Raw potatoes were often ground with rocks and left to dry in the sun in frigid temperatures by the Incas.  The resulting freeze-dried potatoes ( same as today's instant mashed potatoes ) could be stored in a dry place much longer than whole potatoes which even in modern refrigerated warehouses rapidly become infected by fungi.  For this reason modern potatoes are heavily contaminated by fungicides.  These, although known human carcinogens, result in a potato that is 1/8 to 1/10th as carcinogenic as a potato contaminated by fungi.

Eating Instant Mashed Potatoes raw will result in about 1/10 of the nutritional components of cooked mashed potatoes.  Try making a batch using cold water and let me know how it tastes and how your gut feels after eating ten times a normal serving.

Several experiment have been done lately trying to find a way to cook potatoes safely.  Seems that even at low temperatures they produce acrylamides.

Ray Audette
Author "NeanderThin"
www.NeanderThin.com
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