Tucson police say they arrested Jennifer LaPlante, 30, on Thursday on suspicion of child endangerment and fraudulent schemes and artifices after it was found she had substituted flour for Infant Formula. LaPlante then returned the containers to several local grocery stores for refunds. Police are warning the public to check the seals of any infant formula containers purchased recently for tampering.

LaPlante then returned the containers to several local grocery stores for refunds. Police are warning the public to check the seals of any infant formula containers purchased recently for tampering.

One child sick from ingesting tampered infant formula

Police said late on Thursday that one child became sick after ingesting some of the tampered formulae, but is reportedly in good condition after treatment at a local hospital, and was released on May 5.

Following LaPlante’s arrest, Police Chief Chris Magnus told the public about the situation at a news conference. Magnus said police are concerned about the allegations and wished to advise public as soon as possible to avoid any other children becoming sick from ingesting the switched out infant formula.

Police suspect that LaPlante was motivated to make money and her actions reportedly took place over a period of several days, or possibly over a period of two months.

Police believe LaPlante either purchased or stole, the infant formula.

Police testing for other possible substances in tampered infant formula

The Chief Medical Officer for Pima County said authorities are running tests to determine if other substances were added to the formula containers besides flour.

Dr. Francisco Garcia said they were concerned other additions may have been added to make the contents more palatable.

Tucson police named two Wal-Mart stores and two Fry’s grocery stores, all of which are located on Tucson’s Eastside, as being linked to the tampered containers. Ragan Dickens, a spokesman for Wal-Mart, said in a statement that they were concerned over the news, saying their customers deserve quality and safe foods.

Dickens said they have policies in place to ensure the returned baby formula containers don’t reach their shelves.

Sgt. Pete Dugan, speaking for the Tucson Police Department, said on Friday that he is not aware of any additional reports concerning the tampered specifications. However, he added that their detectives are right in the middle of the investigation and still need to find out if there are other stores involved.

Public warned to thoroughly check seals on infant formula containers

AZ Family reports that one of the products in question is Gerber Good Start Soy. However, officials have advised anyone who has recently bought any brand of infant formula from grocery stores in Tucson to check the seals on the containers and to check whether the contents smelled normal.

Garcia said if there is any possibility that the contents have been tampered with, parents should not feed it to their infants, again stressing that the seals on the containers must be intact.
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