Fryers furious with Almere municipality: this is why
ProFi, or the Association of Professional Fryers, is furious with the college of mayor and aldermen of Almere. The anger is directed at a striking policy proposal. The proposal states that ”within a radius of 100 metres as the crow flies from a school and from the hospital”, no more unhealthy food may be sold. According to the college, this mainly concerns fried food.
Almere wants to create a healthier living environment for its residents in this way. However, ProFi finds it downright shameless and outrageous that the college has chosen frying as a preparation method as the ”demarcation of policy”. According to the association, it is unjustified to regard the preparation method ‘frying’ as the boundary for unhealthy food, without giving truly good, well-founded reasons for it.
Frying culture
Because, according to ProFi, you see frying as a basic preparation method in many food cultures. Just look at Dutch frying culture. Typically Dutch, a portion of fries with a frikandel special on the side – right? According to the association, it is indefensible for the college to lump frying and unhealthy food together. Because, as ProFi says, ”products fried in fat/oil fit perfectly well into a responsible lifestyle”. The association cites the recommendation from Het Voedingscentrum: ”If you eat healthily and varied, it is no problem to eat fries occasionally”. According to Het Voedingscentrum, the point is ”that you do not eat fries too much and too often. It is about the right balance.”
Fries are not quite as unhealthy as you might think
In a manifesto, ProFi goes into its convictions in greater depth. For example, the association argues that it is unjustified to portray snack bars and fast-food shops as the major causes of health problems. There is no strong connection between the two, after all. Figures show, for example, that the majority of fried products come from supermarkets. Another striking point: ProFi considers fries to be a vegetable. They are not the only ones. As stated in the manifesto, flavour expert Peter Klosse also believes that fries, as potatoes, should be listed in the vegetable category of the Wheel of Five, rather than among carbohydrate-rich foods.
Moreover, ProFi says, the term ‘fast food’ says nothing about whether the food is healthy or unhealthy. It is about quality. According to the association, healthy or unhealthy food does not exist; healthy or unhealthy eating patterns do. And therefore you can perfectly well eat fries occasionally if you otherwise have a healthy lifestyle.
Incidentally, this is not the first time ProFi has made its voice heard. Whether the municipality of Almere will do anything with this protest remains to be seen. What do you think? Should the fat continue bubbling near schools and hospitals, or is that really a no-go?
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