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.
Of course, anyone expecting genuine chicken flavor from Kentucky “Battered in MSG and fried in trans fats” Chicken probably would be disappointed no matter what they did.
Incidentally, this led me to finally look at their ingredients statement, and basically the only things on their menu which don’t contain MSG are things like “Caesar salad with no dressing or croutons,” which I think is more properly called “a bowl of lettuce.”
While on the surface I don’t have a problem with the tax in general, I really would prefer if they didn’t have an exemption for diet sodas. Diet sodas aren’t inherently any healthier than non-diet ones; while they are non-caloric, they apparently still cause the same insulin response as sugar sodas, and it’s that which leads to weight gain and health problems.
In addition, the inclusion of “sports drinks” is rather puzzling. Sports drinks are generally used in conjunction with healthy activities, and they actually help people to perform those activities better even when spat out. Okay, so people could get around the tax by drinking Gatorade instead of Coke, but Gatorade also doesn’t have the addictive properties that Coke has (generally it doesn’t even taste that good unless you need the hydration, unlike Coke which is formulated specifically to make you crave more).