Potato News from Northern America

In Idaho, the centerpiece of the holiday meal is always... you guessed it... the potato. The Idaho Potato Commission helps with a lot of recipes.

A potato genetically engineered to reduce the amounts of a potentially harmful ingredient in French fries and potato chips has been approved for commercial planting, the Department of Agriculture announced on Friday.

At the Pack Expo that concluded last week, Heat and Control unveiled a number of new machines.

The growth of online grocery shopping and a preference toward craft foods, fermented foods (think aged, cured or pickled foods like sauerkraut) and smoked flavors rank among the top food trends for 2015, according to Supermarket Guru®, Phil Lempert.

It began as a trickle — people with their arms filled with personal items, leaving the McCain Foods processing plant in Borden-Carleton for the last time Wednesday — and soon it turned into a mass exodus.

Key Technology introduces a new Sanitary Belt Conveyor for transporting bulk foods on processing and packaging distribution lines.

Prince Edward Island Potatoes was delighted to have Col. Chris Hadfield, former Commander of the International Space Station helping to dig potatoes on Halloween morning against the backdrop of a clear blue sky and the beautiful West River.

The market for Prince Edward Island potatoes is holding strong despite the recent reports from six Atlantic Canadian locations of needles found in potato shipments from an Island grower.

A multi-state research effort led by Texas A&M AgriLife Research to control the potato psyllid and reduce losses from zebra chip disease of potato will be recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Eric Halverson is the new chief executive officer of potato grower-shipper Black Gold Farms.

The Simplot potato processing plant in Nampa will again stay open longer than anticipated.

Robert Tominaga, president of Heyburn, Idaho-based Southwind Farms, has seen demand for the fingerlings his company grows and other specialties rise dramatically in recent years.

McCain Foods (Canada) is voluntarily recalling McCain brand Hashbrowns from the marketplace due to possible plastic contamination

Maureen Storey, PhD, president and CEO of the Alliance for Potato Research and Education (APRE) today announced the formation of the APRE President’s Circle, a new membership category designed to strengthen industry value chain collaboration

Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health Division is investigating how an employee at Oregon Potato Co. in Boardman severed four fingers on her right hand in a workplace accident

The Snack Food Association (SFA) will participate in the PACK EXPO Partner Program November 2-5, 2014 at McCormick Place in Chicago, SFA President & CEO Tom Dempsey announced.

The winner of the Lay's Canada 2014 Do Us a Flavour contest is Jalapeño Mac N' Cheese on Lay's Wavy, submitted by Randall Litman from Calgary.

Today, Lay's Kettle Cooked Wasabi Ginger flavored potato chips was announced as the winner of this year's Lay's 'Do Us A Flavor' contest