A new class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday in Connecticut alleges McDonald's,Burger King and Friendly's failed to warn customers that their grilled chicken could cause cancer.
The suit, filed by two Connecticut residents in the Superior Court of the State of Connecticut: Judicial District of Hartford, claims the chains failed to warn consumers that they're serving grilled poultry containing the compound PhIP, which the state of California considers to be a carcinogen. A similar lawsuit filed in California last month against KFC targeted the Colonel's Kentucky Grilled Chicken.
The Cancer Project, the nonprofit that filed the suit on behalf of the residents, says eating PhIP -- even in small amounts -- can increase one's risk of cancer.
"Consumers deserve to know that grilled chicken from McDonald's and other fast-food chains can increase your risk of cancer," Cancer Project President Dr. Neal D. Barnard said in a statement. "Even a grilled-chicken salad increases the risk of developing some cancers, including breast and prostate cancer."
But a McDonald's spokeswoman said customer "safety and well-being" is a "top priority."
"Scientific research shows that PhIP is naturally occurring, and is created when chicken is grilled -- whether at home -- or in a restaurant. It may be present at low concentrations in oven-broiled, pan-fried, and grilled meats, as a result of normal cooking," Cynthia Goody, McDonald's nutrition director, said. "There is no scientific evidence to suggest the small amount of PhIP that can be created as a by-product of cooking methods humans have employed for thousands of years, poses a health risk.
"Like other restaurant companies and food establishments, at McDonald's, we continue to look to the FDA and USDA for their guidance on PhIP," her statement continued. "Beyond that, because this is a pending legal matter, it would be inappropriate to further comment or speculate."
McDonald's at Chicago's Navy Pier. Photo: jwrb,Flickr.
A Chicago man has filed a lawsuit against McDonald's Corporation after he says he swallowed a gold earring in his sandwich.
The man purchased the sandwich on Aug. 11 from the McDonald's at Chicago's Navy Pier, according to the suit filed on Wednesday in the circuit court of Cook County, Ill.
Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck has been sued over his attempt to develop the .food domain in cyberspace.
Minds+Machines, a company that had partnered with the Spago restaurant owner on the project, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Tuesday alleging breach of contract as well as tortious interference and fraud on the part of Puck's wife, Gelila. The suit demands $5 million from the Pucks.
Earlier this year, Wolfgang Puck and Gelila Puck had announced their partnership with the company to develop .food Internet addresses.
"This is a great way for the finest food enterprises to stand out from the crowd on the Internet," Puck said in June. "Owning a .FOOD address is like opening a business on the best street in any city in the world."
McDonald's has been sued by a Minnesota burger joint over the use of the phrase "Who's Your Patty?" Lions Tap of Eden Prairie, Minn., has filed a copyright suit in U.S. District Court over the Golden Arches' use of the phrase in conjunction with their Angus Third Pounder burger advertisements, Nation's Restaurant News reports.
Lions Tap, which has been serving up burgers since 1958, registered the phrase with the state of Minnesota four years ago, according to the court documents.
Denny's menu features items that "are dangerously high in sodium," according to the class action lawsuit filed by a New Jersey man with the support of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nutrition and food safety nonprofit group.
Nick DeBenedetto, of Tinton Falls, N.J., a 48-year-old on medication for high-blood pressure, filed the suit Thursday in the New Jersey Superior Court in Middlesex County.
"Denny's menu deceptively presents various items as single meals to be consumed by one individual without disclosing that they contain substantially more sodium (in some cases two or three times more) than the maximum recommended amount for all meals consumed by an individual during a given day," his complaint states.
Denny's Corporation, based out of Spartanburg, S.C., told the Los Angeles Times the suit is "frivolous and without merit."
Last month, a judge in California dismissed a claim brought by a woman who believed PepsiCo, the parent company of Cap'N Crunch manufacturer Quaker Oaks, had misled "reasonable consumers" with its colorful Crunch Berries.
"Plaintiff contends that the colorful Crunchberries, combined with use of the word 'berry' in the Product name, convey the message that Cap'n Crunch is not all sugar and starch, but contains redeeming fruit," the opinion says.
Find out what Judge Morrison C. England Jr. thought after the jump.
Does anyone remember McDonald's coming out with some Happy Meal toys last year that were "American Idol" inspired? Apparently the toys were meant to represent musical genres, with named like Disco Dave and Rockin' Riley. I don't, but Devo was certainly aware of it.
According to Rolling Stone's music blog, Rock and Roll Daily, the 80's new wave band is suing the fast food giant because one of the toys, New Wave Nigel, is looks incredibly similar to what the band looked like in the early 1980's right down to the red hat. That wouldn't be a problem, except Devo had the hat, called the energy dome, copyrighted and trade marked.
According to Devo, they were never approached by McDonald's, and they are quite upset about it. I can't wait to hear about what happens next.
There is a huge piracy problem in China. Lots of western companies find that they can't sell their product in China because there is already a Chinese clone of the product. This was a big problem for Ferrero Rocher, that is until recently.
The chocolate maker just won a long-fought lawsuit in China's Supreme Court against a Chinese company that copied Ferrero Rocher's famous, gold wrapped pralines. Montresor, the Chinese chocolate maker that was copying Ferrero Rocher, was ordered not only to stop but also to pay a token fine of €50,000.
A lot of people see this as welcome news. It could mean that China may be ready to adopt more fair marketing practices. I am all for local competition to global brands, but I think a copy cat company shouldn't be allowed to just piggy back on a famous product. The name brand put a lot of work into the brand that they've built. Like it or hate it, I think a company should profit on its own merits. Good luck, Ferrero Rocher.
You had to know it was only a matter of time before this happened. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has filed a lawsuit against Coca-Cola and Nestlé for weight-loss claims and labeling of their latest product, Enviga. As Sarah wrote back in October, the sparkling green tea has been marketed as having "negative calories" and is labeled as "the calorie burner".
CSPI's mission is to protect consumers by stopping deceptive advertising and labeling of products. The non-profit organization had their team of scientists review the claims made by Enviga and responded by saying the product is a "highly caffeinated and over-priced diet soda, and is exactly the kind of faddy, phony diet aid it claims not to be."
Have any of you tried Enviga? Would this news cause you to stop drinking it, or do you believe in (or have seen results of) the product's ability to actually burn calories?
The words "all natural" on the packaging of Capri Sun juice drinks have prompted a Florida woman to file a lawsuit against Kraft Foods, Inc., the drink's producer, the Associated Press reported. Assisted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Linda Rex of Boynton Beach, Fla., claims that the inclusion of high fructose corn syrup is what makes the drink in the little silver pouch less than "all natural." You might remember the CSPI from when they filed and then withdrew lawsuits against Kentucky Fried Chicken over trans-fat use last year, or for their similar actions against Starbucks. A recent press release from CSPI points out that the organization has also challenged 7UP's use of the word "natural." A statement from Kraft says that the "all natural" label was already on the way out and will soon be replaced with packaging that claims "no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives,'' the AP reported. CSPI's always-witty executive director Michael Jacobson, coiner of phrases such as "venti-sized health problems" and "Kentucky Fried coronary," said HCFS "would more accurately be called 'Fresh from the Factory.'"
A woman in Los Angeles is suing Kraft Foods because the avocado dip she bought wasn't really guacamole. Or, in her exact words, "it didn't taste avocadoey." She's seeking damages and wants to force Kraft from calling the dip "guacamole." Kraft says that they aren't deceiving anyone because the labels list the ingredients. However, they have decided to change the labels, to point out a little bit clearer that the dip is only "guacamole-flavored." Hmmm...should they change before the lawsuit is brought to a judge? Isn't that sort of admitting at least a little guilt, that you can see their point and you're changing the label? (I'm probably wrong on that. All I know about law is what I get watching reruns of Ed.)
I hate when my guacamole isn't "avocadoey" enough. It's the same thing when I get a Caesar's salad and it's not anchoviriffic, or when I buy banana bread and it's not bananatastic.
An Indianapolis couple, Michael and Alexis Brennan, is suing Starbucks, claiming that they served their daughter a cup of hot chocolate, which subsequently spilled and left her with serious burns. The daughter, whose age was not given, but was young enough to fit in a car seat, was said to have been riding strapped into that car seat in the back of the car when she spilled the drink. The mother stopped the car and got out to discover that the "skin on [her] leg was falling off of her."
Starbucks is supposed to serve their kids sized drinks at about 20 degrees less than their standard temperature, putting those drinks at about 140F or so, which is hot, but not incredibly so when you consider the size of the cup and the fact that they are often topped with an inch or more of cold whipped cream, as this particular drink was. The baristas can make it at a lower temperature if requested. A high percentage of parents test the temperature of their kids' drinks by taking a sip themselves, but Ms. Brennan only subjected the drink to a visual inspection before handing it to her daughter. A small child holding a drink of any kind in the backseat of a moving car, especially if he or she is small enough to have to be confined to a car seat, sounds like a recipe for disaster, regardless of whether the drink is hot or not. The parents are, of course, seeking (unspecified) damages.
In Washington DC, a group of 10 consumers have filed a lawsuit on behalf of all the citizens in the district who are lactose intolerant and don't know it. They are demanding that the defendants in the case, which include supermarkets like Safeway, put warning labels on milk cartons, stating that milk could cause health problems in people who are lactose intolerant.
This seems fairly obvious, but the plaintiffs insist that most people don't know that they are lactose intolerant - the onset is gradual and can occur any time in life - and continue to experience negative side effects from the ingestion of dairy.
Fortunately for dairy producers, sellers and even milk drinkers, their case brought an unfavorable ruling by the US District Court that heard it, though the group plans to appeal. Dairy producers seem to think that labels would hurt sales, but if people are not put off by experiencing negative side effects such as abdominal pain and other gastrointestinal disturbances, it doesn't seem all that likely that most consumers would alter their buying habits when it comes to milk.
The UK's Evening Standard newspaper claimed that parts of one of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey's shows were faked. Specifically, they made accusations that the restaurant kitchens pictured on Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares were actually normal kitchens, up to code, that were made to look like the "health hazards" that Ramsay said they were. The paper also speculated that Ramsey had resorted to other tricks to make the kitchens he was supposed to be renovating appear to be poorly run.
Ramsey sued, accusing the paper of libel and falsely defaming him. And he won.
With their claims proven to be untrue in a court of law, the Standard has agreed to pay $138,000 to Ramsey in damages and to publish a public apology in the paper. Ramsey said, "I won't let people write anything they want to about me. Even I have limits and on this occasion the line was crossed."
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."
There is a huge piracy problem in China. Lots of western companies find that they can't sell their product in China because there is already a Chinese clone of the product. This was a 
You had to know it was only a matter of time before this happened. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has 
The words "all natural" on the packaging of Capri Sun juice drinks have prompted a Florida woman to file a lawsuit against Kraft Foods, Inc., the drink's producer, the 
Now I've heard everything.
An Indianapolis couple, Michael and Alexis Brennan, is 
In Washington DC, a group of 10 consumers have filed a lawsuit on behalf of all the citizens in the district who are 
The UK's Evening Standard newspaper claimed that parts of one of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey's shows were faked. Specifically, they made accusations that the restaurant kitchens pictured on Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares were actually normal kitchens, up to code, that were made to look like the "health hazards" that Ramsay said they were. The paper also speculated that Ramsey had resorted to other tricks to make the kitchens he was supposed to be renovating appear to be poorly run.
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 
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