Public knowledge of the serious dangers found in potato chips may finally be surfacing. The California-based Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) has filed notices with the state's attorney general against potato chip manufacturers:

• Lay's potato chip maker PepsiCo Inc.
• Pringles maker Proctor & Gamble Co.
• Cape Cod potato chip parent Lance Inc.
• Kettle Chips maker Kettle Foods Inc.

... that would require them to place labels on their products warning consumers about the high levels of acrylamide found inside. Acrylamide is formed when starchy foods are baked or fried at high temperatures and is considered a cancer-causing chemical by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

Manufacturers who sell their products without such warnings are in violation of California law, California Proposition 65.

The attorney general's office has 60 days to decide to pursue the case; if the state declines, the ELF will file lawsuits against the companies.

What Do the Chip Makers Have to Say?

The reaction from the chip makers was on the defensive ... though the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) wavering position on the dangers of acrylamide certainly doesn't help.

Perhaps the FDA should review the report developed by the ELF that listed just how far various chip brands exceeded the state's required warning levels for acrylamide. The offenders include:

• Cape Cod Robust Russet: 910 times
• Kettle Chips (lightly salted): 505 times
• Kettle Chips (honey dijon): 495 times
• Pringles Snack Stacks (pizza-flavored): 170 times
• Lay's Baked: 150 times

Chew on that ...

Reuters June 17, 2005

Environmental Law Foundation June 16, 2005