A Harvard professor has prompted an angry response from critics after he suggested that a portion of fries should contain only six.
In an interview with the New York Times about the harm in eating French fries, Eric Rimm, a professor in the departments of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, discussed exercising portion control.
“There aren’t a lot of people who are sending back three-quarters of an order of French fries,” Dr Rimm said.
“I think it would be nice if your meal came with a side salad and six French fries.”
On Americans’ appetite for French fries, Dr Rimm said: “It’s too bad in this country you’ll pry them from my cold dead hand.”
He also described fries as “starch bombs”.
His advice was based on a study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that noted that those who ate fried potatoes two to three times a week had a higher risk of mortality compared to those who did not.
In response to the article, one critic tweeted: “What kind of MAD MAN would want six french fries?
“I get it, they are bad for you, but eating SIX sounds like torture.”
They added: “I'd rather not have them at all. But we all know that's not going to happen.”
Another described Dr Rimm as a “monster.”
In reply, another critic said: “How does one eat only six French fries and feel satisfied?”
Another said that just six French fires with a salad amounted to “potato croutons”.
A man tweeting under the name Justin M Overdorff said: “I have no words to describe my reaction to this sentence.”
