Not every potato you purchase at the market or eat at a restaurant or resort is safe for consumption. Resort owners in San Ignacio today showed the media that contraband potatoes are being smuggled into Belize from Mexico - and smugglers have taken an extreme and dangerous step to pass them off as the locally produced Irish potatoes: they are dying them pink! Now, you'll know the Irish potato - it's the slightly reddish potato that you see here on the right side of your screen.
Well, in an effort to come off like the regular potato, these contraband potatoes are dyed to have a rosy pink and slightly bright appearance. After hearing of these reports about guests from other resorts getting sick from eating these potatoes the owner of the Maya Mountain Lodge in Cayo expressed his concern about the risks and health hazards involved for consumers.
Bart Mickler, Owner - Maya Mountain Lodge
"We heard about it from other resorts and they don't know for sure, but they are putting their fingers mostly on this. This is a new thing we never seen before and that's why it became the chief suspect. We wrote a letter to the coordinator for agriculture in our district Fay Garnett and she very cordially invited me to come to the Central Farm today to meet with BAHA who have by coincidence to be there. The head of BAHA and quarantine and the whole team was there. They took a lot of interest, they started analyzing it right away and while we were 
talking, they send a team out to the market. They engaged fast and I felt good that something will going to be done about this. These are bright pink potatoes and it's interesting that they arrive the same day that the first produce from the farmers. Some of my own staff members are farmers and they look and they say that isn't one of ours and that's not even a Belizean product, that's a Mexican white potato that been dyed. I couldn't believe it, they showed how it came off and they immediately took action and got going. My concern is that this is just an opportunity to see how big just the tip of an iceberg to a much bigger problem of the Mexican imported items and contraband and what people go through to make money at the expense of small farmers."
BAHA also sent out a Food safety alert today ensuring the public that they are confiscating the tainted potatoes. BAHA also advised the public to be vigilant when purchasing potatoes. As shown in this picture, the potato labeled 1 is the tainted potato while number 2 is the locally produced red potatoes that are safe for consumption.
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