The Health Ministry provided an update this morning (Friday) on developments in the investigation into the poisoning involving “Prinok" brand baby food purees sold at two supermarkets in Jerusalem.
So far, the Health Ministry has received reports of two incidents in which five children were hospitalized after eating the puree and following possible exposure to substances from the benzodiazepine family. All of the children have since been released from the hospitals.
The ministry noted that since the investigation began, inspectors from the Health Ministry’s Food Service have carried out extensive inspections and sampling nationwide. As part of these efforts, hundreds of products of the suspected type were sampled and tested in various ways. So far, only five products were found to contain medicinal substances of the types Clonazepam and Lorazepam.
Of those five products, three were purchased at branches of the “Zol U’Begadol" supermarket chain, while two additional products were sampled from the chain’s shelves in Jerusalem.
“Tests conducted at the importer’s warehouses and at additional points of sale other than the two aforementioned branches found no indication of the presence of these substances. In the five products in which the substances were found, there are indications that they were unlawfully opened before purchase," the Health Ministry stated.
The ministry further noted that “based on the data examined so far, no indication has been found at this stage of any risk or failure higher up the supply chain, including during production, import, or storage at the importer’s warehouses."
The Health Ministry emphasized that the criminal aspect of the investigation is being handled by the police. Police sources said that suspicions are growing that the products were deliberately tampered with due to a nationalistic motive.