Second generation Innate potato cleared by Canadian government

Health Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) have completed the food, feed, and environmental safety assessments of J.R. Simplot’s second generation of Innate potatoes. The authorizations enable the potatoes to be imported, planted and sold in Canada, complementing the three varieties of Innate first generation potatoes that received regulatory approval last year.

Health Canada conducted a comprehensive safety assessment and approved the use of Innate second generation potatoes for food. In addition, CFIA determined that these potatoes are “as safe and nutritious as traditional potatoes” for use as livestock feed, and that the potatoes do not present increased risk to the environment when compared to currently cultivated potato varieties in Canada.

The second generation of Innate potatoes contains four beneficial traits of relevance to potato growers, processors and consumers:

• Protection against the late blight pathogen
• Reduced bruising and black spot
• Reduced asparagine, which contributes to reduced acrylamide in cooked potatoes
• Lower reducing sugars, which further contributes to reduced acrylamide while enhancing cold storage capability

These traits were achieved using genes from wild and cultivated potatoes to adapt the standard Russet Burbank, Ranger Russet, and Atlantic potato varieties.

Innate late blight protection trait can convey up to a 50 percent reduction in annual fungicide applications typically used to control late blight disease, according to Simplot. Research shows that Innate second generation potatoes help reduce waste associated with bruise, blight, and storage losses by reducing waste at multiple stages of the value chain, including in-field, during storage and processing, and in food service. That research suggests that these traits will translate to less land, water and pesticide applications to produce these potatoes, the company said in a press release.

Lower asparagine and reducing sugars mean that accumulation levels of acrylamide can be reduced by up to 90 percent more when these potatoes are cooked at high temperatures. In addition, lower reducing sugars enable cold storage at 3.3° Celsius for more than six months without significant degradation in quality.