Fast-Food Chains Take Another Prop. 65 Hit– by Lana Beckett at Prop. 65 Clearinghouse

Excerpted from the full length article in Prop. 65 Clearinghouse:

Following up on two 60-day notices sent in February, Whitney Leeman has filed a complaint, Leeman v. Burger King, in Sacramento County Superior Court against fast food restaurants that allegedly sell flame broiled hamburgers containing polyclci aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

Leeman claims that Burger King and Carl’s Junior failed to warn customers of the carcinogens present in the cooked meat.

PAHs– made up of seven Prop. 65-listed chemicals– “are commonly found in barbecue smoke, including smoke produced when hamburger is flame-broiled,” the complaint said.

Unlike claims against fast food chains for acrylamide in their french fries [see Litigation Report, May 8] – which are subjected to high temperatures needed to cook such food– Leeman’s lawyer, Cliff Chanler of Hirst & Chanler, said there are methods available to reduce the PAH’s– which are produced when fat drips from the meat onto the hot flame-broiler creating smoke, or when the flames come into contact with the meat. link to source.