An Acton teen was left with second-degree burns Saturday after having an epileptic seizure inside a KFC outlet and landing face-down in her piping-hot poutine.
Her irate father told the Sun Monday he’s not after a multi-million dollar lawsuit, he just wants to speak out to warn others and perhaps get the Colonel to turn the temperature down on the cheese and gravy.
Granted, this isn’t that different from the famous Liebeck McDonald’s coffee case — it does sound as if KFC’s poutine is dangerously hot, and while making it tepid and lukewarm would be a major overcompensation, what value is there in serving something so hot that it can’t be safely consumed for several minutes anyway?
CORRECTION: Earlier I wrote that the parents were suing KFC, but that is what happens when I hastily misread an article with an American mindset. They actually aren’t suing KFC, they’re just seeking to politely ask KFC to turn down the temperature on the poutine. Of course, that was the first course of action taken in the Liebeck case (with the addition that she wanted McDonalds to cover her medical expenses, but of course Canada has social medicine so that’s probably not even applicable here – any Canadians care to explain?), but some combination of “McDonalds” and “in America” made it have to blow up into a gigantic lawsuit. Mea culpa.
If this had been somebody suing over a strawberry allergy when they ate a strawberry shortcake, they would simply be laughed out of court, right? I see this as no difference. Also, I have to take issue with Consumerist trying to characterize it as some sort of mad science experiment being foisted on an unknowing public; just because Quorn is “grown in a vat” doesn’t make it any more evil than any other cultivated product, and just because it’s a fungus doesn’t make it worse than mushrooms (which are also a fungus).
Maybe we could solve this by requiring that every food, everywhere, have a label on it saying “WARNING: may cause allergies” and “WARNING: food comes from places that aren’t the grocery store.”
Say it isn’t so! A recent study out of the University of Carolina at Chapel Hill cites what animal studies have hinted at for years: MSG (aka monosodium glutamate) could be a factor in weight gain.
The study focused on 750 Chinese men and women, ages 40-59, living in 3 rural villages in north and south China. Most of the study subjects prepared their meals at home without commercially processed foods and roughly 82 percent used MSG. Those participants who used the highest amounts of MSG had nearly 3 times the incidence of overweight as those who did not use MSG, even when physical activity, total caloric intake, and other possible explanations for body mass differences were accounted for. The positive correlation between MSG and higher weight confirmed what animal studies have been suggesting for years.