Bag of Cheetos Blamed for ‘Huge’ Disruption to Carlsbad National Park's Ecosystem

“To the owner of the snack bag, the impact is likely incidental. But to the ecosystem of the cave it had a huge impact,” park officials said

A simple bag of Cheetos is responsible for causing a major issue at a national park in New Mexico that has park officials calling out those who break the rules.

Earlier this month, Carlsbad Caverns National Park issued a message, via a Facebook post, detailing an incident involving a bag of Cheetos being left behind inside the park’s Big Room. “To the owner of the snack bag, the impact is likely incidental. But to the ecosystem of the cave it had a huge impact,” park officials said.

The post continued, explaining exactly what happens when unauthorized food is left behind at the park, which is a haven for insects and mold. “The processed corn, softened by the humidity of the cave, formed the perfect environment to host microbial life and fungi,” park officials explained.

“Cave crickets, mites, spiders and flies soon organize into a temporary food web, dispersing the nutrients to the surrounding cave and formations. Molds spread higher up the nearby surfaces, fruit, die and stink,” the post continued.

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Representatives from Carlsbad Caverns National Park did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Carlsbad Caverns tour guide, Joseph Ward, said that the entire incident “could have been avoided because the park doesn’t allow food beyond the confines of the historic underground lunchroom.”

Luckily the clean-up and removal was a fairly quick process, but park officials noted that continued behavior of leaving outside items inside the park can leave a lasting impact.

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“Rangers spent twenty minutes carefully removing the foreign detritus and molds from the cave surfaces. At the scale of human perspective, a spilled snack bag may seem trivial, but to the life of the cave it can be world changing,” park officials warned in the post.

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