The New Complete Book of Food
Dehydrating. Potato “flakes” and “granules” have fewer vitamins and minerals than fresh
potatoes; potato chips and sticks are usually much higher in salt.
Potato salad. Commercially prepared potato salads may be treated with a sulfite such as
sulfur dioxide to inactivate polyphenoloxidase and keep the potatoes from darkening. People
who are sensitive to sulfites may suffer serious allergic reactions, including potentially fatal
anaphylactic shock if they eat potato salads treated with these chemicals.Medical Uses and/or Benefits
To soothe a skin rash. Potato starch, like corn starch, may be used as a dusting powder or
added to a lukewarm bath to soothe a wet, “weepy” skin rash. The starch, which is very
drying, should never be used on a dry rash or without a doctor’s advice.
As an antiscorbutic. Raw potatoes, which are high in vitamin C, were once used as an anti-
scorbutic, a substance that prevents or cures the vitamin C–deficiency disease scurvy. Today
we have much more effective means of preventing scurvy.Adverse Effects Associated with This Food
Allergic reactions to sulfite. See How other forms of processing affect this food, above.
Solanine poisoning. See About the nutrients in this food, above.
Potential carcinogenicity. A 2004 study from Stockholm University (Sweden) shows that
exposing high-carbohydrate foods such as potatoes and grains to very high cooking temps
triggers the production of odorless white crystals of acrylamide, a chemical the U.S. Envi-
ronmental Protection Agency calls a “probable human carcinogen” in food. Currently, there
is no evidence that the amount of acrylamide in potato chips and bread poses a serious
threat to human health. However, in 2008, a report in the Journal of the Science of Food and
Agriculture explained that (1) washing raw potatoes, or (2) soaking them in water for 30
minutes, or (3) soaking them in water for two hours reduced the formation of acrylamide
by 23 percent, 38 percent, and 48 percent respectively, so long as the potatoes were then
fried only to a light gold.Food/Drug Interactions
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