By Tim Binnall
The tale of an enormous potato, thought to be the largest ever found, has taken a strange turn as the owners of the titanic tuber say their quest to claim the world record is now dependent upon the giant vegetable being DNA tested in order to prove that it is genuine. The jaw-dropping spud (which can be seen in the video below) sparked worldwide headlines last year when it was unearthed from the garden of Colin and Donna Craig-Brown in New Zealand. Weighing a whopping 17 pounds, the giant vegetable appeared poised to take the title of world's largest potato, however its owners now lament that the tuber's road to glory has been fraught with challenges, including demands that it be DNA tested.
Reflecting on the process of trying to obtain the world record from Guinness, Colin lamented to one New Zealand media outlet that "it's just a never-ending case of having to do whatever they ask for next." In the months since the massive potato was plucked from the ground, the Craig-Browns say that they have supplied the famed book of records with photos and a video of the spud, which they've dubbed 'Dug,' and had the huge vegetable examined by an expert as well as publicly weighed in order to confirm its prodigious size. However, that staggering array of steps was apparently not enough for Guinness, who ultimately informed them that a piece of the potato needed to be DNA tested in order for the record to be official.
What began as a fun pursuit centered around the comically large potato found in their garden has turned into something of an ordeal for the Craig-Browns which Colin mused to another media outlet in New Zealand has been "a roller-coaster of emotion." Calling the required DNA test "extremely deflating," the spud's proud owner wondered if the record keepers suspect that the vegetable's size is the result of some kind of shenanigans involving genetic modification, which he insists is not the case. To that end, he declared "I want to prove them wrong. We will do everything they ask of us… so at the end of the day, they can say yes or no."
As such, a small piece of the potato will soon be sent to a university in Scotland where it will be tested in order to prove once and for all that the stupendous spud is, indeed, the world's largest. Sadly, the wait for word from Guinness has understandably taken its toll on poor Dug, as Colin says the tuber began to get "smaller and smaller every day" to the point that the couple decided to freeze the vegetable in order to keep it mostly intact until the moment comes that it is either awarded the record or their peculiar dream is finally dashed. While the Craig-Browns would obviously like to see their spud receive the title, Colin appears to be okay with whatever the final determination might be since "at the end of it all, it's still just a bloody potato."