The chips are down

There are foods that some people consider unhealthy junk that's affecting the nation's health and waistlines. Others say no popular food is inherently bad - there are only unhealthy diets. It's often not the product itself that is a problem, but how much and how regularly it is eaten.

Chips are a classic example. Deep-fried chips can be more than 20% fat, and nobody would claim it is healthy to eat that amount of fat each day. But potato itself is high in carbohydrate and, along with bread, rice and pasta, is a Government-recommended source for daily intake. Potatoes do not, however, qualify for the recommended "five-a-day" portions of fruit and vegetable because of their starch content.

Schools are firmly in the spotlight over deep-fried potato products and their effect on teenage waistlines, and nutritional guidelines for school meals have a firm view on spuds. The push for state-sponsored healthier eating gained new impetus in September, when the Government launched its Healthy Living Blueprint For Schools, in which the fat content of deep-fried potato products was an area of concern.

Potato products pose a complex dilemma for schools, says Vivianne Buller, past chairman of the Local Authorities Catering Association (LACA) and now an independent consultant specialising in child nutrition. Not least of the problems, she says, is under-funding in the school meals service, which means school caterers have to scrutinise food cost as much as nutritional value. "School catering has been turned into a commercial operation - that is what compulsory competitive tendering did. School lunches should go back to being a health and welfare issue."

Buller also urges caution on calls to have fat removed from the school diet. "Fat is important," she says. "It's no good if food hits all the nutrition buttons but is so boring children don't want to eat it. Children want potato products and school caterers have to provide them - or older children will just go outside at lunchtime. What schools are doing is looking at alternative ways of cooking potato products, such as oven-baking, which works well for potato shapes as well as chips."

Brakes company nutritionist Kathryn Bradshaw says starchy carbohydrates such as potatoes are an important part of a balanced diet for children as a source of energy, calcium, iron and B vitamins.

"Carbohydrates provide energy in two forms - starches and sugars. Sugars in the form of cakes, biscuits and sweets should be kept to a minimum. Starchy foods such as potatoes should make up about one-third of the diet, with high-fibre versions, such as skin-on potatoes, chosen wherever possible."

Brakes has a new part-baked and chilled jacket potato that can be microwaved or oven-baked in minutes, solving the problem many school caterers have with jacket potatoes - namely, the time it takes to cook and keep hot large quantities of them. To keep the jacket potato a healthy option, Bradshaw says, caterers should provide a low-fat filling with it, such as baked beans or tuna, rather than cheese. Mashed potato is a less healthy option, she adds, but it is possible to make mash healthier by using a low-fat spread or herbs rather than butter to retain the flavour but reduce the fat content.

John Benson-Smith, chef patron-director at Hazlewood Castle near Leeds, first got involved with public-sector nutritional issues as a member of Loyd Grossman's team of development chefs in the Better Hospital Food Programme. He has now turned his attention to working with schools, looking at how his quirky way of cooking and serving food can encourage children to choose and eat healthier lunch items.

"Potatoes are very healthy when nature has finished making them," Benson-Smith says. "The problems arise when chefs get their hands on them. When chips are singled out as being bad, the natural reaction of children is to want bad things. I want to keep potatoes and chip-type products on the school menu, but do it so children don't notice it's being presented in a much better way. I call it stealth health."

As the world's biggest producer of chips, McCain is acutely aware of the health issues surrounding potato products and its Scarborough production plant has been looking at ways of reducing the fat content of chips while maintaining their taste and nutritional value.

Richard Groom, marketing controller at McCain Foodservice, says: "At McCain, we are keen to play our part in health issues, which are of increasing importance to caterers as well as consumers. Alongside our regular research and development work, we are developing a plan that seeks to enhance the nutritional profile of our products wherever this is technically feasible and acceptable to consumers.

"We plan to reduce salt in all our children's potato products served in food service channels, and we have already come up with core catering products that address dietary health, such as the introduction of McCain Lights. These chips have 33% less fat content than typical food service chips. We have also developed potato products for oven-baking rather than deep-fat frying, such as Smiles and Roast Potatoes.

"We are also seeking to influence the fact that catered meals tend to be prepared at short notice and in large quantities. More often than not, this results in frying rather than oven-cooking products. For a number of years, McCain has encouraged caterers to reduce the time food spends in the fryer via our McCain Best Frying Practice educational campaign, an initiative we will continue to promote and develop."

One of the ways schools are making chips healthier is by oven-baking them. There is enough residual fat on the outside of a chip after factory production to make it crisp and brown through forced hot air rather than deep-fat frying. A convection oven or a combi-oven on dry-heat mode can produce chips almost as quickly as deep-fat frying. Combi-oven manufacturer Rational has produced gastronorm-sized wire baskets to fit into combi-ovens for just this purpose.

Keith Warren, director of the Catering Equipment Suppliers Association (CESA), says the ability to "fry" potato products in convection ovens and combi-ovens has become a useful selling feature for oven manufacturers when marketing to schools.

Contacts Brakes 0845 6069090
British Potato Council www.potato.org.uk
CESA 020 7233 7724
McCain 01723 584141
Rational 01582 480388
Vivianne Buller 0191-2971615

Healthier frying The fat content of chips can be reduced by proper frying.

• Oil should be in good condition and changed at least once a week
• Fry frozen chips from frozen
• Fry at 180°C
• Don't overload baskets
• Drain over fryer for at least 10 seconds