The Cancer Project in America has sued McDonald’s, Burger King and Friendly Ice Cream Corp over the sale of chicken containing PhIP, a chemical which forms during the grilling process, that can cause cancer. The companies were accused of concealing the fact that the grilled chicken contained PhIP to avoid financial losses.

From Bloomberg:-

The residents who filed the Connecticut suit, Rebecca Delio, of Stamford, and Mary-Ann Ellison, of Meriden, want the court to force the companies to include warnings in their restaurants, menus and advertisements that the food is known to contain chemicals that cause cancer.

Delio ate grilled chicken from one of the three companies’ restaurants once a week, and Ellison four times a month at a McDonald’s in Wallingford, according to the complaint. Both stopped buying the grilled chicken about a year ago when they learned of the cancer risk, they said in the complaint.

Delio, 66, was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago, she said in a phone interview. She can’t blame her diagnosis on eating grilled chicken, she said. “It’s a possibility,” she said, adding that cancer runs in her family.

“I happen to like grilled chicken,” Delio said. “I checked it out on the Internet, and I learned that this is true, that grilled stuff is really no good for you.”

Ellison’s boyfriend was diagnosed with colon cancer, Kinburn said. He has other medical issues and the couple turned to grilled-chicken salads for what they thought would be healthful meals, the lawyer said.

A spokesperson for the Cancer Project said “We’re not looking to have them stop selling the product. The product is a legal though dangerous product that should be sold with a warning, like a chainsaw.” Burger King has apparently agreed to put warning on the product in its California outlets.

In a separate case last month, KFC was also accused of knowingly selling chicken that contained PhIP.

Read the Bllomberg report here.

Could Piers Morgan get any more revolting? Yes, apparently so.

Morgan, the former editor of the Daily Mirror and News of the World, has decided to front Burger King’s new fragrance, Flame - “The scent of seduction. With a hint of flame-grilled meat.”

He’s not exactly a likeable character as it is and I can’t imagine smelling like a charred dead animal is going to do his sex appeal any favours.

And before you think, blimey he’s not got a bad body for his age, his face was superimposed on the body of a male model - who no doubt doesn’t gorge himself on burgers.

A Guardian reader commented that this ad campaign is the “best advertisement for vegetarianism in the history of eating”. Let’s hope so!

As a bid to cut their carbon footprint, the NHS has pledged to provide more meat-free meals.

Dr David Pencheon, director of the NHS sustainable development unit, told the Guardian “we should not expect to see meat on every menu. We’d like higher levels of fresh food, and probably higher levels of fresh fruit and veg, and more investment in a local economy.” This is terrific news not only for the environment but also for the nation’s health.

A Which? survey in 2007 found that one in three people were unhappy with hospital food. A quarter of the 1000 patients surveyed said the food was so bad they had to buy their own; one patient also reported their horror at being served pie and chips when they could hardly even manage to drink fluids due to tonsillitis and an abscess.

As if the food served in the hospital canteens are not bad enough (often serving pizzas, pies, chips and burgers) there are even some hospitals which have a Burger King within the grounds, such as Southampton general hospital, Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge, Mayday University hospital in Croydon and Rotherham general hospital. Visiting these hospitals could actually increase your risk of life-threatening conditions such as heart disease and cancer!

Has your hospital visit increased your risk of disease?

Considering the release of the World Cancer Research Fund report in 2007 which gave the stern warning that there is no safe level of processed meat consumption with regards to cancer risk, it is shocking to discover that any hospital would allow a Burger King outlet anywhere near their patients. In particular, Addenbrooke Hospital has an Oncology Centre, linked with six other cancer units in the region.

So, let’s hope that this news from the NHS will result in lots of fresh, healthy fruit, vegetables and whole grains appearing on hospital plates from now on, and happier, faster healing patients as a consequence (not to mention a healthier planet as well of course).

Find out more about food choices that are sustainable, equitable and environmentally responsible.

New research from the University of Hawaii has revealed America’s fast food chain’s dependence on corn.

The researchers bouht 486 servings of hamburgers, fries and chicken sandwiches from McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s in 6 cities in the USA.

Testing in the lab revealed that 100% of the chicken and 93% of the beef came from animals fed on a corn-only diet. Only 12 burgers in the experiment came from cows who had not eaten a corn-only diet.

Friends of the Earth fear that as more corn is diverted to the production of biofuels, more farmers will turn to soy for animal feed. The emphasis continues to be on the impact of biofuels on food security whilst the unsustainable use of  corn and soy as animal feed continues to be ignored. Some people will find it near impossible to stop using their cars because of living in the countryside with poor public transport links or due to a job which involves travelling.  But we can all cut out animal products from our diet and make a significant difference that way.

Read full article in New Scientist.