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Strict food preparation standards in the EU nearly ruined a favorite snack in Belgium: What us Americans call French fries more appropriatels known as pommes frites.

Reuters reports that the national government of Belgium said on Wednesday that the EU agreed to compromise on their food safety rules, allowing Belgiums friteries to continue preparing Belgian fries in the traditional manner.

The Belgian fry is saved! Europe has listened to Belgium," Belgiums Agriculture Minister Willy Borsus said in a statement posted to Twitter.

Coincidentally, the news that Belgium would not have to sacrifice this beloved cultural tradition to appease the EU cametwo days before Belgiums National Day, their holiday commemorating the 1830 revolution that won Belgium independencefrom the Netherlands.

People may take their fries seriously in America, but in Belgium, where they're known as either pommes frites, frieten in Flemish, or patat in Dutch.Theyre a deeply ingrained aspect of their history, and one of the most popular foods in the country. Traditionally, theyre served with a hearty dollop of mayonnaise in a paper cone, or alongside steamed mussels.

The Belgian people also insist they originated the snack instead of the French; one historical document supports the hypothesis that potatoes were being deep-fried in Belgium as far back as 1680.

It makes sense, then, that for weeks, Belgianshave been waiting with bated breathfor the EU to officially excuse their precious fries from regulations that would require cafs and restaurants to actively reduce the amount of carcinogenic acrylamidea substance naturally produced when roasting, baking, fryingfoods, but that some advocates in the EU believe can cause cancer. The traditional method of frying the potato piecestwice in Belgium makes them crunchier, but also produces more of the acrylamide.

Thankfully, Belgian frite-makers can continue to fry up those crispy, greasy spears of deliciousness however they see fit.

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European Union Excuses Belgian Fries from New Food Safety Rules - Food & Wine