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USDA backs potato vegetable classification

Spuds won’t be considered a starch following protests from more than a dozen senators.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she received assurances Wednesday that potatoes will not be reclassified as a grain, a move she feared would give the impression that one of Maine’s key crops is unhealthy.

Collins said she had received a call from U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack to relay the news following concerns about reclassification raised by both a group of bipartisan senators and the National Potato Council. | READ MORE