Poisoned Fruit Puree Case Expands as Shin Bet Joins Investigation

Israel’s Health Ministry said Wednesday afternoon that medicinal sedatives were found in jars of "Prinuk" puree that were purchased in Jerusalem and caused the poisoning of four babies. At the same time, suspicion has grown that the packages left the factory in proper condition and that the substances were inserted at another location. As a result, it was decided to involve the Shin Bet in the investigation.

In addition, the ministry issued immediate closure orders for branches of the "Zol U’Begadol" chain at 113 and 214 Jaffa Street in Jerusalem, where the purees were sold. At this stage, no sweeping recall has been announced for the product, since no evidence of contamination was found at the manufacturing plant. All tests conducted on products from the importers were found to be normal. The children who were hospitalized after consuming the puree have been released from the hospitals.

As previously reported, four toddlers were hospitalized at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital the day before yesterday after eating the puree, and authorities were then examining a possible connection between consumption of the product and the sedative substances that were discovered in the babies’ bodies.

The Health Ministry is again asking parents whose children ate this product to watch for any change in the children’s behavior, which could include drowsiness, fatigue, or confused speech, to contact their pediatrician, and also to call the Health Ministry hotline at *5400 while updating them about the connection to the product.