From Deseret News archives:
Girl finds painkiller pill in box of candy
Store removes Nerds after incident at home day care
The 4-year-old daughter of a home day-care provider picked a powerful painkiller out of a box of Nerds candy, the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office said Friday.
"Little kids pick up on things we don't," said Salt Lake County sheriff's detective Danielle Mudrock, who noted that if the girl had ingested the pill, "She might not be here today."
Now, the sheriff's office and the FBI are trying to find out how a 30-mg MS Contin pill, an extended-release morphine-based painkiller, allegedly ended up in a box of Nerds candy.
The sheriff's office received a call from doctors at Jordan Valley Hospital, 3580 W. 9000 South, Thursday about 11:30 a.m. after a 2-year-old tested positive for opiates, said Salt Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Mike Morgan.
A home day-care provider had purchased several boxes of the candy from a Smith's store in Herriman near 5600 West and 13400 South on Tuesday. She gave one box to her son, who ate it with no problem. She opened another box Thursday and poured the contents into a measuring cup for the four children, ages 2 through 6, she was watching, Mudrock said.
After each child grabbed some of the candy, the day-care owner's 4-year-old daughter carried something over to the counter and put it down, Mudrock said.
It was a pill that had the same coloring as the purple candy. But upon closer inspection it had an "M" with a square around it on one side and the number 30 on the back.
The mother looked at what her daughter had found and took it to the Smith's pharmacy to find out what it was. When she was told it was a powerful painkiller that could be potentially fatal if taken by a small child, she rushed all four children to Jordan Valley Hospital to be checked out, Mudrock said.
Although the 2-year-old who tested positive did not put the pill in her mouth, investigators believed Friday that the residue from it may have rubbed off on the other candies in the box.
The toddler's pupils were very large when taken to the doctor, Mudrock said. But by Thursday evening she was back to normal, and all children were released to the care of their parents.
The pill is believed to have come from the sealed box of Nerds bought at the store, Mudrock said.
"We're investigating it as a possible product tampering case," she said.
Smith's removed all Nerds candy from its shelves at the Herriman store. Wonka, a division of the Nestle company, which makes Nerds, and the Utah Poison Control Center were also notified.
"We're aware of the situation," said Nestle spokeswoman Edie Berge. "It appears to be an isolated incident. We haven't received any other reports of pills in Nerds or other Wonka products."
The sheriff's office is now warning parents to look through their children's candy before they eat it. The scary thing to Mudrock is that because the pill's coloring was so close to the real candy, "it's a major risk."
The pill was scheduled to be shipped to the State Crime Lab to determine, among other things, if its purple coating was from the same mixture that coated the regular candy.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com
