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"Chips help beat cancer"
That headline attracted my attention right away!
I noticed the headline in an Indian Newspaper
- accompanied by a picture of potato chips. After some
searching I found about twenty articles with similar
content.
Sounds too good to be true?
That is what I thought... So
I decided to search for the origin of the claim.... This is
how I figured this story came to life:
 The Daily Star, a newspaper in the United Kingdom,
published an article entitled
" Fries can fight the Big C - Its official, Chips help fight
Cancer". The article is about FRENCH FRIES and includes a picture
of "classical British Chips", shown here to the
right. The nutritional
benefits of french fries are lauded and there is an emphasis
on the contribution of French Fries to Vitamin C in the
diet.
Great! That needs to be said a lot.
Then there is the claim that vitamin C prevents certain
types of cancer. Acceptable, although organisations like the
Food Standards Association (the UK Food watchdog) don't include such a benefit
when they describe the role of vitamin
C. The FSA sticks to:
"Vitamin C has a number of important functions. For
example it:
- helps protect cells and keeps them healthy
- helps the body absorb iron from food"
The United States counterpart of the FSA, the FDA, even
requires a disclaimer when antioxidant vitamins are linked to
the prevention of certain types of cancer: "Some scientific evidence suggests that
consumption of antioxidant vitamins may reduce the risk of
certain forms of cancer. However, FDA has determined that
this evidence is limited and not conclusive"
Nevertheless, it is not
unreasonable to link vitamin C to prevention of certain
types of cancer.
But in the Daily Star article, the author transfers the
cancer prevention claim for vitamin C to French Fries.
Looking for a catchy headline, the Daily Star is known for? Catchy headlines are OK,
but linking cancer preventing properties to French Fries is NOT...
If one apple is rotten, it does not mean the whole fruit
bowl is rotten.
 And this is not the end
of the story: once the article is picked up in
the Indian media, the
famous confusion CHIPS vs FRENCH FRIES kicks in. FRENCH
FRIES are called CHIPS in the United Kingdom. Also South Africa,
Australia and New Zealand call French fries Chips or
Chippies. [This translation issue got contributors to the
Wikipedia pages on French Fries red-hot. It is why the Wikipedia page
on French Fries is still
called French Fried Potatoes as a compromise]. In the case of
this Indian article, the confusion caused the already unjustified
cancer prevention claim for french fries to be transferred to an entirely
different potato product: POTATO
CHIPS.
So, unfortunately for all the chips lovers, the statement
"Chips help beat Cancer " IS too good to be true. But it is
good to remember that all potato products contain
a range of vitamins and minerals - including vitamin C - that
ARE good for you. Remember
"The Nuval or ONQI Score of Potato is 93" ?
Since in the potato industry we are more used to see the media
blow up
a minor issue into a major scare,
I had a chuckle to see here the total opposite; to see a nice
nutritional benefit of potato products turned into a nutritional miracle.
Enjoy reading,
Paul van Eijck
Potatoes New Brunswick Conference and Trade Show
 Earlier this week I attended the Conference and Trade
show organized by Potatoes New Brunswick. This year for the
first time, Potatoes New Brunswick moved this annual event
to a larger venue. This bold move - given the current
economic circumstances - resulted in an increased number of
exhibitors and although the number of visitors may have been
somewhat lower than last year, there still was an impressive
crowd of well over 300 participants. The
conference programme was of high quality, offering the
audience of predominantly potato farmers an interesting mix
of market information, results of scientific research as
well as practical advice.
Later this week,
abstracts of the presentations will be posted on the
Potatoes New Brunswick website (abstracts
in French). We also created an
impression of the Potatoes New Brunswick Conference and
Trade show (view
as slideshow) in our picture gallery.
More Events...
Recessionary Consumers & Product Choice
Explores changing consumer attitudes and behaviours
regarding the current uncertainty in the global economic
environment. Critically, it discusses what actors within the
FMCG industry can do to profit, not just survive, from
recessionary trends.
Rising Prices And An Economic Downturn: What Will
Consumers Do Next?
This is a presentation given by Datamonitor at the National
Food Pricing Summit in Sydney on 30th September 2008.
More Market Research Reports
 Digital
Balance for Weight in Water Assessment
PW-2050 An Electronic Weigher which calculates Potato
Percentage Dry Matter and Specific Gravity
- Any weight of potatoes can be measured
- Depth of water required is only 40cm
- Use in the QC laboratory or in the field
- Portable, simple to use and robust
Read more...
More
products
French Fries and Potato Specialties
More News on French Fries and Potato Specialties
Chips and Snacks
More
News on Chips and Snacks
Dehydrated Potato Products
More News on Dehydrated Potato Products
Potato Starch
More News
on Potato Starch
Other Potato Products
More News on Other Potato Products
Ingredients for Potato Processing
More News on Ingredients for Potato Processing
Processing Equipment
More
News on Processing Equipment
Potato Supply Chain
More News on Potato Supply Chain
QSR Restaurants
More News
on QSR Restaurants
Health and Nutrition
More
News on Health and Nutrition
Energy and Environment
More News on Energy and Environment
Food Trends
More News on
Food Trends
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PKC GmbH |
Germany |
| PKC GmbH is a German company specialized
in the manufacturing of steam peelers. |
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Paques B.V. |
Netherlands |
| Paques supplies waste water treatment
systems to the Potato processing
industry. |
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CJSC 'Pogar Potato Factory' |
Russian Federation |
CJSC Pogar Potato Factory (PPF) is a
large-scale potato growing and potato
processing company in Russia. PPF is
located in Bryansk region, which is well
knows with its fertile soil.
In 2008 CJSC Pogar Potato Factory started a
new potato flakes line,at the end of 2008
operating at a capacity of 7000 tons of
potato flakes per year. |
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New York Fries |
Canada |
| New York Fries is a Canadian fast food
concept with restaurants in Canada,
Korea and the United Arab Emirates. New
York Fries sells only french fries and
soft drinks |
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Gold Dust Potato Processors, Inc |
United States |
| Gold Dust Potato Processors Inc. is
a family-owned company, combining
commercial potato growing, packing and
marketing business |
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Agristo NV |
Belgium |
| Agristo is a manufacturer of frozen
prefried potato chips and potato
specialties located in Belgium. Agristo
produces mostly private label products. |
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