The J.R. Simplot Company announces that the USDA has deregulated Innate potatoes, enabling them to be sold in the United States. This approval comes after a decade of scientific development, safety assessments and extensive field tests.
Innate potatoes contain genes from wild and cultivated potatoes, grow naturally just like conventional potatoes, and introduce no new allergens. Simplot is looking forward to the completion of the FDA review process before Innate is introduced into the marketplace in limited test markets in the spring.
Innate potatoes have approximately 40 percent less bruise caused by impact and pressure during harvest and storage than conventional potatoes and have lower levels of asparagine. With full market penetration for its varieties sold in the U.S., Innate will reduce annual potato waste by an estimated 400 million pounds in the food ervice and retail industries and a significant portion of the estimated 3 billion pounds discarded by consumers. For these reasons, we believe Innate potatoes will be a more sustainable option when compared to their conventional varieties and will provide a healthy choice for consumers.
Simplot expects to license the potatoes to select partners for test markets in 2015.