BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved Idaho-based J.R. Simplot Co.'s new genetically modified potato. But one of the company's oldest business partners — McDonald's — hasn't. 
 
 The fast-food giant says it doesn't use genetically modified potatoes, the Idaho Statesman reported (http://is.gd/VLciDK ). 
 
 "McDonald's USA does not source GMO potatoes, nor do we have current plans to change our sourcing practices," the company said in a statement. 
 
 The USDA this month gave Boise-based Simplot permission to begin commercial planting of its new spud, called the "Innate" potato. The company altered the potato's DNA so it produces less acrylamide, which is suspected to be a human carcinogen. Potatoes naturally produce the chemical when they're cooked at high temperatures. 
 
 The potato is also engineered to resist bruising. 
 
 Simplot is a major supplier of french fries, hash browns and other potato products for restaurant chains like McDonald's. 
 
 This isn't the first time the fast-food industry has resisted GMO potatoes. More than a decade ago, Monsanto brought its bug-resistant "New Leaf" line of genetically modified potato to market. Buyers, led by the fast-food industry, rejected the Monsanto spud, and it was pulled from production due to lack of business. 
 
 Simplot spokesman Doug Cole didn't address the company's plans to sell to the fast-food industry or the dehydrated potato industry, which both have urged growers against planting GMO potatoes. But Cole said the fresh potato market would embrace Innate. 
 
 Consumers will be receptive to the reduced sugars and potential carcinogens, Cole said. Because only 400 test acres of Innate varieties were planted and harvested this fall, production can't ramp up until after the 2015 harvest, he said. 
 
 Rupert potato grower Duane Grant said he's been told by buyers in the dehydrated potato industry not to plant the GMO potatoes. But he hopes to line up willing buyers so that he can plant the biotech potatoes and reap the higher yields that come with their reduced bruising, he said. 
 
 Consumers will be more receptive to Simplot's potato than Monsanto's because it benefits them, not just growers, he said. 
 
 The key for Simplot and for growers, Grant said, will be convincing the food industry, which is worried about consumer backlash, to trust the product. 
 
 "Brand equity is extremely important to quick-serve restaurants," Grant said. "They will avoid conflict whenever possible in order to protect equity of their brand name." 
 
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 Information from: Idaho Statesman, http://www.idahostatesman.com ||||| Statement of Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter 
 
 Washington, D.C.— “This week McDonald’s, one of the largest fast food chains on the planet, told an agriculture news service that it would not use the J.R. Simplot Company’s Innate GMO potato. This victory for consumers is another indication that the food industry recognizes that consumers do not want to eat GMO foods. Many parents are already limiting the amount of fast food that their children eat, and GMO french fries would give them another reason to pass by the golden arches. Over the past year, Food & Watch submitted over 90,000 petitions urging McDonald’s to reject GMO potatoes. 
 
 “While we cannot speak to the rest of McDonald’s practices, this decision marks a milestone in the movement to protect consumers from the potential dangers of GMO foods. McDonald’s is a global leader in fast food sales and is a major purchaser of potatoes in the United States. 
 
 “Consumers spoke, and McDonald’s listened. We now urge competing fast foods chains such as Burger King to follow its lead.” 
 
 Contact: Kate Fried, Food & Water Watch, (202) 683-4905, kfried(at)fwwatch(dot)org. ||||| This 2013 photo taken at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., and supplied by J.R. Simplot Company shows wilted conventional potato plants without resistance to the pathogen that caused the... (Associated Press) 
 
 This 2013 photo taken at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., and supplied by J.R. Simplot Company shows wilted conventional potato plants without resistance to the pathogen that caused the... (Associated Press) 
 
 BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved commercial planting of two types of potatoes that are genetically engineered to resist the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine. 
 
 The approval announced Friday covers Idaho-based J.R. Simplot Co.'s Ranger Russet and Atlantic varieties of the company's second generation of Innate potatoes. 
 
 The company says the potatoes will also have reduced bruising and black spots, enhanced storage capacity, and a reduced amount of a chemical created when potatoes are cooked at high temperatures that's a potential carcinogen. 
 
 "We obviously are very proud of these," said company spokesman Doug Cole. 
 
 The potatoes next must clear a voluntary review process through the Food and Drug Administration as well as get the OK from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 
 
 The company says it expects those approvals in January with the potatoes entering the market next spring. 
 
 The two varieties join a third variety with the same traits called the Russet Burbank that has already attained approval from the Agriculture Department and FDA, with EPA approval also expected in January. 
 
 The company said the potatoes contain only potato genes, and that the resistance to late blight, the disease that caused the Irish potato famine, comes from an Argentinian variety of potato that naturally produced a defense. 
 
 Late blight continues to be a major problem for potato growers around the world, especially in wetter regions. Company officials say the new types of potatoes will bring 24-hour protections to farmers' fields and reduce the use of pesticide spray up to 45 percent. 
 
 The reduction in bruising, Cole said, could reduce waste and increase by 15 percent the top-quality potatoes coming out of fields, which sell for more than bruised potatoes. 
 
 Cole said the new varieties of potatoes can be kept in cold storage longer. Conventional potatoes can turn a dark color when cooked after they were kept cold for too long. The enhanced cold storage could have significant ramifications for the potato chip industry by reducing trucking costs, Cole said. 
 
 The company's second generation of Innate potatoes follows the first generation that has been selling to consumers for more than a year. Those potatoes, marketed under the White Russet label, have reduced bruising and reduced potential carcinogens when cooked, but not resistance to late blight or enhanced cold storage. 
 
 Cole said about 40 million pounds of the first generation potatoes have been sold to consumers in more than 35 states. He said that's about 1 percent of all potato sales. Of the 40 million pounds, he said about two-thirds went to produce sections of stores. 
 
 There is no evidence that genetically modified organisms, known as GMOs, are unsafe to eat, but for some people, altering the genetic code of foods presents an ethical issue. McDonald's has rejected using Simplot's first generation of Innate potatoes for its French fries. 
 
 The food industry has also faced pressure from retailers as consumer awareness of genetically modified foods has increased. Retailer Whole Foods has said it plans to label GMO products in all its U.S. and Canadian stores by 2018. A company spokeswoman declined to comment over the phone on Monday, and the company didn't immediately respond to an emailed question from The Associated Press about whether it would consider selling the potatoes in its stores. 
 
 Simplot has been fighting back with a public relations campaign this year and two female athletes. 
 
 Kristin Armstrong, a Boise resident and three-time Olympic gold medalist in cycling, touts the nutritional values of the White Russet potatoes. 
 
 To demonstrate resistance to bruising, mixed martial artist and former UFC women's bantamweight champion Holly Holm recently used her skills on a hanging bag of White Russets. The company said the potatoes survived and proved hard to bruise.
– A major Idaho potato producer has won some love from the FDA for its genetically modified spud, but don't look for the "Innate" potato in the deep fryers at McDonald's anytime soon. As the Idaho Statesman reports, the fast-food giant—a longtime major buyer of Boise-based JR Simplot Co.—is taking a pass. "McDonald's USA does not source GMO potatoes, nor do we have current plans to change our sourcing practices," it says in a statement. The Innate potato, which got the FDA OK earlier this month to begin planting commercially, contains fewer sugars and asparagine—which can convert to acrylamide, a carcinogen—than normal potatoes; it also bruises less easily, notes the AP. It's not the first time a GMO spud hit the fast-food industry with a thud, notes the Statesman; Monsanto suffered a similar fate a decade ago with a bug-resistant potato it ultimately yanked over lack of demand. Meanwhile, Food & Water Watch calls the move a "major victory for consumers," with director Wenonah Hauter adding that "while we cannot speak to the rest of McDonald's practices, this decision marks a milestone in the movement to protect consumers from the potential dangers of GMO foods." Hauter urges Mickey Dee's competitors to likewise snub the Innate potato.