LOS ANGELES - Snack lovers, rejoice: Munching on potato chips just got a little healthier.

Four food manufacturers agreed to reduce levels of a cancer-causing chemical in their potato chips and french fries under a settlement announced Friday by the state attorney general's office.

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NEW YORK - Customers at big fast-food chains in New York City are finally facing the facts about their meal choices. And for some, the truth may be hard to swallow — like 1,130 calories for a Big Mac, medium fries and a medium soda.

After months of resistance, the city's chain restaurants have begun obeying a first-of-its-kind rule requiring them to post calorie counts right on the menu.

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QUINTON, Va. - A Virginia man lost about 80 pounds in six months by eating nearly every meal at McDonald's.

Not Big Macs, french fries and chocolate shakes. Mostly salads, wraps and apple dippers without the caramel sauce.

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CHICAGO - McDonald's french fries are now trans-fat-free in all its restaurants in the United States and Canada, the fast-food restaurant chain said Thursday.

McDonald's has lagged other restaurant operators in switching over to a zero-trans-fat cooking oil out of worries it would compromise the taste of its trademark fries. It has been under increasing pressure from consumer advocates and some public officials to make the change.

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By Kathleen Doheny
EmpowHer's HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Consuming large amounts of acrylamide, a chemical commonly found in French fries, cakes, snacks and even coffee, appears to raise the risk of kidney cancer, especially in smokers, Dutch researchers report.

"Ours is the first report of a positive association between dietary acrylamide intake and renal cell [kidney] cancer," said study author Janneke Hogervorst, a researcher at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.