So I cooked roast spuds and veggies and snags for tea tonight. The spuds were fresh from the supermarket but when I washed them they had slightly green spots on the skins. I peeled it all off and then some to make sure it was just the white flesh I was cooking.
DH just told me that eating spuds with green skins can lead to miscarriage... OMG I am freaking out! Would it be ok as I had peeled away all the green parts??
Huh, I googled this and apparently it's true - to an extent. Found this on Snopes:
The potato — or, rather, green versions of it — contains a natural toxin called solanine. The greenish hue that should warn you away from such spuds is actually chlorophyll, but its presence indicates concentrations of solanine are present in the tuber.
A glycoalkaloid poison found in species of the nightshade, solanine is a nerve toxin produced in the green part of the potato (the leaves, the stem, and any green spots on the skin). This bitter poisonous crystalline alkaloid is part of the plant's defenses against insects, disease, and predators. Potato leaves and stems are naturally high in glycoalkaloids, so ingestion of these parts of the plant must be avoided at all costs.
Solanine develops in potatoes when spuds are subjected to light or either very cold or warm temperatures. It interferes with the body's ability to use a particular chemical that facilitates the transmission of impulses between cells. Ingested in large enough amounts, it can cause vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, and even paralysis of the central nervous system.
However, unless you are deliberately seeking out green potatoes to eat, you are unlikely to ingest enough of the toxin to do harm. The potatoes we buy contain such a minute amount of the chemical that a healthy adult would have to eat about 4-1/2 pounds at one sitting to experience any neurological symptoms.
So it's okay to eat them by accident, just try not to if you can help it. I think bubs will be okay from just one slip-up
I looked up a site and it said that the amount of green we eat on spuds is not enough to do any damage. We would need to eat a fair amount to make us sick.
Most of us at some stage have eaten spuds with green on them with no ill effects. From now on keep them in a cool dark place as light will turn them green and if in doubt don't eat them
Now I feel guilty about all the green spuds I have flicked through the whole pregnancy!
I heard about it on Dr Karl, that it was only an issue in pregnancy, and I heard it years ago, but it stuck in my brain forever, so I have thrown them out all the way through. I'm sure you will be OK though.
Tell your husband thanks for the scaremongering but he is full of crap.
The green is the results of oxidisation which occurs when the potatoes are exposed to light (ie, they aren't fresh and the supermarket keep them in the bloody light anyhow).
Anyway, yes, it is not healthy to eat green potatoes, and they can make you sick. BUT:
By removing the green part to expose white (or fresh) flesh, you remove the toxin and therefore also ANY risk of ANY toxicity.
In short, there is absolutely NOTHINGwrong with you, your baby or the potatoes, nor will there be.
I hate when people say things like this with no understanding at all, especially to you! What was he hoping to achieve??
Anyway, you will be perfectly fine and you did exactly what everyone human on earth does - cut off the green bit and cook the rest.
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Green on Spuds...
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