- 17 Sep 2005
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Newspaper I found recently. What do you think?
Last update: September 24, 2005 at 11:00 PM
Want chemicals with those fries?
Paul Levy, Star Tribune
September 25, 2005 FRIES0925
Mary Buchanan stared at the French fry she cradled between her fingers. Golden. Glistening. Gone.
"They're warm, filling," Buchanan, 49, said Friday in a McDonald's in Uptown.
"And salty," her colleague, Karie Young, 41, said from across their table. "They have such a nice texture."
They also contain a chemical called acrylamide, which has been proved to cause cancer in laboratory rats and mice. And if California's attorney general has his way, packages of French fries, potato chips and other foods loaded with acrylamide soon will come with a warning of its potential dangers, at least in California. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says the chemical is in 40 percent of the calories consumed in the average American diet.
In a lawsuit filed last month, Attorney General Bill Lockyer demanded that McDonald's, Burger King, Frito-Lay and six other food companies put warnings of the dangers of acrylamide on package labels of French fries and potato chips.
Officials in the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, sounding slightly bemused, say the state has no plans to take similar legal action. And questions over the level of concern about acrylamide are being raised by local food companies such as Old Dutch and General Mills.
Yes, even cereal contains the chemical. And so do a wide variety of cooked foods -- from soup to nuts.
"But is this really a public health risk, and how much of a health risk is it?" asked Simone French, a University of Minnesota nutritionist. "Some of the [acrylamide] foods listed by the Food and Drug Administration -- like prune juice, roasted almonds, black olives, corn -- are promoted as healthful foods."
The FDA, which has been studying acrylamide since 2002, opposes California's labeling idea -- possibly because the chemical has been found in granola bars, asparagus, baked potatoes, toasted bagels and other foods that are part of what the agency considers healthy, balanced diets.
Even as debate on acrylamide expands, the FDA has yet to find data that would prompt it to alter its current dietary guidelines, General Mills spokesperson Marybeth Thorsgaard said.
So how does a chemical known to cause cancer in lab rats wind up in foods that most humans consider healthy?
Acrylamide is a natural byproduct of the cooking process. It's not added to food; it's created when starchier foods are cooked at high temperatures.
Especially in America's favorite fast food, French fries. By a super-sized margin, they top the list of foods containing the chemical. There are 54.4 micrograms of acrylamide per serving in home-baked fries and 40.3 micrograms per serving in restaurant fries.
Surprisingly, prune juice is listed third, at 36.1 micrograms per serving, followed by potato chips, at 13 micrograms per serving.
But French fries -- soaked in trans-fats and full of sodium and carbohydrates -- have again jumped out of the fryer and into the fire in debates about eating well.
"Some people make jokes about the diet aspect of ordering French fries," said Dick Henke, manager of the Malt Shop in Minneapolis. "But years ago, we weren't doing as many fried foods, and people told us that they wanted them.
"Are we in the business to tell people what to eat or to give them what they want to buy?"
At the Convention Grill & Fountain in Edina, where 1,500 pounds of hand-cut French fries are served each week, more attention is paid to fryer oil than to acrylamide, said manager Mark Girouard.
"It's the oil that can ruin a French fry," explained Girouard, whose customers regularly order 24-ounce baskets of fries with their burgers and shakes. As for dietary concerns, he added, "The State Fair just ended. I don't think anybody's thinking about that right now."
They should, said Michael Jacobson, executive director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a watchdog group from Washington, D.C. Acrylamide could account for hundreds, possibly thousands of human deaths each year, he said.
Others scoff at such urgent concern. "Oh, come on, this has been going on since a Swedish food agency discovered this natural occurrence in the cooking process," Kristen Power, director of state affairs for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said from Sacramento, Calif. "People need to have balanced, healthy diets. Label warnings like this could almost have an adverse affect."
Added Matt Colford, an Old Dutch spokesman: "Regardless of the product -- potato chips, tortilla chips, pretzels -- we don't expect customers to make this the only component of their diet."
At Minnetonka High School, where prepackaged French fries are a lunchroom staple, kitchen manager Linda Chase said there are no plans to alter menus. "Three years ago we switched to a different brand and we're using a clear canola oil," she said. "We're happy. The kids are happy."
Outside of the Uptown McDonald's, Eric Hannah, 20, stood by his bicycle, inhaling a burger.
"Burgers and fries compliment one another," he said. "French fries are greasy, salty, fatty. They're messy. We're always hearing about how bad they are, what they're going to do to us.
"But they're soooo good. I wish I had time for some right now."
Paul Levy is at
[email protected].
Last update: September 24, 2005 at 11:00 PM
Want chemicals with those fries?
Paul Levy, Star Tribune
September 25, 2005 FRIES0925
Mary Buchanan stared at the French fry she cradled between her fingers. Golden. Glistening. Gone.
"They're warm, filling," Buchanan, 49, said Friday in a McDonald's in Uptown.
"And salty," her colleague, Karie Young, 41, said from across their table. "They have such a nice texture."
They also contain a chemical called acrylamide, which has been proved to cause cancer in laboratory rats and mice. And if California's attorney general has his way, packages of French fries, potato chips and other foods loaded with acrylamide soon will come with a warning of its potential dangers, at least in California. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says the chemical is in 40 percent of the calories consumed in the average American diet.
In a lawsuit filed last month, Attorney General Bill Lockyer demanded that McDonald's, Burger King, Frito-Lay and six other food companies put warnings of the dangers of acrylamide on package labels of French fries and potato chips.
Officials in the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, sounding slightly bemused, say the state has no plans to take similar legal action. And questions over the level of concern about acrylamide are being raised by local food companies such as Old Dutch and General Mills.
Yes, even cereal contains the chemical. And so do a wide variety of cooked foods -- from soup to nuts.
"But is this really a public health risk, and how much of a health risk is it?" asked Simone French, a University of Minnesota nutritionist. "Some of the [acrylamide] foods listed by the Food and Drug Administration -- like prune juice, roasted almonds, black olives, corn -- are promoted as healthful foods."
The FDA, which has been studying acrylamide since 2002, opposes California's labeling idea -- possibly because the chemical has been found in granola bars, asparagus, baked potatoes, toasted bagels and other foods that are part of what the agency considers healthy, balanced diets.
Even as debate on acrylamide expands, the FDA has yet to find data that would prompt it to alter its current dietary guidelines, General Mills spokesperson Marybeth Thorsgaard said.
So how does a chemical known to cause cancer in lab rats wind up in foods that most humans consider healthy?
Acrylamide is a natural byproduct of the cooking process. It's not added to food; it's created when starchier foods are cooked at high temperatures.
Especially in America's favorite fast food, French fries. By a super-sized margin, they top the list of foods containing the chemical. There are 54.4 micrograms of acrylamide per serving in home-baked fries and 40.3 micrograms per serving in restaurant fries.
Surprisingly, prune juice is listed third, at 36.1 micrograms per serving, followed by potato chips, at 13 micrograms per serving.
But French fries -- soaked in trans-fats and full of sodium and carbohydrates -- have again jumped out of the fryer and into the fire in debates about eating well.
"Some people make jokes about the diet aspect of ordering French fries," said Dick Henke, manager of the Malt Shop in Minneapolis. "But years ago, we weren't doing as many fried foods, and people told us that they wanted them.
"Are we in the business to tell people what to eat or to give them what they want to buy?"
At the Convention Grill & Fountain in Edina, where 1,500 pounds of hand-cut French fries are served each week, more attention is paid to fryer oil than to acrylamide, said manager Mark Girouard.
"It's the oil that can ruin a French fry," explained Girouard, whose customers regularly order 24-ounce baskets of fries with their burgers and shakes. As for dietary concerns, he added, "The State Fair just ended. I don't think anybody's thinking about that right now."
They should, said Michael Jacobson, executive director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a watchdog group from Washington, D.C. Acrylamide could account for hundreds, possibly thousands of human deaths each year, he said.
Others scoff at such urgent concern. "Oh, come on, this has been going on since a Swedish food agency discovered this natural occurrence in the cooking process," Kristen Power, director of state affairs for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said from Sacramento, Calif. "People need to have balanced, healthy diets. Label warnings like this could almost have an adverse affect."
Added Matt Colford, an Old Dutch spokesman: "Regardless of the product -- potato chips, tortilla chips, pretzels -- we don't expect customers to make this the only component of their diet."
At Minnetonka High School, where prepackaged French fries are a lunchroom staple, kitchen manager Linda Chase said there are no plans to alter menus. "Three years ago we switched to a different brand and we're using a clear canola oil," she said. "We're happy. The kids are happy."
Outside of the Uptown McDonald's, Eric Hannah, 20, stood by his bicycle, inhaling a burger.
"Burgers and fries compliment one another," he said. "French fries are greasy, salty, fatty. They're messy. We're always hearing about how bad they are, what they're going to do to us.
"But they're soooo good. I wish I had time for some right now."
Paul Levy is at
[email protected].
