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[news.yahoo.com]

US fast-food chains sued over carcinogenic chicken

Thu Sep 28, 12:03 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US doctors' group has sued seven leading fast-food chains including McDonald's and Burger King over their use of a "dangerous carcinogenic" in grilled chicken.

The Washington-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) filed suit in California Thursday "to compel the restaurants to warn unsuspecting consumers".

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 meat. 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.

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Well is it something they add to the chicken or does all grilling cause this substance to be released? I've read in the past that those blackened marks on grilled meat are carcinogenic, that possibly all grilled meat is carcinogenic.

I don't think litigation is the answer and I hope the suit is eventually dismissed because really general ignorance is to blame but at least a crazy lawsuit brings these problems to the forefront and will hopefully generate mainstream debate.

all grilling causes these substances to be created, but i see how the author was a bit misleading on that point when he said [their use of a "dangerous carcinogenic" in grilled chicken.]

i dont think it's a crazy lawsuit. sometimes ignorance is solely to blame, but corporations have massive influence over society and they need to be put in check. the best way to change things is to hit them where it hurts.