They’re Coming For Your Chicken
The junk science voodoo pronouncement of the day: CARCINOGENIC CHICKEN. RUN! HIDE!
The Washington-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) filed suit in California "to compel the restaurants to warn unsuspecting consumers" through in-store posters and menu messages.
The group said every sample of grilled chicken products from the seven national chains "tested positive for a dangerous carcinogenic compound called PhIP" during analysis at an independent laboratory.
PhIP is one of a group of carcinogenic compounds called heterocyclic amines (HCAs) that are found in grilled meats. In 2005, the US government officially added HCAs to its list of cancer-causing agents, the doctors' group said.
"Grilled chicken can cause cancer, and consumers deserve to know that this supposedly healthy product is actually just as bad for them as high-fat fried chicken," PCRM president Neal Barnard said in a statement.
"Even a grilled chicken salad increases the risk of breast cancer, prostate cancer and other forms of this lethal disease," he said.
Aside from McDonald's and Burger King, the chains named in the lawsuit were Chick-fil-A, Chili's, Applebee's, Outback Steakhouse and TGI Friday's.
The California Restaurant Association, which represents the major chains in the richest US state, dismissed the doctors' lawsuit as groundless and politically motivated.
"The PCRM are anti-meat advocates who want to limit consumer choice and limit access to healthy dining options, which grilled chicken most definitely is," association spokeswoman Jordan Traverso told AFP.
"There's no evidence that the small amount of PhIP that comes out from cooked grilled chicken poses a health risk to humans," she said, stressing that undercooked chicken was far more dangerous.
This is complete and utter nonsense. It is another attack of junk science spread through the media via lawsuit. The biggest problem with a lot of these issues is that the ability to detect incredibly small traces of certain substances does not mean that those substances pose any risk whatsoever. The measuring equipment is getting so sensitive that at some point soon they will be able to detect a single molecule of anything in anything else. Then we'll just have to ban everything.
Hell, let's cut out the middle man and ban physicians committees. It will just be easier.
Junk Science | Gaius Friday, 29 September , 2006
By syn, Friday, 29 September , 2006 @ 10:32 am
‘then we’ll just have to ban everything’
Isn’t this the collective objective, equality for all to live in a harmonious world?
Makes me glad the forefathers specifically wrote ‘LIBERTY and justice for all’.
By Dan, Friday, 29 September , 2006 @ 11:53 am
Slow news cycle?
By Gaius, Friday, 29 September , 2006 @ 11:55 am
It appears to be so far.
By tom scott, Friday, 29 September , 2006 @ 3:07 pm
It’s just retaliation for spinach.