Researchers study french fry oil from fast-food chains vs. small
businessesUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Posted: Jan. 21, 2010
With more Americans eating out, at least three times a week, and
a lack of adequate nutritional information available to
consumers, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa geobiology professor
A. Hope Jahren and postdoctoral researcher Brian A. Schubert
wanted to examine the oil content in a growing trend on American
restaurant menus: french fries. What they found was that the
majority of national chain restaurants on O‘ahu served fries
containing corn oil—which is higher in cholesterol-raising
saturated fat than other vegetable oils such as canola, soy and
safflower—as compared to small mom-and-pop restaurants. The team
found that the majority (69 percent) of the national chain
restaurants served fries containing corn oil, whereas this was
true for only a minority (20 percent) of the small businesses.
Jahren and Schubert concluded that fries at the mom-&-pop
restaurants are slightly healthie