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Old 06-16-2006, 09:51 AM   #1  
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Default KFC Sued... Again

KFC Sued for Fattening Menu
Group Says High Levels of Trans Fat is Harming Consumers' Health
By BHARATHI RADHAKRISHNAN, ABC News Medical Unit
June 13, 2006 — - The fast food chain KFC is being sued for the fat content in its fried chicken, which Center for Science in the Public Interest says contains "staggering amounts" of trans fat.

One three-piece Extra Crispy combo meal has 15 grams of trans fat, which is more trans fat than a person should have in one week, says the CSPI.

"The class-action suit... asks that the court prohibit KFC from using partially hydrogenated oil, or that at the very least, signs be posted in KFC outlets notifying customers that many KFC foods are high in trans fat," said a CSPI press release. The suit was filed in Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

"Unlike McDonalds, where fries are a side dish, here the main item on the menu has staggering amounts of trans fat," said Jeff Cronin, CSPI's communications director.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, trans fat is made when vegetable oil is hydrogenated, or when hydrogen is added to it. This process increases the shelf life and flavor stability of these foods.

However, KFC spokesperson Laurie Schalow issued a statement saying that the suit was frivolous and lacked merit.

"We take health and safety issues very seriously," the statement said. "We provide a variety of menu choices and provide nutrition information, including trans fat values, on our website and in our restaurants so consumers can make informed choices before they purchase our products."

Her statement also said that the company is "reviewing alternative oil options, but there are a number of factors to consider including maintaining KFC's unique taste and flavor of Colonel Sanders' Original Recipe, supply availability and transportation, among others."

Many clinical trials have shown how unhealthy trans fats are, said Dr. Meir Stampfer, chair of the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health.

"These include raising LDL (the bad) cholesterol, lowering HDL (the good) cholesterol, increasing weight, and impairing insulin resistance."

However, not everyone thinks a lawsuit is the answer to getting Americans to consume fewer trans fats.

"Legislation to achieve this makes more sense than litigation," said Dr. David Katz, associate professor of Public Health and Director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine and an ABC News contributor. "While I think it's too extreme to sue food companies over everything that is wrong with product composition, it does help get their attention."

Katz said that warning labels may help alert consumers about the health risks in certain foods. If warning labels are placed on ingredients that are unnecessary and potentially harmful, then trans fat would be one such ingredient that needs such a label, he said.

However, "If you put a skull and crossbones warning on every fast food package containing trans fats, that might help get the message to consumers, but the responsibility to ensure a safe food supply rests with the FDA," said Joanne Shearer, a registered dietician and team leader of the Food and Nutrition Services at Avera Heart Hospital of South Dakota. Many experts also believe in the importance of educating the public.

"A warning label is not enough. People need to be educated and understand why eating foods with high levels of trans fat is unhealthy," said Lona Sandon, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and an assistant professor of Clinical Nutrition at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

In the long run, this may have the biggest impact, Katz said.

"The best way to change what the food industry does is to change consumer demand [since] demand trumps supply," he said.

Copyright © 2006 ABC News Internet Ventures
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Old 06-16-2006, 09:56 AM   #2  
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Her statement also said that the company is "reviewing alternative oil options, but there are a number of factors to consider including maintaining KFC's unique taste and flavor of Colonel Sanders' Original Recipe, supply availability and transportation, among others."

Did Colonel Sanders' Original Recipe contain trans-fats...

What these people say really shows them up as a bunch of money grabbers.
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Old 06-17-2006, 07:15 AM   #3  
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"The best way to change what the food industry does is to change consumer demand [since] demand trumps supply"

This will be the biggest challenge.

Frustrated, I also would bet against Sanders using transfats in his original recipe. Even I can do the math.
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Old 06-17-2006, 08:45 AM   #4  
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It's always going to be the case that public opinion has to swing against outlets like these before any real change would occur.
The only reason they do things the way they do is because they make profit- if there is a higher demand for better and healthier foods, they will change. They'll have to, or face the end of their business empire.
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Old 06-17-2006, 09:30 AM   #5  
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""We take health and safety issues very seriously," the statement said."







Sure they do!!! So do the tobacco companies!!
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Old 06-17-2006, 10:45 AM   #6  
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Oh my god...fried chicken is BAD for you?!

What a stupid lawsuit. Honestly, it's like the kid who got fat and sued McDonald's--it's no newsflash that fast food is unhealthy, let alone fried fast food. I don't think it warrants a lawsuit. If people keep eating that garbage all the time and die of a heart attack, then that is due to their own lack of personal responsibility, not KFC's choice of oil.
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Old 06-17-2006, 11:04 AM   #7  
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Jill you are so on the money!!! People just liek blaming others for thier poor choices!!! It's not the drug dealers fault that you use drugs... it's yours for using.. in this case the drug is "fat"!! Isn't great that we live in a counrty were we can voice our thougths, make our own choices and eat what we want to eat!!! DON'T GO TO KFC IF YOU DON'T WANT TO EAT FRIED CHICKEN!!! YOUR CHOICE!!!
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Old 06-17-2006, 11:22 AM   #8  
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KFC has always been one of my weaknesses, but the moment i got serious about being healthy, it came right off my list of "acceptable" food. i haven't been there since. it really didn't take a big ole lawsuit to tell me that their food isn't conducive to my continued good health, but it's funny what this sort of thing makes them say in response.
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Old 06-17-2006, 05:54 PM   #9  
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DON'T GO TO KFC IF YOU DON'T WANT TO EAT FRIED CHICKEN!!! YOUR CHOICE!!!
While I agree that this lawsuit is taking up valuable time and money in our courts at least it has transfats in the news and gets people talking more about them.

Fried foods are not the best choice if we are looking for healthy foods. But neither is cake or icecream or many other foods that we like to eat in moderation.

If I want cake or bread... I'd like to know that it was made with the healthiest ingredients possible.
Likewise if someone wanted fried chicken, it would be nice to know that it was made in a healthier oil.. like peanut oil... not the Frankenstein transfats that they are cooked in now at KFC..
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Old 06-17-2006, 07:24 PM   #10  
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I'd like to point out that it is quite likely that the original recipe did have trans fats - lots of southern cooks fry their chicken in shortening, not oil, which is, in fact, loaded with trans fats.

Healthy, no. But it is entirely possible that the original recipe did, in fact, call for shortening, as do quite a few traditional Southern fried chicken recipes.
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Old 06-17-2006, 08:03 PM   #11  
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Originally Posted by Jayde
If I want cake or bread... I'd like to know that it was made with the healthiest ingredients possible.
Likewise if someone wanted fried chicken, it would be nice to know that it was made in a healthier oil.. like peanut oil... not the Frankenstein transfats that they are cooked in now at KFC..
But you would check to see, and that's the point. If people cared enough about whether or not their fried chicken had trans fats, they would check the website or ask for the nutritional information in the restaurant. I would be willing to bet you a million dollars that every KFC in the country could put up a giant lit-up sign saying that all of their food was loaded with trans fats, and they still would not go out of business because most of their clientele really don't care. Sad, but true, I think.
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Old 06-18-2006, 10:15 AM   #12  
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But you would check to see, and that's the point. If people cared enough about whether or not their fried chicken had trans fats, they would check the website or ask for the nutritional information in the restaurant. I would be willing to bet you a million dollars that every KFC in the country could put up a giant lit-up sign saying that all of their food was loaded with trans fats, and they still would not go out of business because most of their clientele really don't care. Sad, but true, I think.
I agree, Jillybean. But only 3 years ago KFC launched an advertising campaign touting its chicken as part of a healthy eating lifestyle. That is what really gets my goat.

As for the Original Recipe. ... only the Colonel knows.. but since he was born in 1890, transfats were invented at the turn of the Century but not marketed until 1911 and even then it took a while to catch on, the Colonel began his first restaurant in 1939, itt is quite possible that he did use "Crisco".. but I'd like to think that in the 20 years he was alive before transfats were even available he watched his family cook traditional Southern dishes with other oils. Of course it is possible that by the time he started cooking Crisco had taken hold in his community if so, you couldn't call it tradition.. it was new then. I would bet though that if he did use a different oil that when his franchise exploded around the country in the 1950's trans fats were just what the doctor... ahem Colonel ordered.
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Old 06-18-2006, 10:40 AM   #13  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jayde
I agree, Jillybean. But only 3 years ago KFC launched an advertising campaign touting its chicken as part of a healthy eating lifestyle. That is what really gets my goat.
And people are supposed to be stupid enough to believe that? If they are, whose fault is it if they don't bother checking things out? THEIRS
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Old 06-23-2006, 09:59 AM   #14  
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This is going to sound cruel, but I stand by my point.

If a person is stupid enough to believe that fried foods are ok in a diet and will not lead to health problems, then that person should NOT be protected by the government and should be taken out of the gene pool.

A person I once knew said that in his country, drugs are not mandated as much as they are here. Many antibiotics that are prescribed here are available sans prescription in his country. Their thinking is: If someone is stupid enough to O/D after reading package instructions, then honestly they should suffer. I'm with it - cruel as it sounds.
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Old 06-23-2006, 11:14 AM   #15  
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This is going to sound cruel, but I stand by my point.

If a person is stupid enough to believe that fried foods are ok in a diet and will not lead to health problems, then that person should NOT be protected by the government and should be taken out of the gene pool.

A person I once knew said that in his country, drugs are not mandated as much as they are here. Many antibiotics that are prescribed here are available sans prescription in his country. Their thinking is: If someone is stupid enough to O/D after reading package instructions, then honestly they should suffer. I'm with it - cruel as it sounds.
I don't think you sound cruel at all--I completely agree. If people are stupid enough to believe corporate advertising, then they're stupid enough to cause their own heart attacks.
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