‘Ketchup Is Fruit Smoothie’: Internet Reacts To US Govt's Suggestion To Reclassify Potato As Grain

Change is the new constant in human life. Earlier people believed that the Sun revolved around the Earth. Breaking the myth was Nicolaus Copernicus who first proposed that it was the other way around. His theory was met with strong opposition from the masses as the discovery was not in alignment with the customs. Seems like, a similar situation has emerged now. Potato, which was previously labelled as a vegetable, has now been proposed to be classified as a grain. The proposition put forward by the US government has been strongly criticised by rural lawmakers and the general population.

An X (formerly Twitter) user dropped a screenshot of a letter penned by US Senator Mike Crapo to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the US Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS). Crapo claimed that the decision to classify the starchy staple as a grain during the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) process was wrong. The sarcastic note accompanying the X-post read, “April Fool’s Day isn’t until Monday, but the Biden administration wants to reclassify potatoes, a vegetable, as a grain under new dietary guidelines.”

Social media users jumped into the comments section, sharing their opinions on the matter. “If potato is a grain, vodka is fruit juice,” remarked an individual jokingly. “Ketchup is a fruit smoothie, right?” quipped another. “New food pyramid scheme just dropped,” noted a user hilariously. Taking a sly dig at the US authorities for debating on something as trivial as potatoes when so much is happening around the world, a person wrote, “It’s nice they’ve solved all our other problems so they can focus on potatoes.”

Refusing to believe the claim, a critic commented, “I’ve never thought of a potato as a vegetable, and I don’t need a Government classification to tell me how to think about potatoes. If a potato is a vegetable, so are rice, pasta, and Hershey’s syrup.” Another X-user demanded to know the “explanation” behind such a proposal.

According to the official website of Mike Crapo, he and 14 other US Senators have opposed the potato reclassification. Citing the reason for the same, they quoted a line from the 2013 National Library of Medicine study. It stated that potatoes “should be included in the vegetable group because they contribute critical nutrients… Unlike grains, potatoes are strong contributors of potassium, calcium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and fibre.”

The Senators urged the US government to avoid re-categorising the now-vegetable as it could “confuse” farmers, retailers, and consumers, ultimately hampering the chain of supply.