Please, more info about : "batter-coated french fries as a fresh vegetable....had mor

[stetzz]

Please, more info about : "batter-coated french fries as a fresh vegetable....had more to do with creditor priority during bankruptcy settlements"....I have to know !

[samclem]

Welcome to the boards, stetzz. When you ask a question about one of Cecil's columns(or a staff column), we appreciate a link so that we can all read along. You're talking about Did the Reagan-era USDA really classify ketchup as a vegetable?.

And the relevant part is

A reprise of the ketchup fiasco loomed recently when a federal judge approved new USDA regs classifying batter-coated french fries as a fresh vegetable. Another attempt by the GOP to feed junk food to the playground set? Actually, it had more to do with creditor priority during bankruptcy settlements, believe it or not--but please, don't ask me to explain more than one bit of bureaucratic arcana at a time.

Some pretty sharp Dopers should be along shortly to help you.

[Exapno Mapcase]

Washington Post, June 16, 2004

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2004Jun15.html

The ruling last week by U.S. District Judge Richard A. Schell in Beaumont, Tex., allowed batter-coated french fries to be considered fresh vegetables under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. Most other frozen fries had been on the list since 1996.

Regulations under the law help to assure buyers of commodities such as french fries that they are getting what they ordered, said George Chartier, a spokesman for the department's Agricultural Marketing Service.

...

The department's proposal to list batter-coated fries as fresh under the commodities act was challenged by a Dallas area food distributor, Fleming Cos. The company is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, and the law requires creditors that sold fresh fruits and vegetables to be paid in full, while other creditors might get partial payment, said Fleming's lawyer, Tim Elliott of Chicago.