Gerber baby food off Target

Andrew Edwards

A Huntington Beach Target store pulled jars of Gerber baby food off

its shelves after a woman last week reported finding a strange object

in a jar she bought.

The woman bought a jar of Gerber Ham and Apples from the Target on

Adams Avenue the last week of July, and when she opened it what

looked like a piece of paper inside, police said. She reported the

find to police on Aug. 17. Police do not know why she waited to

report the find.

By Friday, the store had taken that flavor of baby food off its

shelves, store manager Cha Minda said.

The food was handed to the Federal Department of Agriculture for

analysis. Police are also working with the Orange County Crime Lab

and Orange County District Attorney on the issue. So far, there are

no suspects in the alleged tampering. Police do not know when the

results of lab tests will be ready.

“It will be a while, I don’t know how long,” Huntington Beach Sgt.

Dave Bunetta said.

The woman did not recall whether she heard the safety lid on the

food make a popping sound, and she fed one bite of the food to her

child before she saw the paper, police said. The baby has not become

sick and police do not believe any harmful substances were mixed in

the food.

“We don’t have any indication that it’s product tampering,”

Huntington Beach Lt. Janet Perez said.

There was no message written on the paper, police said, and they

do not believe it is related to recent cases in Irvine, where notes

were found in three jars of Gerber baby food, saying the food was

poisoned.

The Gerber company responded by advising parents to check the

safety button on jar lids and to empty food into a dish before

feeding.