I read about this today, although the news is pretty old: The USDA now classifies french fries as fresh vegetables! Here's a summary of the story.
This means when I drive down to the local hamburger joint and get a side of fries I'll probably be getting my recommended daily allowance of fresh vegetables. Onion rings probably fall under the new regulation, too.
I looked on the USDA's website for the change, but all I found was a press release. The text of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) hasn't been changed on the website, either because it's not yet official or because the site isn't current.
I can see that battering and frying vegetables doesn't fundamentally change them, which is the argument for the change. But, this looks like the perfect setup for letting kids eat French fries for lunch under the guise of a healthy, well-balanced meal. While the USDA is not saying that French fries are healthy, calling them a fresh vegetable sort of implies that they are healthy, at least to the general public.
Posted by Jen at June 15, 2004 01:16 PM