The Clonex in Puree Mystery: Information Was Available, Jar Untested for a Month

About a month before three children were hospitalized and the case of Clonex being introduced into fruit puree broke, authorities already had information on a similar incident - two children hospitalized and a puree jar preserved as evidence. In response to ynet's inquiry, it turns out the police reported to the Health Ministry - but the ministry did not request to test the product's contents. Only after the second incident was the jar sent for testing

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The case of introducing Clonex into Prinok fruit puree, which has resonated over the past week, could have been exposed nearly a month earlier. Already then the first incident involving two children who arrived at Hadassah Ein Kerem emergency room with similar symptoms was handled. The medical team at Hadassah passed the puree, bought at one of the Zol u'Bagadol branches in Jerusalem, to the police. The police asked to forward the puree to the Health Ministry for testing, yet the Health Ministry - for reasons that remain unclear - did not deem it necessary to examine the jar that stayed with the police as evidence.

Only after the second incident last Thursday, when three children were rushed simultaneously to the emergency room, did the Health Ministry contact the police and request the first jar for examination. Laboratory tests confirmed the presence of clonazepam (Clonex) and lorazepam (Lorivan) - sedative drugs from the benzodiazepine family. Meanwhile police continue efforts to identify the individual who introduced these substances into the jars. In both cases the mothers later recalled that the familiar click sound was absent when opening the jar, indicating someone had opened them beforehand.

Israel Police stated to ynet regarding the incident from about a month ago: "Immediately upon receiving the report from the hospital, the police notified the Health Ministry, the body responsible for food product testing, in order to obtain guidance on further handling of the item. At that time, despite the opened investigation, investigators were not instructed by the Health Ministry to send the product for testing, and it was kept as evidence by the police."

However, as noted, last Thursday three children were hospitalized at Hadassah with matching symptoms and similar suspicions, at which point the Health Ministry's approach changed. Police said "the same product (the jar from a month ago) was transferred this week for testing according to Health Ministry instructions after a possible link emerged between that case and the investigation opened last week. Due to the sensitivity and complexity of the event, the investigation was assigned to the Crime Fighting Unit of Zion District, and all available tools will be used to reach the truth."

Shifi from Jerusalem is one of the mothers whose children were affected by the affair. Last Thursday she sat with her children in her yard, opened a jar of Prinok fruit puree bought at a Zol u'Bagadol branch and fed her three-year-old son. Her ten-month-old daughter also received several spoonfuls, as did the neighbor's daughter who sat nearby - one spoonful. Shortly afterward the children collapsed one after another. "Suddenly his eyes closed and he mumbled strange syllables," she told ynet yesterday. All three children were hospitalized. Shifi's children stayed in the hospital for four days. "It took several days until my son could walk and speak normally again," she said. "Lucky it ended this way."

The unanswered question remains: what would have happened had the jar been tested the first time?

Meanwhile yesterday the Health Ministry issued 30-day closure orders for two Zol u'Bagadol branches where Prinok apple-banana-oat puree jars were sold, "in which benzodiazepines, a medicinal substance not meant to be found in food, were detected in laboratory tests," the orders stated for the branches at 214 Jaffa Street and 113 Jaffa Street in Jerusalem. "Consumption of the product, intended for children and containing the medicinal substance, is dangerous to the public. These facts raise a real and significant concern for public health."

The closure orders also noted that the two branches "operated without a business license, contrary to business licensing regulations (proper sanitation conditions for food peddling)." Today ynet reporter Shila Fried documented the closed stores. Staff were seen arranging shelves and barring customer entry.

Randi company, importer of the Prinok brand, stated that "the facts indicate an external party maliciously introduced foreign substances into the product." The company stressed that Health Ministry tests found no flaw in the production process or contamination originating at the plant, and that the ministry clarified the products are safe for use with no barrier to continued marketing. "Prinok products have been sold for over 20 years in all retail chains," the company said, adding that it acted "with transparency toward the public and in close coordination with the Health Ministry" from the moment the case became known.

The Health Ministry clarified yesterday that for now there is no broad recall of all Prinok products, since tests conducted on items from importers were found compliant and there is no indication of contamination originating at the production plant. Nevertheless, the ministry instructs against consuming products purchased at the two branches, items not sold in original packaging, and products whose jar does not produce the characteristic sound upon opening.

ynet approached the Health Ministry for comment on the possible failure in handling the first case, but the ministry has not yet responded.

Shila Fried contributed to this report

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