Police urge parents to check sealed snacks after anesthesia found in baby food

Israeli police issued an unusual public warning on Wednesday, asking parents to make sure the food products they buy for children are sealed and tightly closed, after a case in which sedatives were found in Prinoch fruit purees, as first reported by Kan News.

Senior Inspector Adi Mizrahi Boaron, the investigations and intelligence officer for Jerusalem’s Zion district, said police know of only two cases so far, both involving products bought at two different branches. She said the investigation has been running since last Thursday, in full coordination with the Health Ministry, and that investigators continued operating both covertly and overtly even on Wednesday.

Boaron said police are working to prevent further harm to children. “As a mother of children, I call on all of you parents to check that the products you buy for your children are closed and sealed and stored safely,” she said. “At the end of the day, they are the most precious thing to us, and it is our duty to protect them.”

The Health Ministry told the parents of toddlers hospitalized after eating Prinoch fruit purees that laboratory tests confirmed the presence of anesthetic substances. The children reportedly developed apathy and weakness and were taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, where they were admitted for observation and later discharged. Two days later, the ministry ordered the immediate closure of two Jerusalem branches of the Zol u’Bigadol chain, the Machane branch at 113 Jaffa Street and the branch at 214 Jaffa Street, where the purees were bought. A Knesset Health Committee hearing will be held on the case.

Randi, the distributor of Prinoch products, said there was no indication of a production defect or contamination at the factory, and that all tests conducted on products from the importer were found to be normal.