Eat your fruit and french fries

Published June 15, 2004 3:37PM (EDT)

Who knew that last year, as most news surrounding the french-fried potato focused on congressional Republicans and others marketing them as "freedom fries," the agriculture department quietly made french fries the nation's newest fresh vegetable:

"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.'"

You cannot make this stuff up.


By Geraldine Sealey

Geraldine Sealey is senior news editor at Salon.com.

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