Storing: What doth a sprouting potato make?

Subject: What doth a sprouting potato make?
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: White Monkey (k.m.c.ooper at chello.nl)
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 12:32:01 +0200
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Hi all,

"Everybody knows" that sprouting potatoes are poisonous. But what degree is "sprouting"? I have one here, a large blue truffle potato, from each eye of which was growing a 1/2 cm long cluster of sprouts. I scraped them off and dug out the first few mm of flesh under them, and the potato under there looks fine. Is this safe to cook with, specifically boiling and cubing it for use in a leftover-lamb-roast pie? Is it only safe for adult-type humans? I'm breastfeeding a six-month-old; does that make any difference, or are we talking a strictly safe potato here?

Thanks,
Katrina
From: Jill McQuown
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 04:44:32 -0600
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A sprouting potato makes more potatoes. As a child I stuck a potato in a saucer with water and let it sprout; then I put it in the ground and it made more potatoes. I was thrilled. I did the same thing with lima beans; then I dissected one to show how beans make little sprouts for a school science project.

Only you or your doctor can determine what is healthy for you to eat when breast-feeding an infant.
From: White Monkey (k.m.c.ooper at chello.nl)
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 12:52:07 +0200
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Jill McQuown wrote:
> A sprouting potato makes more potatoes. As a child I stuck a potato in a
> saucer with water and let it sprout; then I put it in the ground and it made
> more potatoes. I was thrilled. I did the same thing with lima beans; then
> I dissected one to show how beans make little sprouts for a school science
> project.
>
> Only you or your doctor can determine what is healthy for you to eat when
> breast-feeding an infant.

Potatoes are OK while breastfeeding. Poison is not. Is this potato poisonous? If the answer is, "No", then I can eat it. If the answer is "yes" or "Not enough to hurt someone over Xpounds weight", then I cannot. So the question is, "Is this potato poisonous?"

By the way, the way I put it in the header (just for fun) is Shakespearean era English for "What is the definition of a sprouting potato?" not "What is made by a sprouting potato?"

Thank you,
Katrina
From: davincifan at earthlink.net (Mac)
Date: 1 Apr 2005 03:08:51 -0800
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White Monkey wrote:
> Potatoes are OK while breastfeeding. Poison is not. Is this potato
> poisonous? If the answer is, "No", then I can eat it. If the answer is "yes"
> or "Not enough to hurt someone over Xpounds weight", then I cannot. So the
> question is, "Is this potato poisonous?"
>
> By the way, the way I put it in the header (just for fun) is Shakespearean
> era English for "What is the definition of a sprouting potato?" not "What is
> made by a sprouting potato?"

I have to say that I think your query is ridiculous. If there is any question that a food is not safe you shouldn't eat it. And this newsgroup, as Jill was actually indicating, is not the place to obtain an authoritative answer about the safety of some food. You have *one* potato you are wondering about. One. Toss it and use a potato that hasn't sprouted.
From: Jill McQuown
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 05:15:50 -0600
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davincifan at earthlink.net wrote:
> I have to say that I think your query is ridiculous. If there is any
> question that a food is not safe you shouldn't eat it. And this
> newsgroup, as Jill was actually indicating, is not the place to obtain
> an authoritative answer about the safety of some food. You have *one*
> potato you are wondering about. One. Toss it and use a potato that
> hasn't sprouted.

Indeed, sprouting is not the same thing as having turned *green* which is an indication of not a good thing. Sorry, I don't normally speak in Shakespearean terms about potatoes. Maybe I should resort to Monty Python LOL
From: Jill McQuown
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 05:10:38 -0600
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White Monkey wrote:
> Potatoes are OK while breastfeeding. Poison is not. Is this potato
> poisonous? If the answer is, "No", then I can eat it. If the answer
> is "yes" or "Not enough to hurt someone over Xpounds weight", then I
> cannot. So the question is, "Is this potato poisonous?"
>
> By the way, the way I put it in the header (just for fun) is
> Shakespearean era English for "What is the definition of a sprouting
> potato?" not "What is made by a sprouting potato?"

You doubt my ability to comprehend Shakespearean English, "But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the Sun! Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon who is already sick and pale with grief that thou her maid are far more fair than she."

I don't know shit about breast feeding but I know Shakespeare. If the food is safe for you to eat it should be safe for the babe at your breast. If you aren't sure about it, toss it out and buy a new potato. They aren't expensive.

Jill <--speaking as one on a budget
From: jacqui{JB} (shining_one_whMUNGE at ME.hotmail.com)
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 13:05:45 +0200
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White Monkey wrote:
> "Everybody knows" that sprouting potatoes are poisonous.
> But what degree is "sprouting"? I have one here, a large
> blue truffle potato, from each eye of which was growing
> a 1/2 cm long cluster of sprouts. I scraped them off and
> dug out the first few mm of flesh under them, and the
> potato under there looks fine. Is this safe to cook with,
> specifically boiling and cubing it for use in a leftover-lamb-
> roast pie? Is it only safe for adult-type humans? I'm
> breastfeeding a six-month-old; does that make any
> difference, or are we talking a strictly safe potato here?

Peel off any green bits, dig out the sprouting eyes and you should be fine. Personally, I'd give it a pass if it's getting spongy, but that's a personal preference to do with texture, rather than a question of danger.
From: White Monkey (k.m.c.ooper at chello.nl)
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 13:42:41 +0200
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jacqui{JB} wrote:
> Peel off any green bits, dig out the sprouting eyes and you should be fine.
> Personally, I'd give it a pass if it's getting spongy, but that's a personal
> preference to do with texture, rather than a question of danger.

Thank you very much. It is firm and very much potato-like. Everywhere the sprouts have been removed, it looks normal.

In answer to some of the others here, "if there is any question about its safety" -- well, duh. But I don't claim to know the answer to whether or not there IS any question about that, so I asked here where I thought people might know. If everyone everywhere was throwing out every potato with the faintest trace of a sprout or was getting sick, I think things would be quite different regarding what I see for sale and in restaurants. There must be a cut-off point beyond which the potato with signs of sprouting is generally to be considered unsafe.

Use another one--again, duh. But at the moment I don't have one so that means changing my dinner plans entirely and probably throwing out the lamb, as I was planning to prepare the pie now so that when we get back from having done what we need to outdoors, there would be time to cook it. Instead, there will not, unless I can use this potato. Which it seems I probably can.

They're not expensive--yeah, true. But this is the last blue one I'll be able to get until the farmer's market next week, and it would be nice to use it as they are very, very good. Just buying another one of any sort, as I have indicated, involves changing all my dinner plan for today, and I don't think the lamb will be good tomorrow, and I have already thawed the puff pastry--but should further research reveal I cannot use this potato, then, oh well, we'll chuck the lamb and the pastry and have spaghetti or something else quick.
--Katrina
From: White Monkey (k.m.c.ooper at chello.nl)
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 13:45:23 +0200
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Having found soem time to do some looking, I found this, in case anyone else has a similar query.
http://adam.about.com/encyclopedia/002875.htm [archive.org]
As here is no trace of green and all teh sporouts and eyes have been removed, I will deem this potato safe to eat.
--Katrina
From: Bruce B (nospam at invalid.moc)
Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 11:49:30 GMT
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White Monkey wrote:
> In answer to some of the others here, "if there is any question about its
> safety" -- well, duh. But I don't claim to know the answer to whether or not
> there IS any question about that,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanine
From: kilikini (kilikini at NOSPAMtampabay.rr.com)
Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 12:24:54 GMT
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White Monkey wrote:
> Thank you very much. It is firm and very much potato-like. Everywhere
> the sprouts have been removed, it looks normal.

I always eat potatos that have sprouted. I just peel off the eyes and if they go into the potato, I dig them out. I've been doing this for at least 20 years and although others from my past wish it weren't so, I'm still here.
From: Priscilla H. Ballou (vze23t8n at verizon.net)
Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 12:14:03 -0500
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White Monkey wrote:
> In answer to some of the others here, "if there is any question about its
> safety" -- well, duh. But I don't claim to know the answer to whether or not
> there IS any question about that, so I asked here where I thought people
> might know.

There was a question because YOU ASKED IT.

Much ado about nothing, IMO.
From: Bob (this one) (Bob at nospam.com)
Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 16:27:49 -0500
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Priscilla H. Ballou wrote:
> There was a question because YOU ASKED IT.
>
> Much ado about nothing, IMO.

Let me not to the marriage of true potatoes admit ingredients...

Pastorio
From: Bob (virtualgoth at die_spammer.biz)
Date: 1 Apr 2005 17:52:06 -0600
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Bob Pastorio wrote:
> Let me not to the marriage of true potatoes admit ingredients...

Bravo! <clap-clap>
From: Ophelia (ophelia at nospam.co.uk)
Date: Sat, 02 Apr 2005 12:15:03 GMT
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Bob wrote:
> Bravo! <clap-clap>

LOL *more applause*
From: White Monkey (k.m.c.ooper at chello.nl)
Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 09:10:36 +0200
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Priscilla H. Ballou wrote:
> There was a question because YOU ASKED IT.

Oooh, semantics! we could go on and on about the inherent subtle differences between the constructions "any question about" and "MY question about", but... nah!
--Katrina
From: Melba's Jammin' (thisisbogus at macbogus.com)
Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 07:31:58 -0600
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White Monkey wrote:
> "Everybody knows" that sprouting potatoes are poisonous. But what
> degree is "sprouting"? I have one here, a large blue truffle potato,
> from each eye of which was growing a 1/2 cm long cluster of sprouts.
> I scraped them off and dug out the first few mm of flesh under them,
> and the potato under there looks fine. Is this safe to cook with,
> specifically boiling and cubing it for use in a leftover-lamb-roast
> pie? Is it only safe for adult-type humans? I'm breastfeeding a
> six-month-old; does that make any difference, or are we talking a
> strictly safe potato here?

It's what I always do with them, Katrina. And always ha. .<gasp, choke, wheeze>
From: ppnerkDELETETHIS at yahoo.com (Phred)
Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 13:43:32 GMT
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White Monkey wrote:
>"Everybody knows" that sprouting potatoes are poisonous. But what degree is
>"sprouting"?

G'day Katrina,

Sprouting spuds typically contain as much, and probably more, solanine than even green spuds. I saw some data recently which indicated the effect of sprouting can be a factor of several times that of greening. If I can find the reference again, I'll post it. [1]

That said, it's pretty much a dose/unit weight effect, and probably a fair amount of individual tolerance too (just as with all drugs).

Solanine is pretty heat stable and boiling does not have much effect. Nor does peeling, as it's readily distributed through the tuber.

I gather the effect of sub-clinical exposure for most folk is little more than a touch of the squirts ("loose bowel syndrome" :) and you probably don't even know you've been "poisoned" -- most folk probably blame that extra glass of plonk with dinner. :-)

Don't know about effects in utero on bubs, or on breast milk. (But cows' milk typically reflects diet. :-)

[1] Not the one I had in mind, but here's a quote from "Warning: 1" at
http://innvista.com/health/foods/vegetables/potatoes/

"The best way to avoid this is to throw out any green potatoes or those sprouting "eyes" as these also have high levels of solanine."

Cheers, Phred.
From: Dave Smith (adavid.smith at sympatico.ca)
Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 09:14:11 -0500
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White Monkey wrote:
> "Everybody knows" that sprouting potatoes are poisonous. But what degree is
> "sprouting"?

There is a small amount of toxin in all potatoes, but there tends to be much more of it in the eyes and in the screen skin. Just avoid the eyes.
From: zxcvbob (zxcvbob at charter.net)
Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 09:01:43 -0600
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White Monkey wrote:
> "Everybody knows" that sprouting potatoes are poisonous. But what degree is
> "sprouting"?

Sunscalded potatoes that have turned green are poisonous (the poison is called solanine.) The green color is actually chlorophyl, which is harmless, but it forms at the same time as solanine. Cooking destroys about a third of the solanine. I would not eat potato sprouts, but you said the sprouts are only .5 cm and you cut them off. I don't see a problem unless the potato was green. I eat slightly sprouted potatoes all the time with no ill effects at all, but I always peel them if they are sprouted.

That being said, solanine is fat-soluble, so I supposed it could be transmitted in breast milk, but probably not in dangerous levels. It's just a potato; if you are concerned at all (and you are, otherwise you wouldn't have written here) throw it out, or let someone else eat it, or pick around the potatoes when you eat the pie. Your gonna have to make your own risk assessment and decision.

I would peel it and eat it and try to find something else to worry about ;-)

Bob
From: Katra (KatraMungBean at centurytel.net)
Date: Fri, 01 Apr 2005 12:30:58 -0600
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White Monkey wrote:
> "Everybody knows" that sprouting potatoes are poisonous. But what degree is
> "sprouting"?

As long as you get rid of ALL of the green coloring, I understand you should be ok???
From: White Monkey (k.m.c.ooper at chello.nl)
Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 09:12:45 +0200
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For the curious, it had no green about it, so I peeled it, cut out any trace of eyes, boiled and cubed it, and distributed it evenly through the pie. Pie was good, nobody having any problems here.
--Katrina