OH MY, TAINTED COCKTAILS!

Susan McCrary wrote:

Does anyone know specifically the nature of what the taint is?

The opinion is that cheaper booze for the all inclusive places mentioned may have lead to someone crossing the money saving liquor line. I guess it is mostly Tequila that is the likely problem, but it could be other hard stuff  and even beer. I doubt the beer because unless you get it from a tap it is canned or bottled.

rubytue60 wrote:

WHO are you talking to here?

Who was who talking to Ruby ? I was responding to the person in the " marks. it was her, now it's you. What are you talking about ?

joaquinx wrote:

Word going around is that the drink that did them in was alcohol and Red Bull.

This is in Spanish so you'll have to translate it What was in the drink? Last paragraph hints at this as a solution

Yes , young and dumb can sometimes be fatal. Of course from a medical point of view REDBULL and anything is bad news. No one needs that chemical load and alcohol.

stinkyboy1 wrote:

Me and a few friends of mine got a hold of some bad corn liquor in north Georgia back in the 90s,we never made the news though.

You have to be floating in a pool and dead.

rubytue60 wrote:

J -
I was not troll posting.   it was a genuine inquiry.   I have a 20 year old daughter and have concerns.  I'm happy to have gotten the responses that i did.   And yes, the media is awful in the USA.     I should have realized before posting but it WAS sincere.

No Ruby, it was good that you posted so that others know what is being said. It is sad to say that one needs to thoroughly check with people who would know before accepting what has been reported in the U.S. but it is so.

I even double check weather reports because the Mexican source is much more likely to be right than the U.S. source. I have found the U.S. reports to have been grossly exaggerated or untruthful regarding health issues in Mexico too.

SkyeMoody wrote:

Tainted with what?

That would be the question. I'm currently in Cancun and the more I check it out , the more I have to wonder about the article source. Some feel it was the addition of Red bull to the drink they were ordering. On the American side the opinion was of course anti Mexico and cheap booze at the all inclusive places. poor farm workers have gotten very cheap almost wood alcohol  drinks before but not in recent times.

The government tested the booze in the hotels in question and found nothing. That's when the red bull idea popped up, so who knows. I see drinking quite a bit is still pretty popular both here and even more so in Isla Mujeres. So I suspect the tourists are not too worried.

SkyeMoody wrote:

What happened when drinking these cocktails?

As I understand it a young woman drown while drinking in a pool. Then after that incident, a number of people claimed they felt doped up and 'had not had much to drink at all'.
So who knows other than a young woman drown in a pool, a young woman who had been drinking in that pool. There does not seem to be any actual witnesses just opinions.

Sad to say people drinking and drowning is not unheard of. Today I watched a fairly young woman walking in a pool with a drink in hand, I had lunch by the pool , and the entire time she walked around in the pool with a drink.

Maybe I,m just over cautious, but I don't drink, and drive and I wouldn't mix a pool and alcohol either.They say she added red bull because there is a myth that it enhances your staying power. Red bull is an "energy" drink which according to the can is just loaded with synthetic vitamins and other "beneficial" things.  A diet version could be a particular problem because of the neurological impact of artificial sweeteners.
I'm a science geek, so yes I read the can in the store after I heard what Mexico was saying. They do have a point.

First Last wrote:

The tainted cocktail issue revolved around tainted alcohol. The Mexican authorities in Cancun raided, shutdowned and confiscated approximately 10,000 liters of contaminated alcohol from thirty bars. All the bars were in the "Hotel Zone".  One manufacturer, unnamed was shut down to correct it's manufacturing process. The contaminat(s) were not disclosed.

This was in reaction to the death of a young US tourist and her brother who became seriously incapacitated, but recovered, after drinking in the bar of a resort hotel.  I believe, other people, tourist, complained of similar reactions after drinking in other bars in the Hotel Zone.

As always, in Mexico, there is an initial flurry in print and tv media of "Look what we have done (The government )" and no follow up story.

Please share  your source
  People might want to read what you read.

I understand that the girl more or less drown given that she was drinking in a pool.. I have also heard that others in the past have come close to drowning but someone actually saw them go down. Of course that is what people are saying here , in Cancun where I have been for the last two weeks. They also reaffirm that it was in all inclusive hotels.

I see that the story has not put a dent in the drinking in and out of pools here.

joaquinx wrote:

It is so strange that with all the tainted alcohol in Cancun/Playa region that hundreds of tourists, as well as locals, should have been dying in the streets. It could have been that the alcohol was not poisonous but not taxed which brought the authorities into action to make sure the taxes were paid.

Good point Joaquinx,
A local in my town said that there was an incident a number of years ago in Puebla where a number of farmers got sick from what was basically wood alcohol. It was cheap, they could afford it, but they figured it was too cheap to be good. Yet they drank it.

I'm fairly sure no one would want to make the golden tourist goose ill, so it seems there are holes in the whole story. We may never have the answer, only pieces. The tourist do not appear worried.