USDA Classifies Frozen Fries as "Fresh Vegetables"

USDA Classifies Frozen Fries as "Fresh Vegetables" >From 6/16/04 Published on Tuesday, June 15, 2004 by the Los Angeles Times USDA: Frozen Fries Are 'Fresh' Veggies by Andrew Martin WASHINGTON < Anyone trying to add more fresh fruits and vegetables to their diet may have just gotten an unlikely assist from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Based on a little-noticed change to obscure federal rules, the USDA now defines frozen French fries as "fresh vegetables." A federal judge in Texas last week endorsed the USDA's decision in a court case. U.S. District Judge Richard Schell said the term "fresh vegetables" was ambiguous. The USDA quietly changed the regulations last year at the behest of the French fry industry, which has spent decades pushing for a revision to the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. Known as PACA, the law was passed by Congress in 1930 to protect fruit and vegetable farmers in the event that their customers went out of business without paying for their produce. The Frozen Potato Products Institute appealed to the USDA in 2000 to change its definition of fresh produce under PACA 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, the agency amended its PACA rules to include what is described in court documents as the "Batter-Coating Rule." Tim Elliott, a Chicago attorney who recently challenged the revision in a Texas federal courtroom on behalf of a bankrupt food distributor, said defining French fries as fresh vegetables defied common sense. "I find it pretty outrageous, really," said Elliott, who argued that the Batter-Coating Rule is so vague that chocolate-covered cherries, packed in a candy box, would qualify as fresh fruit. "This is something that only lawyers could do," Elliott said, pointing to a stack of legal documents debating the French fry change. "There must be 100 pages there about something you could summarize in one paragraph: Batter-coated French fries are not fresh vegetables." 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 since most commercial fries are prepared in oil laden with heart-clogging trans-fat. The USDA explained its rationale in its arguments in the Texas case. "While plaintiff argued that battered-coated French fries are processed products, they have not been 'processed' to the point that they are no longer 'fresh,' " attorneys for the USDA argued. "It is still considered 'fresh' because it is not preserved. It retains its perishable quality." © Copyright 2004 Los Angeles Times

French Fries are vegetables

'Eat your vegetables': For kids, it means fries Updated 3/3/2009 12:19 PM | Comments 91 | Recommend 13 Share on emailE-mail | Share on printPrint | Reprints & Permissions | Enlarge By Carlos Osorio, AP Do kids want fries with that? Evidently, yes: Fried potatoes account for as much as 25% of children's vegetable intake. WHAT'S IN A SERVING SIZE? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture recommend that adults and children, 2 and older, consume 2 to 6½ cups of fruits and vegetables each day, depending on their calorie level of 1,000 to 3,200. Vegetables • 1 cup raw leafy vegetable • ½ cup cut-up raw or cooked vegetable • ½ cup vegetable juice (Try for a variety, including vegetables that are dark green and leafy or orange, and dry beans and peas.) Fruit • 1 medium fruit • ¼ cup dried fruit • ½ cup fresh or frozen or canned fruit • ½ cup juice (Consumption of whole fruits rather than juice is suggested to ensure adequate fiber intake.) Source: health.gov/DietaryGuidelines DAILY HEALTH BLOG Get wellness tips, medical study roundups and news for healthy living here, including info on ... • Fitness and nutrition • Parenting/kids' health • Watercooler-worthy bits Share Add to Mixx Facebook TwitterMore Fark Digg Reddit MySpace StumbleUpon Propeller LinkedInSubscribe myYahoo iGoogleMore Netvibes myAOL By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY Kids aren't eating enough fruits and vegetables, and when they do consume produce, they are more likely to eat french fries than nutrient-rich dark green or orange vegetables, a study shows. That won't surprise parents who have been trying to tempt their kids with better diets for years. CHILDHOOD OBESITY: See its effects on kids' bodies BETTER LIFE: Insurance companies, employers, medical groups teaming up against childhood obesity Researchers at Ohio State University analyzed government data on 6,500 children and teens, ages 2-18, and found that the children were consuming an average of 2 cups of fruits, vegetables and juice a day. Teens ate only slightly more than that. The government nutritional guidelines base recommended produce intake on total calories consumed. The range is 2 to 6½ cups of fruits and vegetables each day, based on an intake of 1,000 to 3,200 calories a day. Someone consuming 2,000 calories a day should eat 2 cups of fruit and 2½ cups of vegetables a day. Other findings reported in the March Journal of the American Dietetic Association: French fries are the most common type of vegetable children eat. Fries account for about one-quarter of children's vegetable intake. Juice makes up about 40% of kids' fruit intake. • Fruit and vegetable consumption is greater in families with higher incomes. Earlier research has shown that this is because fresh produce can be expensive, and there often aren't stores that sell it in low-income neighborhoods. If french fries and fruit juice had not been included in the survey data, then children would be eating far fewer fruits and vegetables than they should, says Hugo Melgar-Quinonez, an assistant professor in the department of human nutrition at Ohio State. Parents have to get their children to go greener by eating more deep-green leafy vegetables, he says. His advice: Always include vegetables and fruits in children's meals, even if it means putting baby carrots and broccoli or a sliced apple on the table with the meal: "Just a little effort makes a big difference in kids' diets and therefore their health." Barbara Lorson, a registered dietitian at Ohio State, recommends offering vegetables when the children are especially hungry, such as after school. READERS: How do you get your kids to eat fruits and vegetables? Do you adjust your budget to buy fresh produce? posted by Jomag Jose Magsaysay Jr. Joe Magsaysay