A bout of Montezuma’s Revenge, the severe gastric upset many foreigners experience while traveling in Mexico, is almost a rite of passage for first-time visitors, especially for Americans, whose immune systems are no match for, say, four or five street tacos inhaled in a frenzy of post-club hunger at 2 a.m.
Now, however, a new threat for visitors to this country has reared its ugly head, that of adulterated – possibly poisonous – alcohol. It’s become a big enough problem to prompt the U.S. State Department to issue a warning advising citizens traveling in Mexico to exercise caution when patronizing drinking establishments, particularly those attached to all-inclusive seaside resorts.
In 2015, Mexican tax officials reported that 43 percent of alcohol produced in Mexico is done so illegally. Without the regulatory supervision that accompanies above-board production of alcohol, it’s a simple matter to increase your output at little additional cost – with the addition of methanol, for example, a type of alcohol used in fuels, solvents and anti-freeze.
While this problem isn’t unknown, its notoriety gained new traction with the State Department when a Milwaukee woman vacationing with her family passed out in a Playa del Carmen resort swimming pool and died last January. Her brother also reported blacking out, suffering a severe concussion in the process. Both had reportedly drank amounts of alcohol insufficient to normally cause such a dramatic reaction.
Iberostar, the Spanish company which owns the resort in question, Paraiso del Mar, owns several other vacation properties in the area. Since the incident in January, vacationers at these and other locations have been reporting similar experiences upon imbibing small amounts of alcohol.
Last week, the Iberostar stated that their procedures for purchase and handling of liquor “satisfy all standards required by designated regulatory authorities.”
An attorney hired by the family of the deceased woman, upon visiting the Paraiso del Mar resort, claimed that the establishment “served alcoholic drinks of bad quality and in great amounts, mixing different types of drinks.”
In its missive to travelers, the State Department advised those who choose to drink to do so “in moderation and stop to seek medical attention if you feel ill.