BOISE, ID - The USDA has approved Simplot’s Russet Burbank variety potato, which is genetically modified to resist the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine. 

“For historical reasons and current agriculture reasons, this is an important milestone,” said Haven Baker, Vice President of Plant Sciences at Simplot. “The Irish potato famine did change a lot of Western history. Even today – 160 years later – late blight is a $5 billion problem for the global potato industry.” 

This is the second generation of Simplot’s Innate-brand of potatoes, which we’ve reported on earlier this year. The GMO spud also includes the first generation’s reduced bruising and a greater reduction in a chemical produced at high temperatures that some studies have shown can cause cancer. The new potato variety also includes an additional trait the company says will allow potatoes to be stored at colder temperatures longer to reduce food waste.

Before these potatoes can hit the store shelves, the next step is approval by the Food and Drug Administration, which ruled the first generation as safe in March. The potatoes must also be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates GMOs.

Baker said the modifications were made by silencing existing genes or adding genes from other types of potatoes, according to news source The Idaho Statesman, not from other plants or animals. The late-blight resistance came from an Argentinian variety of potato that naturally produced a defense to the blight.

“It’s potato genes in the potato,” he said. “There are clear benefits for everybody, and it’s just a potato.”

The first generation of the Innate potatoes were marketed as White Russets. Doug Cole, the company’s Director of Marketing and Communications, said about 400 acres’ worth sold out last summer in grocery stores in 10 states in the Midwest and Southeast. The company plans to market about 2,000 acres of potatoes next summer, according to the Statesman. 

“Our focus is on the fresh market for the coming year,” Baker said. “We think the benefits are clear. We’ve got customers, and it’s a place that we’re excited to be. To some degree I think we need to prove that consumers are willing to buy White Russets, and they know what they are and that they see the benefits. Then I think the other parts of the industry will come.” 

The company said it expects FDA and EPA approvals within a year. Commercial planting would likely begin in 2017, the Statesman reports, with the second-generation potatoes available to consumers that fall.

The company is already working on a third generation, Baker says, which is expected to have a resistance to a type of virus that can potentially make potatoes unmarketable. He also mentioned that the company eventually hopes to have potatoes that require less water and can better survive heat and drought.

Simplot USDA