Page 4684 - Week 16 - Tuesday, 27 November 1990
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MINISTER FOR HEALTH, EDUCATION AND THE ARTS
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY QUESTION
QUESTION TAKEN ON NOTICE ON 23 OCTOBER 1990
Green Potatoes
MR STEVENSON - asked the Minister for Health, Education and the Arts:
1. My question is to Gary Humphries as Minister for Health. It concerns the availability of unhealthy food in Canberra. As it is well known that green potatoes cause a toxaemic reaction, is the minister aware that green potatoes are readily available in Canberra? That they are quite often sold in coloured plastic bags making it very difficult to ascertain their colour when they are being purchased and is the Minister contemplating taking any action or has taken any action concerning the availability of green potatoes? And, secondly, has it been noted that they are harmful and is that knowledge being made available to the general public?
MR HUMPHRIES - the answer to Mr Stevensons question is:
Glycoalkaloids are present in all potatoes and other plants of the solanaceae (or nightshade family), and is a natural pesticide.
The amount of glycoalkaloid present depends on a number of factors including the strain of cultivate used in the crop, whether the tubers have been stressed, eg. frost damage or damage by mechanical harvesting and also the extent of the greening.
It is therefore quite possible to have normal looking potatoes that have greater glycoalkaloids levels than green potatoes.
The glycoalkaloid is water soluble, so that cooking potatoes in water (boiled potatoes) poses no threat at all.
Symptoms of the poisoning are headache, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and circulatory collapse, neurological disturbances such as hallucinations, trembling and alterations to vision.
It is very much dose related, so that if more than 5008 of potatoes are eaten at one sitting then it is best to peel and boil them. Glycoalkaloids do provide an unpleasant taste at higher levels providing a bitter taste with a long lasting burning sensation. Flavours, oils and salts inhibit the detection of the glycoalkaloid. Normal levels of glycoalkaloids are considered to be an important component of potato flavour.
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