An old story/myth/paranoia/rumor/feeling, "fried food is bad," that
won't go away, damneit:

"Everything that's fun & tasty is immoral, fattening, or causes C,"
according to (who? maybe H.L. Mencken?)

copyrighted by the washington post 2005

Alert Issued on Fried-Food Chemical
WHO Cites Risk in Acrylamide, Linked to Cancer in Rats
Reuters
Saturday, March 5, 2005; Page A10

GENEVA, March 4 -- The World Health Organization said Friday that
people should eat less food containing acrylamide, a chemical
associated with fried foods that has caused cancer in laboratory rats.

WHO called on governments to urge the food industry to "lower
significantly" the acrylamide content in foods such as french fries,
potato chips, coffee and grain-based products including bread.

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Studies by Swedish scientists in 2002 first drew attention to potential
risks posed by acrylamide, which can form at high temperatures during
frying, roasting or baking. At the time, the U.N. health agency called
for more research after other studies suggested people did not eat
enough of the chemical in their daily diet to pose a significant risk.

After the latest meeting of a committee of experts, WHO said there
might be cause for concern but it could be several more years before
the situation is fully clear.

"Consumption of foods with this contaminant at current levels of
occurrence may be a public health concern," it said in a statement
posted on its Web site. "This conclusion was based on a conservative
evaluation, according to the committee, which noted that there is still
considerable uncertainty about the mechanism of the toxicity of
acrylamide."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it was reviewing the WHO
report and plans to release new data this spring on acrylamide levels
in Americans' diet.

Because amounts can vary dramatically in the same foods, depending on
factors such as cooking temperature and time, it was impossible to
issue recommendations about how much of a specific food is safe to eat,
WHO said.

© 2005 The Washington Post Company