mouth, the people do it themselves. Why can't individuals just simply be responsible for their own behavior and the easily forseeable consequences that result?
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6-20-2006 @1:52PM Wyatt said... I agree with you that we need more personal responsibility and less obsessive focus on trans fats, and so does the American Council on Science and Health, who have a number of great articles on the subject, including:
"Will Taxes, Regulations, Lawsuits and Advertising Bans Prevent Obesity?" (http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.772/news_detail.asp), and
"It's the Food, Stupid" (http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.775/news_detail.asp)
You should check them out
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6-27-2006 @9:23PM Stephen Finley said... A humor column written in response to the KFC lawsuit is at The Dallas Morning News web site. "Super-size my lawsuit" is at www.dallasnews.com/humorme
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9-16-2008 @7:38PM Charles G. Nichols said... You don't have to eat the chicken to get sick. Anyone who works in the kitchen breathes in the grease and flour dust, which is very harmful. I hated working at KFC but it was the only employment I could find in a small town. I have medical records, permantly damaged lungs and the heart surgery scars to back up the allegations.
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