Purple potato chips make their debut in Britain

LONDON - It might seem a challenge to make chips even more popular than they are, but Sainsburys is having a go.

From Wedneday, Sainsbury’s is selling purple potatoes which carry their deep hue to the core.

The colour survives the cooking process to provide purple chips, baked potatoes and even roasties and mash - which all taste the same as the familiar creamy white type.

As a bonus, the spectacular potatoes are packed with healthy anthocyanin, which gives blueberries, blackberries and aubergines their distinctive tints, reports the Daily Mail.

Anthocyanin is a powerful antioxidant which protects cells from damage and so may prevent cancer. Consumption of it is also thought to have many other beneficial effects.

In nature there are thousands of varieties of potatoes, many having deep red and purple flesh. The new Purple Majesty has been crossed from these original strains by a team of experts at Colorado University in the US.

It is being grown in Scotland by the Albert Bartlett company.

Only 400 tons have been grown this year, which means supplies will be limited, but a bigger crop is planned next year.

Sainsburys is putting Purple Majesty in selected stores from Wednesday, and believes they new chips will be a particular success around Halloween at the end of this month.

The stores head of product technology Liz Jarman said: “Creamy white mashed potato could soon be a thing of the past.”