KFC potatoes are bad for your health, but you already know – Kenyan Business Feed

Fast foods are not good for your health, according to medical experts.

The unhealthy snacks apply to all outlets selling foods boiled at high temperatures in seed oils.

However, in the light of the ongoing debate on why Kentucky Fried Chicken or KFC can’t just use locally grown potatoes, KenyanBusinessFeed.com went on research to find out why.

KFC Kenya run out of potatoes in the new year and has described locally grown potatoes as of poor quality and as such they must import potatoes from the US or South Africa.

The imported potatoes, for making fries, are always transported while frozen.

According to KFC East Africa CEO, Jacques Theunissen, the shortage of potatoes in its outlets is caused by delays in delivery from its overseas suppliers. This has forced it to offer customers alternative food items in place of French fries.

Mr Theunissen also clarified why KFC can’t use local potatoes.

“The reason we cannot buy local at the moment is all suppliers need to go through the global QA approval process and we cannot bypass that even if we run out to ensure that our food is safe for consumption by our customers,” he said.

Chemical in potatoes

In the US state of Carifornia, KFC was sued for not warning clients about a potential carcinogen that is activated in their potatoes due to high heat cooking.

The suit, filed in 2005, argued that warnings were needed for cooked potato products because they contain higher levels of acrylamide than other foods. Acrylamide is a byproduct created through the reaction of chemicals in food to high heat.

Acrylamide is a substance that forms through a natural chemical reaction between sugars and asparagine, an amino acid, in plant-based foods – including potato and cereal-grain-based foods. Acrylamide forms during high-temperature cooking, such as frying, roasting, and baking

DNA Mutations

Studies in rodent models have found that acrylamide exposure increases the risk for several types of cancer. In the body, acrylamide is converted to a compound called glycidamide , which causes mutations in and damage to DNA.

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