Israel’s Knesset Health Committee held a special hearing on Monday over the “Prinoq” baby food scandal, which has alarmed parents across the country in recent weeks. Lawmakers, Health Ministry officials, police, parents of affected children, and medical experts were asked why it took so long to identify the suspicious substance and connect the cases.
Committee chair MK Yoni Moshirki called the incident “very serious and especially troubling” because it involved infant food. He said parents in Israel must be able to trust that the food they give their children is safe, supervised, and fit for use, and said the committee would keep monitoring the case and the implementation of any conclusions.
During the session, Moshirki demanded that the Health Ministry urgently draft a nationwide procedure for rapid information sharing on poisoning cases between hospitals, emergency centers, health funds, the ministry, and law enforcement. Under the proposed system, any suspected poisoning from food, medicine, or other substances would be reported immediately to a central database so unusual patterns can be identified faster. The committee also called for tighter oversight of infant food products throughout the supply chain, from production or import to store shelves.
Yaeel Biton, a mother of affected children, told lawmakers the package was not hermetically sealed, saying she noticed it was not in a full vacuum. She described the distress during her child’s hospitalization and said too much time passed before samples from the suspected material were taken for a deeper examination. Chief Inspector Adi Mizrahi of the Jerusalem District’s Zion area police said the different cases were linked relatively quickly once enough data had been gathered, and that the broader investigation remains active. Health Ministry officials said infant food is subject to especially strict safety rules, that hundreds of samples have already been collected nationwide, and that every complaint is being checked immediately.
