Idaho Governor Slams Harvard Potato Study

BOISE, IdahoThe Idaho Potato Commission, along with Idaho Gov. C.L. Butch Otter, are refuting a much publicized Harvard study published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine that linked the consumption of potatoes to weight gain. The study reported the popular tuber was associated with greater gains in weight than all other foods studied, even more than desserts and alcohol.

Gov. Otter penned an op-ed that chastised the study (and media outlets that used misleading headlines) for not reporting on the potatos nutritional value.

Im disappointed that this study singled out potatoes, one of the most nutrient-dense and affordable vegetables available to people around the globe," he said. In fact, the United Nations declared 2008 as the International Year of the Potato, recognizing how the potato can produce more nutritious food, more quickly, on less land, using less water, in harsher climates than any other major crop. The declaration rightly encouraged nations to grow and consume more potatoes."

Otter went on to discussed the nutritional value of potatoes, as well as common-sense dietary habits.

Significant research has been done over the years on many aspects of the potato, ranging from its nutritional profile to its role in weight loss. There was even a study from 2001 to 2008 that concluded adults and children consume more servings of vegetables when their meals include non-fried white potatoes," he said. Another study released last October by the University of California-Davis and the National Center for Food Safety and Technology, Illinois Institute of Technology indicates that people can include potatoes in their diet and lose weight.

The premise of the new, headline-making study conflicts with the long-validated understanding that weight gain is fundamentally tied to calories consumed versus calories burned. Of course the most ridiculous claim in the new findings put potatoes and soft drinks in the same food category, labeling them basically nutritionally equivalent.  How can a credible researcher claim the empty calories of a soft drink are equivalent to a vegetable that contains vitamin C, potassium, protein, fiber, folate and other healthy nutrients?"

Click here to read his complete opinion piece.