The California Attorney General has filed a lawsuit "has filed a lawsuit to force top makers of potato chips and french fries to warn consumers about a potential cancer-causing chemical found in the popular snacks."
The suit asks manufacturers [see extended entry] of these products [potato chips and similar potato products] to identify the dangers of high levels of acrylamide, a chemical that studies have found is created when starchy foods are cooked at high heat.
Studies found that starchy foods cooked at high temperatures contain low levels of acrylamide. High doses of this appear to cause cancer in laboratory animals. It has not been shown to have the same results on people who consume it at much lower levels.
Acrylamide is found in baked, fried or roasted foods including french fries, potato chips, "roasted asparagus, canned sweet potatoes and pumpkin, canned black olives, roasted nuts, coffee, roasted grain-based coffee substitutes, prune juice, breakfast cereals, crackers, cookies, breads, and toast."
Basically California is asking that potato products with a low level of acrylamide carry a warning about high levels of acrylamide. Other products and potato products made by smaller companies doesn't seem to be part of the lawsuit.
I know that because I'm from a red state in the south that it's God's will due to natural selection I'll never be as smart as those California folks. When they want to get something done, they don't let facts or lack of evidence get in the way. I might have said "don't feed your pet solely on a diet of potato chips and french fries", but I wouldn't have even done that, it seems fairly obvious already.
Defendents in the lawsuit:
Burger King Corporation, french fries
Cape Cod Potato Chips, Inc./Lance, Inc. (parent company), Cape Cod potato chips
Frito-Lay, Inc./PepsiCo, Inc., Lay’s potato chips/Lay’s baked potato chips
H.J. Heinz, Inc., Ore-Ida frozen potato products
Kettle Foods, Inc., Kettle Chips
KFC Corporation, KFC Potato Wedges
McDonald’s Corporation, french fries
Procter & Gamble Distributing Co./Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Co., Pringles
Wendy’s International, Inc., french fries