-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">
</A> -Cui Bono?-
What was that about 50% of KFC chickens having cancer in the according to
the Col?
Colleen heard any more? Also don't know if this below is true or not but
someone else posted it elsewhere so throwing it in.
Nicky (vegan)
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/food/kfc.htm
Claim: KFC restaurants no longer use the word 'chicken' to describe their
product because they serve meat from genetically engineered animals that the
government will no longer permit to be referred to as 'chickens.'
Status: False.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 1999]
KFC has been a part of our American traditions for many years. Many people,
day in and day out, eat at KFC religiously. Do they really know what they
are eating? During a recent study of KFC done at the University of New
Hampshire, they found some very upsetting facts.
First of all, has anybody noticed that just recently, the company has
changed their name? Kentucky Fried Chicken has become KFC. Does anybody know
why? We thought the real reason was because of the "FRIED" food issue. It's
not. The reason why they call it KFC is because they can not use the word
chicken anymore. Why? KFC does not use real chickens. They actually use
genetically manipulated organisms. These so called "chickens" are kept alive
by tubes inserted into their bodies to pump blood and nutrients throughout
their structure. They have no beaks, no feathers, and no feet. Their bone
structure is dramatically shrunk to get more meat out of them. This is great
for KFC because they do not have to pay so much for their production costs.
There is no more plucking of the feathers or the removal of the beaks and
feet. The government has told them to change all of their menus so they do
not say chicken anywhere. If you look closely you will notice this. Listen
to their commercials, I guarantee you will ot see or hear the word chicken.
I find this matter to be very disturbing. I hope people will start to
realize this and let other people know. Please forward this message to as
many people as you can. Together we make KFC start using real chicken again.
Origins: Every fast food chain gets its own urban legend these days, from
claims of worms in McDonald's hamburgers to roaches in Taco Bell tacos to
snakes in Burger King's ball pits, we're determined to demonize corporate
purveyors of cheap, industrial food products. It appears to be KFC's turn in
the spotlight again (their original legend about the fried rat having become
a bit long in the tooth), and they have become the proud owners of a legend
intended to reflect another modern fear: genetically engineered food.
Versions of this legend have been circulating for several years now, as
indicated by the e-mail's reference to Kentucky Fried Chicken's "recent"
name change, an event that occurred back in 1991. Earlier versions of the
tale featured six-legged chickens ("How do they taste?" "Dunno; no one's
ever been able to catch one") or birds so plumped up by chemicals that their
gigantic breasts made it impossible for them to keep their balance well
enough to walk.
It's easy to see why this legend has suddenly made such a strong resurgence.
Our continual progress in understanding and manipulating the genetic codes
of plants and animals has fueled debate over the environmental and health
concerns raised by the creation and growth of transgenic food crops and the
marketing of food products derived from animals that have been given
artificial hormones. Additionally, to those who already feel that our
killing and eating other animals is morally wrong, this legend highlights
the complete disregard most humans hold for the rights of animals and the
increasingly inhumane conditions under which food animals are raised. "The
government that's supposed to be looking out for our health and safety
doesn't really care about us" theme also makes an appearance here: a private
company has supposedly created a genetically altered form of an animal that
is raised and eaten by the hundreds of millions every year, and all the
government has done about the situation is to require them to stop using the
word 'chicken' to describe this product?
Nothing like the Frankensteinian laboratory scenario described here is
taking place, however. Raising chickens that have been genetically modified
so that they are born without beaks, feathers, or feet or have extra-large
breasts and additional legs is still beyond the reach of modern science for
the time being, nor did the University of New Hampshire perform a "study of
KFC." As well, the claims about Kentucky Fried Chicken's name change are
easily belied:
Links on KFC's web site (such as the About KFC page, the KFC Delivery page,
and the KFC Nutrition Facts pages) clearly describe their product as
"chicken" numerous times, something they could hardly get away with if the
government were prohibiting them from using that word. And the KFC web site
can also be reached through the domain name kentuckyfriedchicken.com.
KFC no more raises their own chickens than McDonald's maintains vast herds
of beef cattle to turn into hamburgers or the International House of
Pancakes farms huge tracts of wheat to use in making pancakes. These
companies are in the restaurant business, not the agricultural or farming
business, and they buy their food products from the same suppliers as
everyone else. None of these chains could possibly operate the enormous
facilities that would be required to supply themselves with all the raw food
products they needed. KFC sells the equivalent of 581 million chickens
annually. They'd have to own some monstrously huge "chicken farms" in order
to supply themselves with over half a billion chickens every year. (As well,
KFC is but one component of Tricon, a corporation that also includes the
Taco Bell and Pizza Hut chains of restaurants. All of these outlets serve
chicken and obtain their supplies through the same sources, which would
require Tricon to operate an even more massively huge series of "mutant
chicken" farms to keep themselves fully supplied.)
Kentucky Fried Chicken decided to change their name to KFC in 1991 for
several reasons, none of which had anything to do with governmental
regulations about mutant animals:
A move to de-emphasize "chicken" because KFC planned to offer a varied menu
that included other types of food. (The Boston Chicken corporation took the
same approach for the same reason, changing their name of their retail food
outlets to Boston Market.)
A desire to eliminate the word "fried," which has negative connotations to
the increasingly health-conscious consumer market.
A recent trend towards the abbreviation of long commercial titles, as
demonstrated by other companies' employing shortened forms of their names,
such as The International House of Pancakes (IHOP) and Howard Johnson's
(HoJo).
How concerned we should be about genetically engineered food products is one
thing, but no amount of concern or protest is going to "make KFC start using
real chicken again" -- "real chicken" is what they've been using all along.
Additional information:
No Colonel of Truth (KFC)
Kentucky Fried Chicken Hoax (Univ. of New Hampshire)
Sightings: A scientist breeds headless, boneless chickens on a high-tech
farm in the 1967 Italian film Death Laid an Egg (La Morte ha fatto
l'uovo).
Last updated: 18 January 2000
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/horrors/food/kfc.htm
Please use this URL in all links or references to this page
Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2000 by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Sources:
Allin, Richard. "Freeing Us from Fat?"
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette . 21 June 1994 (p. E1).
Hsu, Karen. "Chicken Hoax Takes Flight."
The Boston Globe. 11 January 2000 (p. B1).
Keegan, Peter O. "KFC Shuns 'Fried' Image with New Name."
Nation's Restaurant News. 25 February 1991 (p. 1).
Kirschembaum, Alan I. "The 'Original Recipe' for International Success
."
Business Dateline. May 1992 (p. 17).
Power, Christopher. "And Now, Finger-Lickin' Good for Ya?"
Business Week. 18 February 1991 (p. 60).
Precker, Michael. "KFC Rumor Takes Wing on the Internet"
The Dallas Morning News. 19 January 2000.
Seto, Benjamin. "New Names Is Their Game."
The Fresno Bee. 13 March 1995 (p. E1).
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