Thomas Veil
Jun 16, 2004, 02:18 AM
Remember years ago when the USDA tried to tell us that one of the kinds of vegetables our kids would be fed at school was...ketchup?
Well...there they go again. (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2027&e=5&u=/chitribts/20040615/ts_chicagotrib/callingfriesfreshveggieshalfbakedcriticsargue)
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.
...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.
..."I find it pretty outrageous, really," said (Chicago attorney Tim) Elliott, who argues 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," he said, pointing to a stack of legal documents debating the french-fry rule change.
"There must be 100 pages there about something you could summarize in one paragraph: batter-coated french fries are not fresh vegetables."
I dunno, you guys...the USDA may be splitting technical hairs here, but when I think of a veggie tray or steamed vegetables, I'm not usually equating that with french fries, batter-coated or otherwise.
Well...there they go again. (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2027&e=5&u=/chitribts/20040615/ts_chicagotrib/callingfriesfreshveggieshalfbakedcriticsargue)
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.
...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.
..."I find it pretty outrageous, really," said (Chicago attorney Tim) Elliott, who argues 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," he said, pointing to a stack of legal documents debating the french-fry rule change.
"There must be 100 pages there about something you could summarize in one paragraph: batter-coated french fries are not fresh vegetables."
I dunno, you guys...the USDA may be splitting technical hairs here, but when I think of a veggie tray or steamed vegetables, I'm not usually equating that with french fries, batter-coated or otherwise.
