Police are seeking information on sabotage of the potato crop of Canada's Prince Edward Island. Photo courtesy of peipotato.org
CHARLOTTETOWN , Prince Edward Island, July 1 (UPI) -- A $500,000 reward has been offered to find "food terrorists" responsible for putting metal objects in Canada's Prince Edward Island potatoes.
The prosperous potato industry of the Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.), a small province in eastern Canada famous as the tranquil setting of Anne of Green Gables stories, has offered the reward to tips leading to the conviction of those inserting pins and nails into potatoes found in four grocery stores, each in a different Canadian province, since October 2014.
Potatoes are a billion-dollar industry on the island.
A $100,000 (U.S. $80,000) reward offered by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police brought little information and was increased to $500,000 (U.S. $400,000) this week by the non-governmental P.E.I. Potato Board. The federal government added it would spend $1.5 million to provide metal detection equipment to the farmers.
"The scope of the investigation has widened in recent weeks, and recent incidents of food tampering involving Prince Edward Island potatoes have led our industry to increase the profile of this reward in order to maximize the chance that those responsible will be brought to justice," Alex Doherty of the Potato Board said in a statement.
Needles were found in October in potatoes shipped from a farm in Summerside, P.E.I., prompting the farm to install metal-detecting devices. Thus far, 40 of the island's 250 potato growers have installed similar equipment.
No injuries or illnesses have been reported.
"Everyone's goal is to maintain consumer confidence in our world-class potato product," said federal minister Gail Shea.
