A charity working with people experiencing homelessness in New Zealand called Auckland City Mission revealed that it had unknowingly distributed sweets that contained lethal doses of methamphetamine.
The Rinda brand pineapple lollies were donated by a member of the public “sealed retail-sized package” and contained solid blocks of methamphetamine, containing more than 300 times the usual dose that people take, according to the New Zealand Drug Foundation . If consumed, the candies could be deadly.
We received an alert of concern by a food parcel recipient who said they had ‘funny tasting’ lollies,” Auckland City Mission said in a press release on Wednesday. “As a measure of safety, lollies still on site were tested by NZ Drug Foundation. Tests confirmed that the lollies tested contained potentially lethal levels of methamphetamine.
The NZ Drug Foundation is advising anyone who comes across Rinda brand pineapple lollies to avoid eating them as they do not know how “widespread” the contaminated lollies are.
As a rule, Auckland City Mission says they only accept commercially manufactured food for donations, but the lollies did not initially seem suspicious to the charity’s staff.
“To say we are devastated is an understatement,” the charity said. “We are reliant on the generosity of the public to help support people in need, and we are thankful to everyone who supports us.”
Auckland City Mission has now begun the process of contacting recipients of the candies, which they estimate could include up to 400 people. They have also put up posters at all their sites, alerting tenants about the candies.
Symptoms of ingesting meth may include: chest pain, racing heart, seizures, or loss of consciousness, among other things.
New Zealand police believe the donation was likely accidental, since the sweets had a retail value of approximately NZ$ 1,000 ($608) per candy.