Canadá: Potato tampering mystery remains unsolved

As the old saying goes, it’s not adversity that defines a person or group but rather how they deal with it in moving forward.That’s the perspective P.E.I.’s potato industry is taking after a nearly year-long food tampering mystery that has led to millions of dollars in upgrades, a $500,000 reward and ongoing criminal investigation.While the investigation continues for RCMP, the deadline for the reward put together by the industry and supporters was this past Saturday.RCMP began investigating incidents of sewing needles being found in potatoes sold in the Atlantic provinces, which were traced back to Linkletter Farms in Summerside.

The incident led to a voluntary recall by the farm and has had a ripple effect across P.E.I.’s billion dollar industry.While RCMP details have been scarce, Sgt. Leanne Butler said part of that is to protect the integrity of the investigation. Butler said RCMP have received a number of tips regarding the investigation although not "a copious amount." She also said that police still have some members specifically assigned to the file.Millions of public and private dollars have been pumped into nearly 50 Island farms to introduce state-of-the-art foreign material detection devices and surveillance systems.As well, farms have been working with RCMP in a "neighbourhood watch" style program, which encourages neighbours to call officers if they suspect anyone suspicious around potato fields.