Russian health group urges ban on deep-fried foods, especially for children

A Russian consumer group has called for restrictions on deep-frying in food service, advocating for oven-baked alternatives to reduce health risks associated with trans fats and high-calorie coatings, particularly targeting children’s meals.

A Russian consumer group has urged Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to curb the use of deep-frying in food service, arguing that breaded and battered items should be replaced with oven-baked or convection-cooked alternatives. According to the group’s letter, the same logic should apply even more strictly to children’s meals, where pre-fried convenience foods would be ruled out altogether.

The warning centres on two main concerns: calorie-heavy coatings and the health risks linked to industrially produced trans fats. The World Health Organisation says trans fats should make up less than 1% of total energy intake and has called for their elimination from the food supply, while the US Food and Drug Administration says partially hydrogenated oils are no longer generally recognised as safe because they raise LDL, or “bad”, cholesterol.

Nutritionists quoted by the Moscow daily argue that breaded foods are now so common – from chicken nuggets and fish fingers to vegetable snacks and breaded sushi rolls – that many people eat them far too often. Their case is not that such foods are automatically dangerous, but that the combination of refined flour, repeated oil heating and heavy processing makes them a poor everyday choice, particularly for children.

Health guidance from the Mayo Clinic and other medical sources supports the broader concern that trans fats can worsen cholesterol profiles and raise the risk of heart attack and stroke. Experts also point to fried foods’ high energy density, which makes it easier to overeat, and to the fact that baking or convection cooking can preserve texture while reducing oil absorption. For families, the practical message is simple: breaded foods are best treated as an occasional indulgence, not a routine part of the diet.