The Warning Label We Need

An October 6, 2005 article by John Luik on TechCentralStation about the California attorney general's suit against foods containing acrylamide noted ACSH president Dr. Elizabeth Whelan's summary of the issue:

Indeed, if Lockyer's approach of warning about naturally-occurring carcinogens like acrylamide that do not pose a health hazard were to become standard practice, then virtually all supermarket foods would have to carry some warning. "Nature abounds in chemicals that cause cancer at high dose in animal tests, including hydrazines in mushrooms, the safrole in black pepper, and alfatoxins in peanut products," says Elizabeth Whelan of the American Council on Science and Health. "If we were to label every food containing something that causes cancer in rodents, few foods would be spared. A supermarket, with everything labeled, might as well have 'abandon all hope ye who enter here' emblazoned on its welcome mat."