Israeli Discount Chain Seeks to Reverse Closure Orders Over Suspected Sedative-Tainted Baby Food

The “Zol u’Vagadol” discount chain asked Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Thursday to cancel closure orders issued for two of its Jerusalem branches after sedative substances were found in fruit purees that led to the hospitalization of toddlers. The chain said the closures are “a drastic and disproportionate step” and argued that the public could have been protected by removing the products or closing only the baby-food section. It also said the order severely harms its freedom to operate and the livelihoods of many workers.

In its filing, the company cast doubt on the account given by Yael Biton in an interview to Kan News, suggesting the toddlers may have been given a small amount of sedative by whoever was supervising them so they would stay quiet, and that an overdose may have been given by mistake. The company also argued that the puree may not have been bought at its stores at all, claiming the mother’s version is inconsistent because the chain sells only multipacks, while she said she bought a single jar.

But Kan News reported the previous day that the sedative was found not only in the jar handed over by the parents, but also in another jar sampled from a branch of the chain. A receipt photographed by the mother and sent to Kan News also clearly shows that a single jar was bought at the chain’s store on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem. The company further noted that similar contamination had been reported or suspected in Tiberias, after the hearing.

Kan News said the toddler whose family suspected illness after eating “Prinek” was taken for examination at Poria Hospital in Tiberias about 48 hours after consuming the product. Tests did not find benzodiazepines in his body, and he was not hospitalized. The chain also argued that administrative closure powers are meant to stop an operation that endangers public health, while the state has not necessarily claimed the risk came from the chain’s branches or from sanitation failures. However, the closure orders said the business operated without a business license, and one branch was also described as having poor sanitary conditions.