Tube bosses may ban fast food from the underground to cut down on litter and nasty smells.
They are considering rules which would enable inspectors to impose £10 on-the-spot fines to anyone caught eating a burger on the network.
Tube spokesman Philip Carter said: 'It took the tragedy of the King's Cross fire for people to understand the dangers and social problems of smoking. After listening to passengers, this latest problem is something we need to look into.'
A food ban would bring the Tube into line with other underground systems such as those in Singapore, Washington DC and Atlanta. Last week, a 12 year old Washington girl was handcuffed and arrested for eating chips on the city's metro system.
London Underground ruled out the possibility of similar action and admitted a fast food ban would be more difficult to impose than the smoking ban introduced following the King's Cross fire of 1987.
A spokeswoman said: 'Eating in public is socially acceptable in a way that smoking isn't these days. It's hard to ban something if people don't see anything wrong with it.
'The problem comes where you have someone eating a smelly burger next to someone eating a cheese sandwich. If you fine the person eating the burger, where do you draw the line?'
A ban could also threaten the Tube's income from rent paid by platform food outlets.
Upendra Trivedi, managing director of Whistlestop shops, said: 'We have outlets in railway stations and Railtrack don't consider it to be a problem, so I don't see why it should be a problem for the Underground.'