avoid greened potato ?

[petefromlondon]

according to this article, A greened potato indicates the presence of a toxin that can cause gastrointestinal distress, induce coma or even death within 24 hours of consumption ?


http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-cult ... 70/?no-ist

[dailycarbs]

Some of the plastic bags potatoes come in have a greenish tint which makes it difficult to tell if any of the potatoes are green. The cynic in me tells me that this is not by accident. I do avoid green potatoes now but I have eaten them in the past without consequence.

[JeffN]

A greened potato indicates the presence of a toxin that can cause gastrointestinal distress, induce coma or even death within 24 hours of consumption


http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-cult ... 70/?no-ist

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=46490

In Health
Jeff

[ETeSelle]

Jeff, you're as good as Snopes! Thanks for debunking that.

[petefromlondon]

thank toy Jeff, do you have anything on potato skin possibly being difficult to digest ?

A greened potato indicates the presence of a toxin that can cause gastrointestinal distress, induce coma or even death within 24 hours of consumption


http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-cult ... 70/?no-ist

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=46490

In Health
Jeff

[rickfm]

I mostly buy potatoes in the 5 and 10 pound plastic bags. It's the most economic. Frequently get get 5 lb bags on sale for $1.49, 10 lb for $2.99. I'm cheap. I don't keep them in plastic, I trim paper sacks to fit in the drawer under my oven and keep them in that since I don't own a lot of pots and pans that need to be stored and I rarely ever use my oven. More of a stove top/microwave kinda' guy.

Problem is, you do often get some green ones when buying them like that. I love potato skin, so I typically just take a tea spoon and scrape away any eyes and green areas on the surface to leave as much skin as possible. If it goes deeper than that I use a peeler and keep slicing until the green is gone. I've been doing this for the past... I don't know... five years, maybe. Have never felt sick or had any bad blood work or any other indicator of solanine exposure.

[f1jim]

One must look at the historical record of potatoes as human food to get a better picture of the issues around them. That record shows that with rare exceptions potatoes have been an excellent source of food for humans for eons. With skins, without skins, with green areas, without green areas. Given the billions of people that have used the potato as food the problems are near non-existent. It's the reason the potato has successfully passed muster for centuries. If there were serious issues it would have been passed on for food long ago.
Of course, we can always create conspiracy theories around potatoes if we just have to feel insecure about them!
Let's not.
f1jim

[-mermaid-]

I've ingested a lot of potatoes that had a greenish cast. I think I just got lazy and decided that I would worry about it if I ended up in the ER over it. So far, so good.