TOP DOC RECOMMENDS 5 PORTIONS OF CHIPS A DAY
Apparently the House of Commons, doctors, and people with common sense have been stunned by the fact that the DoH is excluding potatoes from its campaign to have Britain eat 5 portions of fruit and veg a day (individually, not the nation as a whole). After all, potatoes are vegetables, so it stands to reason these little starchy beauties would have the same benefit as any other vege? Maybe someone should buy the idiots at the DoH a dictionary?
Well, maybe that would be your impression if you read The Sun, where even a logical and reasonable policy can be spun into yet another ministerial bungle.
MP: SPUDS NOT A VEG
(The Sun, 2003-12-17)An MP was eating her words last night after claiming potatoes were NOT vegetables.
Junior health minister Melanie Johnson stunned the Commons by saying spuds did not count under Government nutrition guidelines.
Speaking about a drive to encourage people to eat five portions of fruit and veg a day, she said spuds were excluded because they
“provide mainly carbohydrate in the form of starch”.But Tory MP Christopher Chope scoffed: ”Everyone regards the potato as a vegetable except the Department of Health.”
Sun doctor Carol Cooper said: “This is very unfair on the potato.”
