Government Funding Set To Combat High Fat Fries

MEDIA RELEASE

22 July 2007

Government Funding Set To Combat High Fat Fries

The Government is backing a move by the Chip Group – a collaboration of food and nutrition industry representatives – to make takeaway chips healthier.

Horticulture New Zealand which forms part of the Chip Group has been granted funding by the Ministry of Health for a three year programme focused on chips.

Chairperson of the Chip Group Horticulture New Zealand Food and Education Consultant, Glenda Gourley, said the funding is initially being used to collect data on hot chips to help build an accurate nutritional profile of the popular takeaway food.

“The data which is being collected now will include information on serving sizes, costs, fat content, fat profile and the salt content of hot chips purchased from chippies throughout the country,” she said.

“From there we’ll be in a strong position to develop industry standards for the cooking and serving of chips. We’ll also look to formalise an education and promotion strategy to disseminate and implement the standards. This will include online training modules for chip shop owners and their staff.”

Glenda said the Chip Group had been working together for more than a decade to help lower the fat content of chips.

The Group currently comprises the Potato Growers Association – representing Horticulture New Zealand, Bakels, Burns and Ferrall, Food2Go, Goodman Fielder, Moffat, Huhtamaki, McCain Foods, Mr Chips, Southern Hospitality, Premo Filtration, NZARFD and the Heart Foundation.

“To date, work carried out by the Group has primarily involved the Best Chip Shop Competition. This event aims to encourage and educate shop owners on the ‘shake, bang and hang’ cooking technique which helps to reduce fat absorption by the chip.”

Glenda said the momentum and activity of the Chip Group is building, and now involves more industry suppliers including oil filtering and distribution companies.

“The extension of the Chip Group’s activities signals a strong commitment from both industry and now the Government to make chips lower in fat.”

Heart Foundation nutritionist, Judith Morley-John, said chippies can reduce the fat content of the chips they cook by up to 20 per cent.

“However, in order to achieve this, a comprehensive education programme now needs to be put in place covering a range of cooking techniques including frying procedures, oil temperature control, chip and oil selection, and maintenance of the oil.

“If all shops used our recommended frying techniques, we could potentially remove over 2,500 tonnes of fat from the national food supply annually.

“One of our key strategies is the Crisco Oils Best Chip Shop Competition, which aims to drive down the fat content of chips. Regional winners in last year’s Competition achieved an average fat content of 8.2 per cent which is significant, given that the fat content of an average chip was around 11.5 per cent.”

The 2007 Competition is now underway, with shop registrations due to close at the end of July. Voting will get underway on 1 August and the winners will be announced in November.
For further information on the Chip Group visit www.chipgroup.co.nz

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