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A person is suing TGI Friday's for false advertising regarding their bagged "Potato Skins" snacks. Part of the claim is that potato skins are associated with healthy eating, which makes the snack stand out among other bagged, crisp snacks.

The interesting claim is that:

The Idaho Potato Commission and others inside and outside the industry have associated potato skins with healthy eating since they started appearing on restaurant menus a half-century ago.

Does the Idaho Potato Commission associate potato skins with healthy eating?

What I'm assuming here is that "potato skins" is referring to the scooped potato halves filled with cheese, bacon, and other things, much like TGI Friday's in-restaurant appetizer.

Doctor Potato says you should be eating the skin of the potato because that’s where most of the nutrients come from.

Should I Be Eating The Skin Of The Potato?
...

Yes. Eat the skin to capture all the natural nutrition of a russet potato. The potato skin has more nutrients than the interior of the potato. It has lots of fiber, about half of a medium potato’s fiber is from the skin.

Baked Idaho® Potato with salsa makes for a low calorie healthy lunch, try it!

Doctor Potato is a character featured prominently on the Idaho Potato Commission website.

Dr. Potato isn't a real doctor but a team of potato experts ready to answer all your potato questions.

Have a question? Dr. Potato will be sure to get your question answered within a week.

Q: Does the Idaho Potato Commission associate potato skins with healthy eating?

Yes. The Idaho Potato Commission does this now.

In several postings they sign responsible for they do just that:

Kids Menus - Healthful Tips
Fries are always a kid’s favorite. One suggestion that keeps these on the menu but makes them healthier is to cut the potato portion costs but fill out the plate by adding nutritious dipping sauces such as fresh tomato salsa. Another crowd favorite, especially in casual dining situations, is a baked potato skin with smaller quantities of fillings.

History of Potato Skins on the Menu

Idaho® Potatoes and Chemicals

Q:
Can you tell me if the skins of Idaho potatoes absorb the chemical sprays that might be used on them?

Leaving the Skins on Potato Salad

Q:
Is there any reason the skins cannot be left on a potato when making potato salad?

A:
There’s no reason at all, so my advice is to leave the skins on. The skin on a potato adds a nice texture and flavor to the salad and it’s also the healthiest part. We have several potato salad recipes with the skins intact. This link shows off traditional, classics with a twist, even fried.

Should I Be Eating The Skin Of The Potato?

Yes. Eat the skin to capture all the natural nutrition of a russet potato. The potato skin has more nutrients than the interior of the potato. It has lots of fiber, about half of a medium potato’s fiber is from the skin.
Baked Idaho® Potato with salsa makes for a low calorie healthy lunch, try it!

The following rest is just for HNQSE fun, in case you do not want to know: Reading the complaint from the law suit surely adds hilariousness on several levels.

"The presence of potato skins imparts a further value in the eyes of reasonable consumers,” the complaint states.

Is it actually the case that potato skins are healthy?

This is of course quite the stupid advice in general. Any 'reasonable consumer' believing this as phrased is being seriously misled.

Eating the skins of a potato mainly increases the toxin load. Usually by an order of magnitude. And often beyond safety margins. The one only other 'nutrient' in the skin – which is significantly higher concentrated than in the flesh – is fibre, since 'most of the nutrients' are quite obviously in the big flesh of the tubers (PDF).

The skin is where this solanaceae plant stores most of its toxins, like chaconine and solanine:

Solanine poisoning is primarily displayed by gastrointestinal and neurological disorders. Symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach cramps, burning of the throat, cardiac dysrhythmia, nightmares, headache, dizziness, itching, eczema, thyroid problems, and inflammation and pain in the joints. In more severe cases, hallucinations, loss of sensation, paralysis, fever, jaundice, dilated pupils, hypothermia, and death have been reported.
Ingestion of solanine in moderate amounts can cause death.

One study suggests that doses of 2 to 5 mg/kg of body weight can cause toxic symptoms, and doses of 3 to 6 mg/kg of body weight can be fatal.
Symptoms usually occur 8 to 12 hours after ingestion, but may occur as rapidly as 10 minutes after eating high-solanine foods.

If it's not a very young potato from a breeding target of very low alkaloid content that was stored properly and very shortly, undamaged (and because of the breeding target would have required quite an application of pesticides) then the skins should always be removed quite graciously.

The toxins are always present, and concentrated in the skin. Present in harmful concentrations even before taste buds can detect them or greening indicates the same to the eyes. Not removing the skin is idiotic.

The varieties of potato breed differ widely, already during grow and harvest, but post-harvest the toxin levels vary even greater. The generalised advice of "eating the skin is good for you" is indefensible in this phrasing.

Tjeert T. Mensinga et al.: "Potato glycoalkaloids and adverse effects in humans: an ascending dose study", Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology
Volume 41, Issue 1, February 2005, Pages 66-72. DOI

An analysis of the literature proves that GAs, the natural components of potato, clearly are toxic to both humans and animals. The concentration of GAs in potatoes destined for human consumption in many countries, 200 mg kg21 – which is generally accepted as a ‘total alkaloid taste standard’ – has a ‘zero’ safety threshold. One reason for this conclusion is best stated by the words of Parnell et al. 12, in a paper published 20 years ago:
‘Many authors have assumed without further evidence that levels below 200 mg/kg are safe. They ignore the fact that the 200 mg/kg (FW) level only relates to acute and/or subacute effects and not to possible chronic effects…’
It is obvious that the existing total alkaloid taste standard should be revised and new guidelines for potato consumers and breeders should be formulated.
_{Yaroslav I. Korpan et al.: "Potato glycoalkaloids: true safety or false sense of security?", Trends in Biotechnology, Volume 22, Issue 3, P147-151, March 01, 2004. DOI}

Even in peeled potatoes the levels of these toxins can be way too high for safety. To issue any general "eat the skins, they are healthy" is not wise:

… 15 different varieties of potato were considered, some of which are among the most cultivated varieties… The potatoes were harvested in the same period and analysed immediately after harvest to evaluate their a-solanine and a-chaconine contents. Then, the potatoes were stored in the dark at room temperature to simulate common storage conditions before similar potatoes would be sold.

The a-solanine content in almost all varieties was higher than the a-chaconine content. … the a-chaconine content increases to alarming levels, which were even beyond the limits of the guard.
_{Valeria Romanucci et al.: "Toxin levels in different variety of potatoes: Alarming contents of a-chaconine", Phytochemistry Letters 16 (2016) 103–107 DOI}

Consider the above a small fraction of the literature that demonstrates again and again how idiotic the primitive equation "potato skins – vitamins – healthy – eat them" is. This is summarised by the Federal Institute of Risk Assessment in:

• Old, dried up, green or strongly germinating potatoes, as well as potato peels as snacks consisting mainly of potato peelings, are not suitable for consumption
  


• If consumers want to eat the skin along with the potato, only undamaged, fresh potatoes are fundamentally suited for this purpose


• 
  Small children in particular should not eat unpeeled potatoes
  _{BfR: Solanine in potatoes: Green and strongly germinating potato tubers should be sorted out (2019)}
  

From a 1996 study, the 'on average' the concentrations in potatoes, and their parts are, in mg/kg:

 Whole potato                    10-150

 Peel (outer 10%)                150-1068

Fried potato skins (common in the US) have concentrations from 560-1450 mg/kg.

However, jacket potatoes, and more recently potato skin preparations have a relatively high content of GA; levels in excess of the 200 mg/kg limit (and up to eightfold higher) have been reported for potato skin preparations and potato crisps made from unpeeled potatoes. Moreover, heat processing does not inactivate potato GAs.
_{David B. Smith, JamesG. Roddick and J. Leighton Jone: "Potato glycoalkaloids: Some unanswered questions", Trends in Food Science & Technology 7.4 (1996): 126-31.}

The skins of three medium sized tubers can kill a kid. Incidentitally 78 kids were poisoned in 1979 London. The highest dose an individual consumed in a lab setting was up to 1.25 mg/kg until that individual started vomiting...

Available information suggests that the susceptibility of humans to glycoalkaloid poisoning is both high and very variable: oral doses in the range 1–5 mg/kg body weight are marginally to severely toxic to humans whereas 3–6 mg/kg body weight can be lethal.

The narrow margin between toxicity and lethality is obviously of concern. Although serious glyco-alkaloid poisoning of humans is rare, there is a widely held suspicion that mild poisoning is more prevalent than supposed; however, because the symptoms (e.g. abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea) are similar to those of other common gastrointestinal ailments, it is rarely diagnosed or treated.

The widely accepted safety limit for the levels of GA in tubers remains at 200 mg/kg fresh weight - a level that was proposed more than 70 years ago when little information was available concerning subacute and chronic glycoalkaloid toxicity. However, owing to the large and often unpredictable variations in levels of GA, which can arise from differences in variety, locality, season, cultural practices and stressfactors, and the fact that so many aspects of the biochemistry and toxicity of these compounds remain poorly understood, it has been suggested that the limit should be reduced to 60-70 mg/kg (Ref. 27).
_{(Again: Smith 1996)}

Keep in mind that supermarkets do not present their wares in dark and cool rooms. Every hour of a potato in the shelves raises the GA content. The WHO sees up to 100mg/kg GA of fresh weight for the whole tater to be 'normal'.

Only for very fresh and perfectly handled Idaho russet potatoes you may wager that the skins are somewhat edible and probably might contain low enough toxins (Friedman/Dao 1992 DOI), that doesn't make them 'healthy'. For other regions, or for other cultivars, or for other growing and harvesting and storage and processing and (…) this is certainly not the case:

The TGA concentration in the peel of all tested potato cultivars in this study was higher than the limit recommended by FAO/WHO for their food concerns. Moreover, the amount of TGA in the flesh of potato cultivars, that is, SH-5, Diamant, FD 35-36, FD 8-1, FD 40-10, FD 1-8, FD 19-2, and FD 3-9 were lower than the prescribed limits. Therefore, these cultivars are considered safe for human consumption. Furthermore, the dietary intake assessment of selected potato cultivars revealed that cardinal, FD 35-36, FD 8-3, and FD 3-9 cultivars possessed higher amount of TGA than the safe value but their flesh contains well below MPI.
_{(Abdl Aziz et al.: "Glycoalkaloids (α‐Chaconine and α‐Solanine) Contents of Selected Pakistani Potato Cultivars and Their Dietary Intake Assessment", Food Science, Volume 77, Issue 3, March 2012, Pages T58-T61, online)}

Or a more recent sample from the US:

…the glycoalkaloid content of four skins we obtained from four restaurants ranged from 56.3 to 203.0 mg/kg of original product.

sample                    total (α-chaconine + α-solanine ) 

Atlantic potato peel            83.8    

Atlantic potato flesh           36.5    

Russet Narkota potato peel     425

Russet Norkota potato flesh      6.4

Dark Red Norland potato peel  1264

Dark Red Norland potato flesh   22.1

Snowden potato peel           3526

Snowden potato flesh           591

Russet whole potatoes          100

White whole potatoes            43.5

Benji whole potatoes            98.3

Lenape whole potatoes          629



processed original product

             total GA                

skins, A     56.3   

skins, B     67.6   

skins, C    188.4   

skins, D    203.0   

None of the listed wet whole potatoes exceeded 200 mg of total glycoalkaloids/kg of potatoes. However, this was not the case for potato peel. The values for three wet peel samples (Atlantic, Dark Red Norland, and Russet Norkota) are <200 mg/kg and those for the other five, >200 mg/kg.
High levels of glycoalkaloids in potato skins may be a concern for commercial products that have high skin/flesh ratios, for example, potatoes from which the flesh has been mostly removed and the skin is used to scoop up condiments such as salsa. Peel from potato-processing plant wastes may also be a concern if the peel is not thoroughly mixed with other waste streams.

_{Mendel Friedman: "Potato Glycoalkaloids and Metabolites:  Roles in the Plant and in the Diet", Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2006, 54 (23), pp 8655–8681 (DOI)}

The level of nutritional stupidity and stubbornness seems at a constant level in America, however simple and accessible the language used:

"People think the skin is the nutritious part of the potatoes. Glycoalkaloids are a natural constituent of the potatoes. And it doesn't have to turn green to have glycoalkaloids. They can still synthesize glycoalkaloids without exposure to light,"

Glycoalkaloids can range from two to 30 milligrams per 100 grams in a single potato. Amounts, however, double and triple when potatoes turn green, usually upon exposure to light.

In previous studies, researchers found that the average glycoalkaloid content in baked potato peels was 20 milligrams per 100 grams of fresh weight, the upper limit considered safe. When fried, however, the content of the chemical more than doubled to 44 milligrams per 100 grams.

According to Mondy's report, the high glycoalkaloid content of fried potato peels could cause possible toxicity. "These findings are important because fried potato peels have become a popular snack."

However, if you peel the potato, the level of compound is much reduced. "You can get rid of about 90% of the glycoalkaloid," Gosselin said.

_{Rose Dosti: "Toxicity of Potato Skins Becomes a Hot Issue : Natural Chemicals in Peels Can Pose Problems If Eaten in Huge Quantities", Los Angeles Times, June 25, 1987.}

Potato skins are a toxic waste product sold to stupid customers:

Though potato skins originally served as a clever way to repurpose food scraps, they’ve now been turned into a commodity all their own.

To re-iterate: the toxicological expert opinion is that the in 1924 arbitrarily set upper limit of 200 mg/kg is too high, that the FAO/WHO limit of 100 mg/kg is very probably also too high, and the proper limit should be at 50–60 mg/kg for fresh produce. As should be readable or can just be seen from the data above: all real world data suggest that no tested US potato peel product can be safely assumed to be below that level of concern. Often not even for the old and unscientific highest level.

Consumers insisting on 'potato peels are healthy' may have already eaten too much of them to be now unable to properly discuss the matter at hand: This class of compounds is a neuroteratogen.

The FDA reports:

In recent outbreak of solanine poisoning reported by G. S. Wilson a hotel proprietor and his family of four ate potatoes baked in their jackets for supper on three successive Sunday evenings. All who ate the skins were ill on each occasion with vomiting, diarrhoea, and abdominal pain. The symptoms were delayed some eight hours and recovery was complete in 24 hours. The hotel proprietor, who ate only the flesh of the potatoes each time, remained well.

The latest case of a whole family being poisoned seems to be from November 2015: after the consumption of legally bought supermarket potatoes and preparing them as baked potatoes with skin. The family didn't notice any bitter taste when making a puree from those taters but a bitter taste when making a potato salad from them.

The German BfR used this case to re-iterate the 200 mg/kg for fresh produce is likely too high and that consumers should aim to stay below a NOAEL (No-Observed Adverse Effect Level) of 0.5 mg/kg/day (kg here for human body weight). –– And that snacks made from potato skins should not be consumed!

(DOI: 10.17590/20180423-085250. Another case report from 2011 with wedges with skin, 125g of finished product being poisonous PDF. And one from HongKong, 2015, PDF)

So, if you see anywhere on the net a statement like that "Doctor Potato says you should be eating the skin of the potato because that’s where most of the nutrients come from", then now you should know that nothing in that statement is true.

The glycoalkaloid a-chaconine is consid- ered more toxic than a-solanine. Temporary gas- trointestinal problems have been reported for some individuals eating potatoes that contained 3-10 mg/ 100g glycoalkaloids. Most of the laboratory studies on glycoalkaloids have been done on animals. The only comprehensive laboratory experiment on solanine toxicity to humans showed that 2 mg of glycoalkaloid per kg body weight produced classic symptoms of poisoning. An 80 kg person who ate 100 g of peels from the potatoes mentioned above with 180 mg solanine/100g peel would probably experience symptoms of solanine toxicity.
_{Marita Cantwell: "A Review of Important Facts about Potato Glycoalkaloids", Perishables Handling Newsletter Issue No. 87, August 1996 (PDF)}

To all those poisoning their kids needlessly with potato skins and upvoting obsolete comments: the gist of this fun facts of the day above is still: yes, the Idaho Potato Commission claims irrational things, and yes, "potato skins are healthy" is one such embodiment of careless stupidity that still looks for a match. For a small amount of increased fibre and vitamins you always increase the toxic load drastically. Skins can be edible, but their measly fibre content compared to their toxic content will not make them any kind of "healthy". Eat the fleshy part and be good.