Father of toddler sickened by baby food says he is still waiting for health ministry answers

Shimon, the father of a baby girl who allegedly consumed fruit puree containing strong sedatives, said Tuesday morning on Kan News radio that his family is still waiting for confirmation from the Health Ministry. He said the case is dangerous for small children, adding that doctors told him, “If a small child consumes such a thing, such an amount, it is death.”

Kan News reported Monday that three Jerusalem toddlers, Shimon’s daughter and two children of neighbors, were hospitalized after benzodiazepines were found in their blood. Those drugs are sedatives and anesthetics used in anti-anxiety medicines for adults, such as Clonex and Valium. The suspected products were fruit and baby-food purees made by Prinoq, bought as individual items at Zol U’BeGadol branches in Jerusalem, not as a multipack.

Shimon said the children were eating together when he saw the neighbor’s child handing his daughter a red-wrapped applesauce pouch. His wife noticed he gave her one or two spoonfuls, and within about five or six minutes the neighboring children showed symptoms, with the girl unable to hold her head up and the boy collapsing, prompting an MDA evacuation. About 20 minutes later, his own daughter began stumbling and falling, and she was also taken to hospital. Their younger son was hospitalized only as a precaution after an initial fear of a gas leak, but all his tests were normal.

According to Shimon, his daughter had only a small amount, and her test came back borderline negative. She was eating normally the next day, while the neighbors’ children were much worse and were discharged only on Tuesday after recovering. Shimon said he contacted police, MDA, United Hatzalah and the Health Ministry, but was told each time that the matter was not their responsibility. He said police have now called him in for questioning on suspicion of abuse of helpless minors, and he and his wife were questioned for two hours. He said his priority is to find out the truth, not to sue, and stressed that the case is still only a suspicion.