Green Potatoes

Recently my local supermarket had a sale on baking potatoes, so I snatched up a 10# bag on my shopping trip. When I got home, I noticed the majority of the potatoes had a side that was completely green. I had heard rumors that green on potatoes is a bad thing and can cause cancer, but shrugged it off as an old wives tale and didn't worry about it. I had seen potato chips that had a little bit of green on them and also assumed that the grocery store wouldn't sell the potatoes if there was anything harmful about them. However, I baked a potato for dinner one night, and it tasted a little bitter. So, I decided to look into the matter of green potatoes.

In my research, I discovered that the green on potatoes is actually chlorophyll that develops when the potatoes are exposed to light at extremely cold or hot temperatures. In general, one would assume that chlorophyll would be harmless-after all-all green plants have it and we eat those. Not so with potatoes. The green chlorophyll I saw on the potatoes actually is a warning to me that there is a chemical called solanine in the potato as a result of the light at cold temperatures. Solanine is actually a poison to the human body and can cause food-poisoning symptoms like vomiting, stomach cramps, headaches, and even paralysis. It is especially harmful to children because their immune systems are not as fortified as adults. I could probably eat one or two green potatoes with no ill effects, but in general it is not a good idea. In fact, most of the articles I read said that even cutting away the green on the potatoes and eating the rest of the potato was not good because the Solanine is actually not the green, but it is the green that simply indicates that solanine is present. It is in higher concentration in the green part on the potato, but is in general throughout the whole potato.

I wondered why the potatoes would be sold at my local supermarket if they were so harmful to eat. I read that there are no regulations to supermarkets for what they can and cannot sell concerning green potatoes. It is entirely up to the store manager as to what will be put out. So, from now on, I will be scrutinizing the potatoes that I purchase. No more green potatoes!