I read an interesting post today at Simply Recipes, and it got me thinking.

Green = vegetables = good, right?Not when it comes to potatoes.Here’s an important piece of information that my mother taught me years ago, but fewer and fewer people these days seem to know about. Green in potatoes indicates the presence of a rather dangerous toxin. When you see patches of green in your potatoes as you peel them, cut out the green parts entirely and discard them.

What is the green? Actually it’s chlorophyll. Not bad for you at all. But the chlorophyll indicates that the potato has been exposed to sunlight. And where the potato has been exposed to light is where a natural toxin in the potato (solanine) becomes concentrated at dangerous levels. So, never store your potatoes on the counter. Always keep them in a cool, completely dark place.

According to the Wikipedia, deep-frying potatoes at a high temperature (306°F) effectively lowers the level of toxins. But boiling them (212°F) has no effect. Best to stay on the safe side and just cut away the green parts. The NIH website mentions that the potato sprouts can also have concentrated solanine, so those too should never be eaten.

So, I went to Snopes to see if this was true…..and it is. I am the Spud Queen and consume many many potatoes each year! 🙂 I have noticed as of late that bags of potatoes contain quite a few green potatoes these days… scary.