How Frito Lay Has It Wrong: Fried Foods Are Dangerous

Fried Foods Are Dangerous, But My Heart Healthy Popcorn Is Crunch-tastic & Delicious!

Looks like I'm back to taking on the fast food world! I've been cooking up some fun videos about fast food with Erik Trinidad from Fancy Fast Food (more about that to come in future posts!).Looking at the websites of some of the world's biggest fast food and packaged foods (read JUNK FOOD) companies has been a little shocking - and I thought I had seen it all! (Remember in Super Size Me when I had to watch Morgan go through 30 days of torture eating nothing but McDonald's? If you haven't seen the movie, you can watch it for free on Hulu.com here:)I was reading on Frito Lay's website about their crunchy Fritos brand chips, and how, as the company puts it:"...frying isn't unhealthy, it's the type of oil in which the frying is done that matters."Both I and the USDA disagree with this idea. Frying in ANY oil produces a chemical known as acrylamide:

Here is what the USDA says about the danger of acrylamides:

"Acrylamide caused cancer in animals in studies where animals were exposed to acrylamide at very high doses. Acrylamide causes nerve damage in people exposed to very high levels at work. FDA has not yet determined the exact public health impact, if any, of acrylamide from the much lower levels found in foods. FDA is conducting research studies to determine whether acrylamide in food is a potential risk to human health."

Here's the real scoop: fried foods aren't healthy, no matter what oil you use. Acrylamide is a dangerous (more than likely) carcinogen and the National Institute of Health recommends against them in a heart healthy diet.

If you're a CRUNCH lover, then try eating air-popped popcorn. Drizzle it with olive oil and sprinkle some Red Star nutritional yeast flakes on top for a savory, cheesy (but dairy-free), healthy, protein-rich flavor. It's delicious!

You can spend $20 on a great air-popper and buy organic popping corn in bulk for less than $1 a pound. I always use organic corn products so I can avoid any genetically modified organisms.  That means every bowl of popcorn will cost less than a quarter after a few uses of the air popper! It's a terrific money saver.