Farmers to market a ‘low-carb’ spud in January

SPUDS, Fla. – For dieters, potatoes have been scorned, rejected and castigated; the Rodney Dangerfield of vegetables, they get no respect.

Many weight-loss programs, including the Atkins and the South Beach diets, advocate meat and cheese over high-carbohydrate potatoes, pasta and bread.

Come January, carb-counters who love potatoes may find cause to rejoice a bit. Florida growers will be pitching a potato they hope will be a hot one – it claims one-third fewer carbs than the ordinary spud.

“Consumers are going to love the flavor and appearance of this potato and the fact that it has 30 percent fewer carbohydrates compared to a standard Russet baking potato,” said Chad Hutchinson, an assistant professor of horticulture at University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

After five years of testing in the sandy soils near here in the heart of Florida’s potato country, Hutchinson knew it tasted great, had a shorter growing cycle, was disease-resistant and able to handle Florida’s extreme weather. He then learned about its lower-carb properties.

“That was just gravy,” he said.

Independent research shows about 31/2 ounces of the new potato contain about 13 grams of carbohydrate compared to around 19 grams in the same size serving of a Russet Burbank.

The new baseball-size potato will be available in supermarkets and restaurants in January.

Florida is the first test site in the United States for the European import, which was developed by HZPC, a seed company based in the Netherlands. The potato was developed by crossbreeding and was not genetically modified.

Five Florida potato growers have formed the SunFresh Marketing Cooperative to promote the new spud, said Jim McDowell, the sales and marketing director for the cooperative.

The cooperative hasn’t said what the new potato will cost.

“We’re pretty excited about it,” said McDowell, noting that farmers decided to grow it before learning they had a low-carb benefit.

“I think low-carb is here to stay,” McDowell said. “But you do need some carbohydrates in your diet.”