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In a push to slim the waistlines of Mississippi students, school districts may soon be tossing their fryers in exchange for a special kind of oven. At a seminar this July, food service administrators will learn about the combi-oven — a piece of equipment that uses steaming, circulated hot air or a combination of the two to offer a more healthful alternative to deep frying foods. Cooking a half cup of french fries in the combi-oven cuts 15 calories, 34 percent of the saturated fat and 55 percent of the total fat in fried french fries. Three Mississippi school districts — Starkville, DeSoto County and Jackson County — were sites of combi-oven pilot projects during spring 2007.
