Group Wants Warning Labels on Potato Chips (cancer) [View All]

[Karmadillo]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/state/la-me-potato17jun17,1,47365.story?coll=la-news-state

A California environmental group filed notices Thursday that it planned to sue food manufacturers to require them to put warnings on potato chips, which contain high amounts of a cancer-causing chemical formed when starchy foods are cooked at high temperatures.

The state's anti-toxics law, Proposition 65, requires companies to warn consumers about products containing chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects.

The Environmental Law Foundation reported Thursday that it tested a dozen types of potato chips, produced by Lay's, Kettle Chips, Cape Cod and Pringles, and that all of them contained excessive levels of acrylamide. For every product tested, a 1-ounce serving eaten daily exceeded levels that require a cancer warning under Proposition 65, the group reported.

One variety, Cape Cod Robust Russet, contained 6.5 parts per million, which is 910 times more acrylamide than the level that the state's environmental health agency has determined poses an unacceptable risk, the report says. That is almost twice as much as the second-highest level, reported for Kettle Chips Lightly Salted.

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