Buzz from the community

So you know they're good!

Way back in 1994 potato chip companies started seeing a rather strange pattern in many of their chips from potato farms in Mexico. When cooked, some chips developed nasty brown striations. The striping syndrome was quickly deemed “Zebra Chip” disease, and has since spread to Texas, parts of California and Arizona, and even as far as Guatemala and New Zealand. Feeling the striped horse was unfairly blamed for the disease, Zebra advocacy groups considered defamation complaints, but figured any buzz is good buzz so they backed off.

Unfortunately, unlike the much heralded banana plagues that threaten the world’s favorite fruit, Zebra Chip doesn’t get much airtime – though The Economist did run a brief piece on the scourge in last week’s issue. From the article: “what seems to be happening is that bands of cells within each potato tuber are having their starch converted into sugar, and that the sugar caramelizes when the tuber is cooked. What no one is sure about is what is doing the conversion.”

Thankfully scientists believe they have surrounded the culprit – a strain of bacterial disease Candidatus. Scientists also believe a small insect called the dreaded Potato Psyllid, aka ‘Jumping Plant Lice’, helps to spread the disease.

From The Economist:

Joe Munyaneza, an entomologist at the Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory in Washington State, found that tubers from plants exposed to these insects showed typical zebra-chip symptoms, while those from unexposed plants had none. But the potato psyllid is merely the vector. The actual pathogen is still elusive.

Luckily, Zebra Chip doesn’t seem to be harmful to people - as the disease appears content to simply let the fat and salt in chips do all the work in damaging human health.

Perhaps the ugly stripes are the beginning of the beloved lunchtime staple's end. Just as the dinosaurs came and went, so too may the might chip. So next time your Mom puts a little bag of chips in your lunch, or you pack an extra bag for the beach, remember to cherish each chip you eat, for it might be your last.

If and when the chip's demise comes, I know we’ll all be sad snackers, but given their recent behavior, maybe the chip industry had it coming…

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