# Eek! No more french fries? Say it ain't so!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 24, 2002, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398 "2002-04-24T17:33:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/1 "2002-04-24T17:33:43Z")
I usually ignore the latest warnings about what gives you cancer. This one, however, sounds ominous: [http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20020424\_267.html](http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20020424_267.html) To sum up, Swedish researchers discovered that starchy foods, when heated to the point where they get browned, produce acrylamide, a substance known to be a carcinogen, and a bag of potato chips can contain 500 times more than is allowable in water. Yipe! No more fries, chips, crackers, etc.? Like I said, I’m usually skeptical, so if any Dopers are able to refute this, I’ll thank them and post for them my garlic french fry recipe. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/2 "2002-04-24T17:43:50Z")
Take that with a grain of salt. Or a lot of salt on your fries, whatever you want. > [@](#): > > Basic foods eaten by millions around the world such as _bread_, biscuits, chips and French fries contain alarmingly high quantities of acrylamide, a substance believed to cause cancer … showed that heating of carbohydrate-rich foods, such as potatoes, rice or cereals formed acrylamide, a much-studied substance classified as a probable human carcinogen. Italicizing mine. Somehow it doesn’t surprise me that bread is found to cause cancer. I expect soybeans to be identified as bearers of carcinogens within the next ten years. Eat that, veggie-burger aficionados! Or, well, maybe you won’t want to eat that. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/3 "2002-04-24T17:52:18Z")
So basically, you can’t eat anything without dying. Why do we care about these reports any more? ---
**Author:** ![butter\_pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@butter\_pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butter_pie)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/4 "2002-04-24T17:56:17Z")
\Mmmmm…carcinogenic french fries.\ ---
**Author:** ![jessiecarol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e79b87/32.png) [@jessiecarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jessiecarol)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/5 "2002-04-24T18:05:11Z")
I think I’m just about fed up with all these discoveries. Something is gonna kill me anyway. I quit the big thing - smoking. I’ll be damned if I give up all food and eat rocks for the rest of my life. Pass the bag of chips, please ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/6 "2002-04-24T18:12:16Z")
So, if I don’t eat _anything_, nothing I eat will kill me. Got it. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/7 "2002-04-24T18:17:45Z")
Let’s just say “everything we like is a carcinogen” and be done with it. ---
**Author:** ![Kru-baby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6bbea6/32.png) [@Kru-baby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kru-baby)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/8 "2002-04-24T18:23:26Z")
I refute it!!! Can we have the recipe now??? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/9 "2002-04-24T20:39:37Z")
Sadly, eating probably causes death. According to a recent study I have read, all people who have ever eaten will eventually die. I’m sure the agribusiness lobby will surpress that, and we will not see any “Warning: Eating may lead to eventual death” labels on any food packaging for at least 15 years. I think common sense should apply here. Eating a large order of french fries every day is not good. Having some every once in a while is probably harmless. ---
**Author:** ![Arwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7c8e57/32.png) [@Arwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwen)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/10 "2002-04-24T20:54:51Z")
Ummm…please, PLEASE tell me that this thread is resurrected, because I just had the weirdest sense of deja vu, and could reecite **cuate** ’s post nearly word for word. Either that or **cuate** posts the same thing over and over. Thank you. Please return to your regularily scheduled carcinogen ingestion. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/11 "2002-04-24T21:48:20Z")
Uhh, now that you mention it, I probably am repeating something buried in my subconscious from a post written by someone else. Call it the “My Sweet Lord” effect. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/12 "2002-04-24T21:50:47Z")
[wicked witch of the West] _“I’ll get you for this, and your little dog too!”_ [/WWotW] That’s really depressing, **Pugluvr**. And when I get depressed I eat…Aw crap! ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/13 "2002-04-24T21:55:34Z")
> [@](#): > > heating of carbohydrate-rich foods, such as potatoes, rice or cereals formed acrylamide Come on, you domestic scientists! All you have to do is find a way to make bread without heating the dough. Or is there such a method anyway? Don’t let this little setback turn us away from mankind’s favourite food source (which is bread, isn’t it?) ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/14 "2002-04-24T22:08:22Z")
Refuted or not, the whole hypothesis of anything starchy and crusty and brown being bad for you makes me depressed, too. To counterbalance this reaction, I give you: Carcinogenic Garlic Fries (serves two generously) Peel and cut into sticks two large baking potatoes. Fry the sticks in a large skillet in a generous amount of vegetable oil under a low/medium heat until the potatoes are soft but not browned. Remove the potatoes, turn up the heat until the oil sizzles vigorously when a french fry is reintroduced, and cautiously reintroduce all the fries to the oil. While the fries are browning, finely chop together one peeled clove of garlic and a small handful of parsley until they are a fine mince. Grate into this mixture the yellow part only of the rind of 1/2 of a lemon. When the fries are browned and crisp to your taste, drain them on paper towels, and while they are still sizzling hot, sprinkle them with the garlic/parsley/rind mixture (the heat will slightly cook the garlic and take away the strong raw flavor). Shake lots of fine salt over the fries and serve with cold beer. Identify all unhealthy ingredients in this recipe and win a big fat nicotine-laden cigar! ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/15 "2002-04-25T00:41:03Z")
I am SO trying out that recipie, as soon as I get the chance! As it is, we have cheap regular fries in the oven right now, to go with chicken fingers. At least its healthier than poutine 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/16 "2002-04-25T02:26:06Z")
wait a minute - isn’t it lycopene in tomato skins that acts as an antioxidant, particularly when cooked, inhibiting free radicals? We just gotta put ketchup on the fries… ---
**Author:** ![happyheathen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5e925/32.png) [@happyheathen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happyheathen)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/17 "2002-04-25T02:43:58Z")
To be told that, for a long, healthy life, one must consume: 3 cigars 2 pounds of red meat 2 quarts of rot-gut liquor 1 pie or cake daily. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/18 "2002-04-25T03:04:16Z")
Well, heck. Does this include tater tots? Because I’d really hate to give up tater tots. Robin ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/19 "2002-04-25T06:57:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cuate \* > Sadly, eating probably causes death. According to a recent study I have read, all people who have ever eaten will eventually die. Actually, that was later found to be an error – it’s actually the act of **breathing** that ultimately leads to your demise… ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398/20 "2002-04-25T07:57:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\* > Actually, that was later found to be an error – it’s actually the act of **breathing** that ultimately leads to your demise… \*\* “On a long enough timescale, the life expectancy for everyone drops to zero” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eek-no-more-french-fries-say-it-aint-so/105398.md?page=2)