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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 decades now, as indicated by the e-mail's reference to Kentucky Fried Chicken's recent name change, an event that took place 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 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 with additional legs is still beyond the reach of modern science for the time being (although selective breeding has been used to enhance some features, such as breast size), 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: Kentucky Fried Chicken decided to change its name to KFC in 1991 for several reasons, none of which had anything to do with governmental regulations about mutant animals: Nonetheless, the Great KFC Mutant Chicken Myth grew so prominent online that KFC eventually addressed it on their web site: 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 KFC has been using all along. 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).
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