A GMO Potato Is Approved, But Will Anyone Buy It?

Might a GMO potato really be a better potato than can win over opponents of genetic engineering and feed the French fry minions? Image: J.R. Simply.

J.R. Simplot won federal approval for a genetically modified potato on Nov. 7, and although it is a major supplier of french fries to McDonald's , don't worry about some GMO spud showing up in your Happy Meal. The fast-food chain says it has no plans on adopting it anytime soon.

But that might not be the case for long.

Simplot says that because its new potato is made from genes derived from potatoes themselves and not bacteria or genes from other species, thus creating some sort of Frankenfood, it doesn't rise to the same level of concern activists would have over some crops, or when they thwarted Monsanto's effort to propagate a GMO potato in the 1990's.

Back then, Monsanto got the FDA to approve its New Leaf potatoes that were resistant to disease and insects through the development of a synthetic version of the bacillus thuringiensis bacterium, or Bt.

After initial acclaim, the biotech charged high premiums for its seed, which limited adoption, and then ultimately went nowhere when McDonald's and the Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo were cowed by anti-GMO activists into rejecting them. J.R. Simplot, an early adopter of the GMO potato, instructed its farmers not to plant them. Monsanto eventually stopped developing the potato in 2001.

Simplot's new Innate potatoes was developed to be especially beneficial to fast-food restaurants that sell lots of french fries. It's a little science-y, but it's important to understanding what Simplot is doing.

When potatoes and other starchy foods like bread (and even coffee!) are processed at high temperatures, such as when they're deep-fried, a carcinogenic chemical compound called acrylamide if formed.

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A GMO Potato Is Approved, But Will Anyone Buy It?