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CNN Live At Daybreak

Agriculture Department Says 202,000 Pounds of Frozen Chicken Nuggets May Have Been Contaminated with Plastic

Aired December 18, 2001 - 05:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: And a warning to anyone who may have purchased chicken nuggets recently. Take a close look at the information on your screen. The Agriculture Department says 202,000 pounds of frozen chicken nuggets may have been contaminated with plastic. The manufacturer, based on Jackson, Ohio, is recalling its product. So far, no injuries have been reported, and you can catch all of that information today, throughout the day, on CNN.

Of course, what are chicken nuggets without ketchup? Well, some high school students in a Saint Louis suburb are battling that grim dilemma with a pen and protest. As John Abul (ph) of CNN affiliate KTVI reports, this food fight has the rank and file divided.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ABUL, KTVI FOX 2 NEWS, REPORTER (voice-over): The school district's ruling is that if you buy french fries, you get two ketchup packages. If you want more, it's 10 cents a squirt from the cafeteria dispenser into a little paper cup. The ruling has led to controversy.

This girl showed up wearing a shirt that says, "ketchup rules" on the front and "long live tomatoes" on the back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE STUDENT: We don't really think that it's fair that you have to pay for your ketchup. I mean, it's really like retarded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE STUDENT: I probably just won't get lunch for a while.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE STUDENT: You got to bring your own ketchup, man.

ABUL: There's a lunch boycott under way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE STUDENT: We're trying to get everyone to stop buying lunch -- to just bring their lunch instead of buying.

ABUL: To that end, a petition is being circulated at Granite City High begging the school to give them as much ketchup as they want. This student is one of the few who think the ketchup rationing is fair. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE STUDENT: I think that two ketchup packages are enough. They give us little things. It's is plenty. I just ate fries, and it's enough. People were wasting ketchup.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE STUDENT: I think it's mostly the school's fault, because mostly they didn't put the ketchup things on right, so they're actually blaming the kids for it whenever they're not putting the tops on right.

ABUL: We were not allowed inside the cafeteria, so we do not know if sales are slumping.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE STUDENT: Just because of a couple of kids, they are ruining everything for everybody else. It's not fair.

ABUL: A few miles away in Collinsville, there's a water tower. It's now a monument to those wanting more ketchup at Granite City High.

John Abul, Fox 2 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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