Four toddlers were hospitalized after eating fruit puree made by Frינוק, amid suspicions that the product contained anesthetic or sedative substances. The case drew attention after an emergency call to United Hatzalah was released, in which a frightened mother said her two daughters quickly became lethargic after eating the puree and pleaded, "Help! They are unconscious on me, please!" She also said, "They ate the puree and they really do not feel well."
The mother, identified in the report as one of the recent cases, described the scene as an emergency and said the dispatcher tried to calm her while getting details. She was not the only parent affected. Yaal Biton said that about a month and a half ago her two daughters were hospitalized after eating Frינוק fruit puree and nearly the same thing happened.
Speaking on "The Morning World" show, Biton said, "Not even a minute passed and both of them just collapsed." She said the younger child was unconscious in her crib and the older one, age 3, fell from the sofa to the floor. Hospital urine tests, she said, confirmed the concern by showing benzodiazepines, a drug used in sedatives, at a level 10 times above normal. Biton said the older child could not walk for a week.
Biton also criticized the authorities, saying the jar had sat for a month and a half without being tested and was only checked this week after the second incident. Frינוק denied any abnormal findings in its products, saying they are tested in an accredited laboratory at the production plant and again when entering Israel. The company said lab tests showed no foreign substances, but added that product samples were also sent to the Health Ministry for examination.
