The news this week that two California environmental groups are to sue the nation's top sellers of French fries over acrylamide warnings could be a harbinger of difficult times for the food industry. A recent government study in Sweden ignited the issue when scientists found high levels of acrylamide, a carcinogen, in fatty starchy foods cooked at high temperatures, such as French fries.
Questions reverberated between the food industry, consumer organisations and government bodies and eventually the World Health Organisation called a meeting last month of global food safety experts to discuss the issue. They concluded that more research was required in order to come up with some firm conclusions.
According to a report this week in the LA Times the two environmental groups hope to use the 1986 state law to force McDonald's and Burger King to put a warning on their packaging in California, or reformulate their fries.
One of the two groups - Southern California-based Environmental World Watch - is seeking similar action from grocery manufacturers whose products have been found to contain high levels of acrylamide.
"We hope this is going to erupt into a full-scale investigation on the part of the food industry to determine the source of the carcinogen, "said Robert J. Mandell, a Northridge attorney representing Environmental World Watch.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not issued any warnings on acrylamide but it has launched a new round of research to determine which foods contain high levels of the suspected carcinogen and how it is formed.
Despite the difference s in food legislation that exist from country to country it is clear that food companies across the world will be keen to discover the outcome of the legal case. Will other environmental groups follow? Is this just the tip of the iceberg? For both the consumer and the food industry it is essential that firm scientific findings on the presence of acrylamide in food are established as quickly as possible.