This is a guest post by Robin DeCicco, a holistic nutritionist who runs the Tenafly and Ramsey based The Power of Food Education. She counsels people on making healthier choices and specializes in changing behaviors to achieve life-long success. Her column “A Holistic Nutritionist’s Take On Local Eateries” features her healthy perspective on local dining options.

The simple question, “Would you like fries with that?” now takes on a different meaning at Burger King’s throughout the country. Now, customers have the choice of ordering between two different types of fries – the regular ones – and the new lower-fat, lower-calorie Satisfries.

Think hard the next time you find yourself ordering at the fast-food counter – – the differences are….well, they’re not too different.

A medium size Satisfries contains 14 grams of fat and 340 calories – compared to the 18 grams of fat and 410 calories in the regular fries. Satisfries also have 40% less fat and 30% fewer calories than McDonald’s fries.

Burger King is able to offer these new fries by working with its fry supplier, McCain Foods, to develop a thinner batter to coat the fries, therefore, absorbing less oil in the frying process.

So, yes, diners are saving some calories and fat when eating the new crinkled fries and I’m not knocking the chain for trying to create a healthy alternative for customers; however, what fast-food chains really need to change in order for any real results to take place regarding the country’s staggering obesity rates is the process in which the food is made.

Satisfries are still deep-fried in vegetable oils that are often full of pesticides – a process that causes compounds to form in the food that can potentially cause cancer – such as acrylamide in French fries.

A recent study published in The Prostate reports that eating deep-fried foods, such as French fries and fried chicken, on a regular basis may be tied to an increased risk of prostate cancer.

According to the study, men who said they ate French fries, fried chicken, fried fish and/or doughnuts at least once a week were 30 percent to 37 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer than those who ate such foods less than once a month.

Another study published by Pediatrics tracked over 6,000 kids and found that every day, nearly one-third of U.S. children aged 4 to 19 eat fast food, which likely packs on about six extra pounds per child per year and increases the risk of obesity.

Fries taste good. And in moderation, I’d say it’s not the worst food out there, but that’s the problem. Most of us don’t know how to do moderation. While Burger King’s corporate execs should pat themselves on the back for at least trying to create a healthier fry, we have a long way to go before they deserve an applause.