WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--More restaurants in California could be sued if a court rules Burger King Holdings Inc. (BKC) and CKE Restaurants Inc. (CKR) failed to warn consumers that flame-broiled hamburgers pose a cancer risk, a lawyer for the plaintiff said.
"They are the test case," attorney Clifford Chanler said of Burger King and CKE Restaurants. Chanler said his firm is investigating other restaurants that flame broil food, but he declined to discuss who could be targeted in future lawsuits.
Chanler represents Whitney Leeman, a Sacramento environmental engineer who sued Burger King Holdings and CKE Restaurants in July, according to Burger King's annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Aug. 31.
Leeman says the companies violated California's Proposition 65 law by failing to alert consumers that Whoppers and other charbroiled hamburgers may contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which have been implicated as potential carcinogens, the filing said.
If Leeman wins the lawsuit, she may file similar lawsuits against other restaurants, Chanler said. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are formed when organic substances are not completely burned.
Cancer in humans and reproductive problems in mice have been linked to long-term exposure to the substances. Scientists for years have known grilling meats creates carcinogens, said Chanler.
If Leeman wins, Burger King and CKE Restaurants could post health warnings, such as food labels or placards, at their California outlets, Chanler said. Or they could install cooking equipment to remove polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from food, he said.
Officials at Miami-based Burger King Holdings declined to discuss the pending lawsuit. An official at CKE Restaurants in Carpinteria, Calif., accused Leeman of filing the lawsuits for personal financial gain.
Plaintiffs in such cases can get 25% of any civil penalty. CKE Restaurants operates more than 1,000 Carl's Junior Restaurants, including more than 450 in California, according to its Web site.
It also runs Hardee's restaurants in other parts of the U.S. Burger King's Web site said the company operates more than 11,000 restaurants worldwide, but didn't specify how many are in California.
The lawsuit could affect CKE and Burger King operations outside of California, said David Martosko, director of research at the Center for Consumer Freedom, a nonprofit coalition of food companies, restaurants and consumers.
He said the companies would likely post warnings or install new equipment in all restaurants if they lose the California lawsuit. Other companies that cook ground beef - including Wendy's International Inc. (WEN) and McDonald's Corp. (MCD) - could also be hit with similar lawsuits, Martosko said.
However, Martosko noted Burger King and CKE have strong cases because people must inhale or eat extremely large amounts of the substances to have an increased risk of cancer.
"These chemicals at these levels are perfectly harmless and they've been around since the first cave man grilled a strip steak," Martosko said. Carl Winter, a food toxicology professor at the University of California, Davis, said the court may find levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons aren't high enough to warrant a consumer warning.
"I think the most important thing is to see if this case has merit and if warnings are required," he said. "My intuitive sense is that isn't going to be the case." California settled 31 Proposition 65 cases that Leeman filed between 2000 and 2005, according to data from the California attorney general's office.
The cases generated $3.15 million in settlements and $800,000 in civil penalties, the office said. "Whitney Leeman and her lawyers are well-known Proposition 65 bounty hunters," according to a statement from Charles Seigel, general counsel at Carl's Junior. "Their modus operandi is to make unfounded allegations, try to collect a quick settlement, and then move on to their next target."
The monetary awards are a factor in Leeman's decision to investigate and file cases, Chanler said. However, "the primary objective is to protect and promote the public health," he said.
-By Greg Wright, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-3546; gregory.wright@dowjones.com