We all make an effort to reduce food waste at home. Unfortunately, no matter how hard we try, some foods always appear to spoil within the fridge and must be discarded. After all, expiration dates for various veggies are not always easily available, so we must rely on our intuition in these situations.

Potatoes are extremely difficult to keep fresh for an extended period of time. In many cases, they will sprout and become unwieldy before they are ready to be discarded. Can we consume them or do we have to throw them away? These greenish lumps are knotty and give the potato a rotting appearance. While they are unappealing, this does not necessitate discarding the entire potato.

These sprouts appear as a signal that the potato is ready to grow. The potato enters a more dormant state after it has been harvested. These sprouts would have grown into new plants if the potato had not been plucked.The question of whether we can still eat these potatoes is a bit more tricky. By any stretch of the imagination, the sprouts themselves are not edible. They include a number of poisons that should be avoided. If you disregard the cautions and consume the sprouts, you risk vomiting, headaches, and other digestive problems.

However, removing the sprouts will not render the potato harmless. Poison Control recommends tossing these potatoes away, but Dr. Rich Novy has a more nuanced perspective and is well suited to answer this topic as a geneticist. He is employed by the USDA Agricultural Research Service. In his mind, the answer is straightforward.

Is the potato soft and mushy already? If this is the case, it is time to get rid of it. If the potato is still hard, it is still salvageable. If you want to avoid these types of difficult decisions, take the time to properly preserve your goods.