Hands up all those who know that 500 grams of green potato can make a 45 kilo person *very* seriously ill? It’s almost enough to put you off your bangers and mash.
I just learned that over 30 people have been killed by solanine (found in the skins of green potatoes)… and over 2000 were made very sick. Of course those statistics were compiled over a 200 year period so maybe it isn’t time to get paranoid *just* yet.
The Eclectic Interweb 
I have to put my hands up, I have known that for 30+ years, can’t remember where I got that bit of information from but I thought that it only affected men and not women – is that part right or can it affect women as well?
Affects all and sundry as far as I could see. I knew the stuff was dangerous but I hadn’t realised just *how* dangerous. That’s not a lot of potato for the effect it produces. 😦
Causes paralysis, internal hemorrhaging and all sorts of lovely effects. Nice. Not!
Sorry to come so late to the discussion! You have to remember that potatoes are members of the Solanaceae family, (the same as Deadly Nightshade). Tomatoes are also from the same family, and were thought to be poisonous when first introduced into Europe as a decorative plant.
Indeed. Every so often one sees letters in the Gardening magazines from people claiming to have crossed tomatoes and potatoes without realising the fruits are naturally part of the potato… and poisonous!
I suppose you could ripen them and see what sort of potatoes grow… new varieties have to come from somewhere I suppose, but it sounds too much like hard work for me. 🙂