LOS ANGELES, July 4: Citing a recent Swedish study showing that deep fried foods could be a cause of cancer, two California environmental groups are planning to sue McDonalds and Burger King to force them to put a toxic warning label on their servings of the deep fried potato chips, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

The lawsuits by Earth World Watch and another group of environmentalists and academics aim to force the world’s largest sellers of what Americans call French fries to either include the warning or reformulate the ingredients, the report said.

The actions stem from a recent Swedish government study that found high levels of the carcinogen acrylamide in fatty starchy foods cooked at high temperatures, such as fries.

In one test, McDonald’s French fries were found to contain 300 times the amount of acrylamide allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency for a glass of water, the report said.

The groups have notified California’s attorney general of their intent to sue the burger makers.

According to the report, the attorney general’s office is studying the matter and is considering filing its own lawsuit.

But a spokesman for Burger King said the suits don’t “make sense” because the discovery of acrylamide in food is so new. McDonalds argued that the suit was “inappropriate” and would result in a “flood” of warning labels on all baked and fried foods.—dpa