A key supplier to fast-food chain has won approval to grow GM potato, but McDonald’s has quoted it ‘will not change sourcing practices’
Fast food giant McDonald’s (USA) has said it will not buy a recently-approved GM potato from one of its key suppliers.
The US department of agriculture (USDA) approved Idaho-based food producer J.R.Simplot’s genetically modified potato, named the Innate potato, last week. It now has permission to cultivate the crop, which is said to produce less acrylamide and is engineered to bruise less easily.
“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.
Simplot is a major supplier of french fries, hash browns and other potato products for restaurant chains like McDonald’s, local paper The Idaho Statesman reported.
A spokesman for Simplot, Doug Cole, told the paper that Innate would be accepted by the fresh potato market, although he did not comment on the company’s plans to supply the fast food or dehydrated potato markets.