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Calling fries fresh veggies half-baked, critics argue

Jun 15, 2004

By Andrew Martin Washington Bureau

French fries may be the bane of low-carb diets and obesity foes, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a federal judge in Texas have another name for the popular food: fresh vegetable. U.S. District Judge Richard Schell last week endorsed little-noticed changes by the USDA to federal regulations that govern what defines a fresh vegetable. The changes were made at the behest of the french-fry industry, which has spent the past five decades pushing for revisions to the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA).

The Frozen Potato Products Institute appealed to the USDA in 2000 to change its definition of fresh produce under the law to include batter-coated, frozen french fries, arguing that rolling potato slices in a starch coating, frying them and freezing them is the equivalent of waxing a cucumber or sweetening a strawberry. The USDA agreed and, on June 2, 2003, amended its PACA rules to include what is described in court documents as the "Batter-Coating Rule."

Loaded with fat and carbohydrates, french fries have been targeted by low-carb diet plans as a snack to avoid and blamed for contributing to America's expanding waistline. USDA officials already have said they plan to emphasize that Americans should eat more fruits and vegetables. The USDA officials who oversee the PACA said french fries were considered a fresh vegetable because the statute only defined fruits and vegetables in two ways: fresh or processed. "They fall into the category of fresh because they are not processed," said agency spokesman George Chartier. "They are not transformed in the sense of being cooked."

Though a USDA news release announcing the revision says caramel-coated apples also will be considered fresh fruit under the Batter-Coating Rule, officials say the gooey treats would not be included because coating it changes the character of the fruit and makes it a candy. Frying and battering potato strips, however, does not change the character of a potato, they argued.

Meir Stampfer, a professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, said it "boggles the mind" that the USDA would label french fries a fresh vegetable because most commercial fries are fried in oil laden with heart-clogging trans fat. Stampfer said the revision reaffirms his belief that nutritional advice should be moved out of the USDA to an agency specifically concerned with public health, an idea that is being promoted by several members of Congress.

While lumping french fries and fresh vegetables in the same sentence might horrify some nutritionists, the changes had more to do with money than healthy eating. The implications of the change are potentially huge for the french-fry industry, which includes such food giants as J.R. Simplot, Lamb Weston and Ore-Ida. USDA officials had ruled previously that french fries were not covered by PACA because they were cooked or processed. But industry perseverance paid of when USDA ruled produce that is "oil blanched" would be covered. In 2000, the Frozen Potato Products Institute obtained an advisory opinion from the USDA saying that batter-coated french fries, given their increasing popularity, should be considered fresh vegetables too. At the potato institute's urging, the USDA made its opinion an official regulation last year.