French fries are actually healthy!

Are French fries actually healthy? Yes say researchers defying the years of bad press the crunchy snack has received. Professor Vincenzo Fogliano, who oversaw the study with Italian chef Giuseppe Daddio said that fries are not bad for us.

'If it's fried in the correct way, a potato chip can be an excellent nutritional product,' the Sydney Morning Herald quoted him as saying. The pair arrived at the conclusion by studying the way that cooking oil which is usually loaded with fat is absorbed during the frying stage.

Zucchini and eggplant, two food items that are considered very healthy, absorbed 30% of the oil. Potatoes and pizza absorbed just five percent. Potatoes resisted the oil because they're full of starch, Professor Fogliano said.

'A fundamental rule is that starch plays an important part in sealing the food being fried and reducing the oil absorption. The starch in potatoes is particularly effective, he said. However, there's a caveat or two. 'Attention must be paid to frozen or pre-fried products,' Fogliano, told the Italian newspaper La Stampa. 'In these cases, the quantity of food absorbed increases significantly,' he said.