Supermarket refused to sell me potatoes

lookitsjonno · 22 Jun 2011 at 10:04

Nipped into the supermarket to pick up some baking potatoes to go with last nights chilli leftovers, and to my suprise I was told I couldn't have any :confused:

shop: "Are you sure you wan't these?"
me: "Eh?"
shop: "They are poisonous."
me: "are you joking?" *Mega confused*
shop: "They are green so we cannot sell them to you"
me: "I've eaten green potatos before?"
shop: "Well if you buy these you will end up in the hospital down the road"
me: "ahh well, they aren't that green so sell me to them cheap, they will ripen up"
shop: "Sorry we are not allowed to sell you these potatoes sir" [proceeds to put said potatoes in waste bin and instructs other member of staff to waste any others on the shelf]

What a waste :confused:

Turns out they were right, in all my years of eating potatoes of any sort I've never realised

Andy · 22 Jun 2011 at 10:28

I've eaten green tatoes before, they all taste the same swimming in butter

Pestilence · 22 Jun 2011 at 10:55

I ate a load of them once at Uni. My local shop was flogging them off cheap so I lived off green potatoes for 4 days IIRC.

Was nowt wrong with them. Quite friendly, in fact - we had a few good conversations. Really wish I could go back to the world of the Tater Trio. The Broccoli twins were total jokers, too. Good times.

shroomz · 22 Jun 2011 at 10:56

Yup, learned it from my grandfather - if a potato is around long enough to go green we peel it until there is not a shred of the colour left, or throw it out. Never eat green potatoes dude. It won't put you in hospital straight away but the poison builds up over time.

boxman2000 · 22 Jun 2011 at 11:08

Top advice from shroomz! Just isn't worth taking the risk IMO.

A.N.Other · 22 Jun 2011 at 11:46

Always knew this. Your parents teach you nothing

?

WillyNelson · 22 Jun 2011 at 11:52

This is why potato plants are earthed up when growing. People often think it's to prevent blight or improve drainage but it's to stop the tubers being exposed to light & going green.

Haircut · 22 Jun 2011 at 12:36

A.N.Other said:
Always knew this. Your parents teach you nothing ?

This. Especially thinking potatoes are green because they're not ripe!

Bill101 · 22 Jun 2011 at 12:37

lookitsjonno said:
me: "ahh well, they aren't that green so sell me to them cheap, they will ripen up"

Quote of the week

Potatoes go green AFTER they are ready to eat

lookitsjonno · 22 Jun 2011 at 13:30

learn something new every day, I feel sorry for the woman who I accused of being wrong in the shop, i'll appologise next time i see her

soullessfire · 23 Jun 2011 at 04:40

Yup, learned it last year. Once they get light to them they start to grow like a plant instead of like a tuber (same reason you can grow a full plant from a seed potato) but the process makes them produce the poison that's already found in the leaves of potato plants. Obviously different people have different tolerances and some can maybe get away with a few but it's not something you should really do.

Same thing with tomato plants and leaves and also rhubarb leaves. Both are poisonous.

spudbynight · 23 Jun 2011 at 11:54

Haircut said:
This. Especially thinking potatoes are green because they're not ripe!

Nothing to do with them being ripe at all - exposure to extremes of hear or sunlight makes them do green.

Potatoes don't ripen at all - they just get bigger.

Very dangerous for women to eat these as well as the toxins can build up in their system. While causing them no harm it can cause birth defects.

Van Hellseek · 23 Jun 2011 at 13:34

I don't even eat crisps if they're a bit green.

gillywibble · 23 Jun 2011 at 13:38

In Russia, potato eat you.

Glaucus · 23 Jun 2011 at 13:54

lookitsjonno said:
Turns out they were right, in all my years of eating potatoes of any sort I've never realised

not really you have to eat tons to get sick. Total over reaction like all food safety stuff, but then they have to protect themselfs.

soullessfire · 23 Jun 2011 at 15:04

AcidHell2 said:
not really you have to eat tons to get sick. Total over reaction like all food safety stuff, but then they have to protect themselfs.

The green bit is just chlorophyll but it triggers the production of the active ingredient, which is Solanine, the same alkanoid found in Deadly Nightshade... 25mg of it is enough to cause symptoms and 400mg is enough to be a fatal dose. From what I can find about it online it seems like it's unlikely to reach levels above 1mg/g but you also have to take into consideration that those figures are generally for a healthy average person, so children, the elderly and pregnant women are more at risk.

Tight with money as I am, for the sake of throwing away a couple of crappy spuds in a bag, I wouldn't take the chance myself.

joey1211 · 23 Jun 2011 at 15:11

Kill it with fire!!!

Mmm... jacket potatoes

Natwee · 25 Jun 2011 at 13:52

lookitsjonno said:
Nipped into the supermarket to pick up some baking potatoes to go with last nights chilli leftovers, and to my suprise I was told I couldn't have any

shop: "Are you sure you wan't these?"
me: "Eh?"
shop: "They are poisonous."
me: "are you joking?" *Mega confused*
shop: "They are green so we cannot sell them to you"
me: "I've eaten green potatos before?"
shop: "Well if you buy these you will end up in the hospital down the road"
me: "ahh well, they aren't that green so sell me to them cheap, they will ripen up"
shop: "Sorry we are not allowed to sell you these potatoes sir" [proceeds to put said potatoes in waste bin and instructs other member of staff to waste any others on the shelf]

What a waste

Turns out they were right, in all my years of eating potatoes of any sort I've never realised

why would she ask if you were sure you wanted them, if she couldnt sell them anyway? :confused: