Wowsa, buried in this piece on the low carb potato is this little gem about a grizzled old industry veteran who spills the beans... or the fries...:
"I don't want to run a bus over what they're doing," said Jones, his baseball hat cocked back on his head. "But it's a marketing deal that's going on."
If you compared the little round SunLite potatoes with red potatoes, their carb count would come out the same, not 30 percent less, he said.
"I could put Smart-Carb on my reds," Jones quips.
It turns out that he is correct, but who's going to know?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the potato growers long ago worked out a generic potato nutrition label that leaves SunLite plenty of room to plead low-carb-ish.
And how can this happen? The article explains:
That label doesn't say SunLite has less carbs than any old potato, just that it has less than a russet.
What the USDA did was come up with a blended number of calories and carbs for all potatoes, which is the label you would find on Publix red potatoes.
The way the government proceeded on the potato label happens to provide cover for SunFresh.
The label on red potatoes says that they have 26 carbs per 5.3 ounce serving, just like one would say if it were on a bag of russets.
The fact is, the red potatoes, just like Jones said, are lower carb than the russets, just like the SunLite potatoes claim to be.
Please read the whole thing because there is much more! (A big hand to the author!)
To find out more about the potato, try their website: www.sunlitepotato.com.
Are sunlite potatoes OK to serve as mashed potatoes, or are they strictly a baking potato?
Posted by: lottie weaver | September 03, 2006 at 11:45 AM
WHY ARE ALL THE POTATOES DIFFERENT SIZES IN THE BAG?
Posted by: Debby Griffin | February 23, 2011 at 07:31 PM