NAME YOUR POISON--BUT HOLD THE PICKLE

Subliminal message?

A prime-time commercial on KNBC Channel 4 for McDonald’s new McDLT hamburger was followed the other night by a promo for a news series on “the poison in your food.” Featured: the image of a skull superimposed on a plate.

“It was an accident,” a spokeswoman for the NBC-owned station in Burbank maintained the next day. “We are making every concerted effort not to let that (poison) spot bump up against a food spot of any kind, be it for a grocery store or a restaurant.”

She said the station hadn’t heard from McDonald’s and hoped the company, a big TV sponsor, would realize KNBC deserved a break. “We’re not trying to anger them.”