Finding a Better French Fry That's Less Likely to (Possibly, Maybe) Harm Us

Here’s how it works: There’s an amino acid called asparagine that’s found in small amounts in a variety of vegetables and animal products. But in many common potato types, including the russet (Ranger Russets and Russet Burbanks are the varieties most often used for commercial French fries and chips) asparagine is found in higher concentrations. When heated to temperatures over 248 degrees Fahrenheit, asparagine combines with sugars to produce acrylamide in what’s known as a Maillard reaction. Sadly, this reaction is what makes fries so golden and delicious – and also what helps produce the harmful acrylamide.

Laboratory studies in mice and rats revealed a variety of tumors – including scrotal tumors in rats, and skin and lung tumors in mice – but the tests used extremely high doses of acrylamide. Studies in humans have had mixed results with no clear-cut connection between people who consume lots of fried potatoes and an increase in cancer. Even so, the International Agency for Research on Cancer considers the chemical a “probable human carcinogen.”

Broiling, baking, and frying tend to produce acrylamide, but boiling the tubers doesn’t. Parboiling the potatoes before frying them also helps in reducing the amount of acrylamide that’s formed. But, if you love French fries like I do, that’s cold comfort unless you’re cooking them at home and can control how they’re prepared.

Enter the scientists I mentioned earlier: A team led by University of Idaho researcher Yi Wang assessed close to 150 potato varieties to determine whether they produced lower amounts of acrylamide and were still able to stand up to the russets used for commercial fry and chip production. The different breeds were planted in five separate growing regions across the U.S. then stored in conditions mimicking how they’d be handled in commercial settings. The potatoes were tested for their asparagine and sugar levels before being fried up and then examined for acrylamide levels. The team’s research was published in the journal Crop Science.

The researchers discovered that it’s possible to identify potato breeds that produce less acrylamide and are working on identifying the specific genes associated with the high production of acrylamide in order to possibly eliminate them in the future. Meanwhile, two non-genetically modified varieties, the Payette Russet and the Easton, that produce lower amounts of acrylamide when fried, have already been released for commercial use.

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