Posted on 08/04/2004 5:34:38 PM PDT by MindFire
the Clearchannel radio station in Los Angeles KFI640.com news department is doing some very interesting coverage on this Gerber baby food case.
Here is an article from MSN http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5539918/
What the MSN article doesnt mention is that, according to KFI news, the notes in the baby food accused an Irvine police officer of having an affair with married women. Eric Leonard of KFI news dept. talked with John and Ken today and said that tainted baby food jars were found in June, yet the information about the tainted food was not released to the public until several weeks later, in July. Also, the jars were found at a Ralphs market near the Irvine Police station. A surveilance tape indicated that a black homeless man was seen putting ten jars back on the shelf. 7 of the jars are still missing. he was questioned by police but refused to answer questions.
Eric Leonard went on to say that his investigation revealed, that therefore they believe the jars were 'vacume-packed' after being tainted. So even though consumers hear the 'Pop' when opening the baby food jar, that is not reason to trust the baby food. leonard said irvine police went to the home of the family who had found one note- they went in their pantry and opened another jar of Gerber food, and heard the 'pop' as if it hadn't been opened. YET there was another note in the jar.
So whoever is doing this has the capability to somehow 'vaccume-seal' the jars. So, the fact that consumers hear the 'pop' does not indicate the baby food is not tainted.
Leonard also said that Gerber corporation tried to PREVENT this info about the vacume sealing from being released to the public. Apparently, gerber® didnt want those pesky details to alarm the public and hurt their bottom line.
John and ken thought that these aspects of the story, shined a negative light on both the police and the gerber corporation- in 'protecting their own' over the public good.
I will try to find a print edition of this KFI report, and post updates as they become available.
anyone who has ever done canning, or read a cookbook about it, knows how to vacuum-seal a jar. i always tasted the baby food first.
Mrs VS
but don't you think it's interesting that Gerber tried to prevent that info from being released at the press conference.
The fact that some of the notes were found in jars that had the 'pop' sound when opened; leading consumers to believe that if they heard the 'pop' of tha vaccume seal, that they have nothing to worry about.
Leonard said that the police spokesman did, however, mention this at a press conference and did not concede to gerbers wishes. good for him.
SECOND SUSPECT WANTED IN IRVINE BABY FOOD TAMPERING CASE
http://kfi640.com/ericleonard.html
*** EXCLUSIVE *** AUGUST 04 2004 ***
By Eric Leonard
KFI News
Investigators say they believe numerous jars of baby food were contaminated and carefully resealed by an unknown subject, who enlisted the help of a homeless man to place the tainted jars on a grocery store’s shelves sometime in May, sources inside the tampering case have told KFI NEWS.
At least l0 suspect jars were sold. Three have been analyzed police, and investigators say the other seven were probably in the hands of unsuspecting parents, the sources said.
More troubling, the sources and other officials admit Irvine police waited about a month before sending samples from the suspect jars to the government lab that later discovered the jars of Gerber-brand “banana yogurt desert” had been contaminated.
The FBI announced last week scientists with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration detected mashed castor beans in the samples. Castor beans contain trace amounts of the poison ricin and could be dangerous to children.
Additionally, KFI NEWS has learned an Irvine police officer named in threatening notes found in the jars has a growing list of enemies who some investigators theorize might try and get revenge.
Separately, another source says they expect the case to be solved, “any day now.”
TEN JARS SPOTTED ON TAPE
The sources said surveillance videotapes from the Ralphs grocery store on Alton Parkway show ten jars of baby food were handled.
The jars were taken out of the store, and investigators believe they were tampered with at another location by a second individual, the sources said.
Some time later the jars were returned to the store shelves and were sold to customers.
To date, three of the tainted jars have been found.
The parents of a nine-month-old found the first threatening note wrapped in plastic and concealed inside the gooey, beige banana treat May 31, police said. The infant had only eaten a few bites before the discovery.
“The note stated that the food had been contaminated and that the person who ingested it would die in a short time,” said Irvine police chief Dave Maggard.
The parents took the infant to Irvine Regional Hospital for treatment Maggard said, but the child never suffered any ill effects.
On June 16 a second, identical note was found by a separate family while an empty jar of “Gerber banana yogurt desert” was being rinsed out, police said.
The second child, an eleven-month-old, was taken to an emergency room but no ill-effects were detected.
Police officers took a third, unopened jar of the Gerber food from the home of the second family.
POISON TESTS PUT OFF
Tests to detect the presence of poison were not conducted immediately, police confirm.
“I don’t think I can explain that one,” said one source connected to the case.
FDA officials said the delays in obtaining test results were solely the fault of Orange County authorities.
“The baby food was provided to us about four weeks after the initial incident,” said FDA special agent in charge Dan Hensen.
Irvine police spokesman Jeff Love confirms samples were sent to the FDA sometime after June 25, and said the the delay was, "unacceptable."
“As soon as the testing came up positive, we started getting with everybody to get the information out,” the FDA's Hensen said.
The FDA contacted the parents who found the notes and explained the results one day before Orange County officials made the findings public at a news conference.
Forensic tests to detect fingerprints or DNA on the suspect jars began in June, though the exact test dates are somewhat confused.
Officials at the Orange County Sheriffs crime lab insist they did not receive samples until June 17, but Irvine police said the first jar was sent June 1 or 2, a day or so after the discovery of the first threat note.
The crime lab released the jars back to the Irvine police department June 31, said Orange County Sheriffs spokesman Jim Amormino.
WITNESS OR SUSPECT
During the news conference announcing the test results, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas asked for public assistance in locating Charles Dewey Cage, then described as a 47-year-old transient who was a, “potential witness,” seen in the Ralphs store at a, “relevant time.”
Rackauckas said Cage was captured on store surveillance tape but refused to elaborate.
KFI NEWS has learned Cage was not only in the Ralphs, but handled the ten jars believed contaminated, though investigators do not think Cage masterminded the plot.
“It’s a given among the investigators Cage is not the suspect,” one source said. “It’s pretty obvious he’s not capable of the tampering techniques.”
Cage, accompanied by an attorney from the law offices of Milton Grimes, agreed to an interview with Irvine police the next day, but refused to answer any questions on the advice of counsel.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Cage did not share any information that was relevant to the case,” said Susan Schroeder, a spokesperson for the Orange County District Attorneys office.
“We believe that he has relevant evidence that could help solve this baby food contamination case, and we really urge him to do that,” she said in a telephone interview last week.
The sources said FBI agents were upset they were not notified of Cage’s appearance at the police station until after the man and his lawyer left.
THREAT NOTES REFERENCE OFFICER WITH ‘COMPLICATED’ PERSONAL LIFE
“The notes in both these jars of baby food identified an Irvine Police Department officer, and implied that the officer placed the note inside the jar,” Irvine chief Maggard said at that news conference.
Investigators are examining several possible motives for naming that particular Irvine officer, the sources said.
One avenue of investigation involves the officer’s reported intimate relationships with several married women, two sources tell KFI NEWS.
“There are at least five or six angry husbands out there,” one source said. One of those husbands is said to be a law enforcement officer in Orange County.
“The affairs clearly establish a motive for others to seek revenge,” another source said.
It was unclear Wednesday if any of the husbands or women had been questioned by police. The officer named in the threat notes was not considered a suspect.
KFI REPORTER JAY LAWRENCE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT.
Copyright 2004 KFI NEWS. All rights reserved.
Since there was a note inside the jar but on top of the food, it is clear no one would feed that food to their baby.
Oops, my bad. Should have read the entire article before I put my foot in my mouth.
EXACTLY what I've been thinking.
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