Tomorrow morning - as most mornings, thousands of Belizeans will walk past their neighbourhood taco stand and be tempted to stop for a bite - at three for a dollar with protein, carbs and a kick of spice, it's the every man and woman's basic breakfast
But today - a social media post left everyone wondering if their tacos has pepper or paper inside. And we don't mean writing paper - we're talking TP!
And while the story could not be verified with health authorities, our team hit the streets this morning to see what, if anything, had changed at the taco stand, Cherisse Halsall reports.
It hit the Internet this morning like Facebook fire, the long held Urban Legend that one all important ingredient in your taco meat is in fact toilet paper. (Insert scream/ Horror sound)
It all started with this post, made by the Guardian's Newspaper.
And once it went up it was all anyone could talk about.
Even though the Deputy Director of the Central Health Region, Melissa Diaz told us, quote, "I have spoken to our senior public health inspector and we know nothing of this." She told another media house "this is not a true story, we did no close any tacos vendors in the Belize District."
But that didn't stop the TP tacos talk, and this afternoon - someone in Orange Walk she posted this, she said she had squeezed the moisture from a cup of tacos meat, and this goop is what she was left with.
And so we wanted to know how all this talk - which at that point is only hearsay - would affect the main stakeholders in Tacos, the vendors. We heard first from Elizabeth Avila, a woman who sells her tacos in front of the KHMH.
Cherisse Halsall
"People are alleging that toilet paper has been used in the meat mix?"
Elizabeth Avila, Tacos Vendor
"Well, it makes me feel bad because not everybody, we people because we listen to one rumor, we pinpoint that everyone does the same, and not everybody does, there are some of us tacos vendors that really take our business seriously, hygiene and everything, it's a process of preparation. I might not say that accidents do happen sometimes. We all are human, sometimes accidents do happen but that, paper it really, because then it affects everyone as a business."
Cherisse Halsall:
"But do you actually imagine that someone would, on purpose, use toilet paper to stretch the meat?"
Elizabeth Avila, Tacos Vendor
"That shouldn't be and I don't believe it because paper is something that you will notice."
"Everybody knows how they run their own businesses but paper, that's really disappointing."
"Paper, it's rough if it was actually in the meat, that's something that shouldn't happen."
It shouldn't, and if it is happening it's yet another attack on Belize's favourite breakfast.
This morning Vendor Maria Argueta showed us her meat pot and explained that cleanliness should be at the heart of any taco stand.
Maria Argueta, Tacos Vendor
"Me to make good. I can't sell."
"You have to watch everything, no, when you're making food and especially touching money. You still have to wash your hands and the cook has to clean everything."
But as stringent as Maria might be with her sanitary standard, she too isn't likely to be spared from the tale of the toilet papered tacos meat.
Another vendor we met on Coney Drive, Delfina Ambrosio, was astounded and none too happy about the allegations.
Delfina Ambrosio, Tacos Vendor
"I feel like, how in the world would people do something like that because, you know it's toilet paper and it's really disgraceful to us too, because we sell food and things so it really affects our business."
Cherisse Halsall:
"Could you imagine if someone was in a desperate situation, that they would actually do that to stretch the meat?"
Delfina Ambrosio, Tacos Vendor
"I don't think so, even if your trying to stretch, and I know the struggle is real but come on, you don't have to go on like that."
"I don't think you would cook your meat with something like that. You know you're affecting the people because, you know, we are humans and it's really hard."
"People will be afraid of buying and they will think that everybody is doing the same, well I feel like it will affect, yeah."
But it's not affecting them, or not yet, at least. This was the crowd at Delfina and her business partner Maria's stand at lunchtime. We asked one customer if he had any reservations buying tacos meat today.
Wallace Pandy, Customer/ Tamales Vendor
"Sometimes people just want to you know maybe they have bad mind against somebody and then they want to, like bad mind, that's all. But I don't think those people will doo that mein to just put it and then you will hambug your business while you do that, so you must have enemies mein, that's all that's happening."
And our first vendor Elizabeth Avila told us that if someone found paper in their tacos it had to be as a result of human error and not a malicious attempt to increase profits. After all, they do that by scraping the excess meat back into the pot.
But, right now, those profits may still end up feeling the pinch as this tacos tempest appears to be just taking off.
