Cereal Packed Surprise

By 250 News

One bowl of cereal, one box of cereal,  one  foreign capsule of  some sort of mystery medication

Prince George, B.C.- The box of cereal boasts that it contains  vitamins and minerals, but  there was a  surprise in the package for a Prince George man.

Jo Graber bought the 1.35 kg box of No Name Corn Flakes at the Superstore in Prince George last weekend.

Today,   he  opened the  box,  poured a bowlful and started to  eat.  The third spoonful turned  up  something he  hadn’t  bargained for. 

A  pill capsule.   ( shown in photo at right)

“My first thought was,  where did this come from? But I knew it wasn’t any kind of medication  I had ever seen before, so I knew it had to have come from the box of cereal.”

The capsule carries the markings of APO 10.  A check with a local pharmacy indicates  the markings are usually associated with  a  product  from the drug  company “Apotex”.  Although the capsule will have to be analyzed to confirm its contents, similar capsules from that company carry 300mg of a drug called “diltiazem” which is a heart drug, this particular style of capsule is not sold in Canada.

The pharmacist tells Opinion250 that  if taken by a normally healthy person who is not on any other medications, this single dose could make a person’s blood pressure  drop, and cause some dizziness, but he adds, there is no telling how it might have reacted on a person already taking other medications for heart problems or  who is on any other  kind of  medication.  The pharmacist says he is concerned   other capsules may have  been crushed and the drug  then spread throughout this batch of cereal.

“That was my thought too” says Graber,  who says he  didn’t eat any more of the cereal, concerned someone may have  deliberately tampered with the food by  opening other capsules and  spilling the contents into the batch.

He says a call to Superstore to tell them about the surprise in the cereal failed to get much reaction.  Graber was told by the assistant manager to call the 1-800 number listed on the packaging,   and that Superstore would honour a refund or a credit issued by the cereal maker.

A call to the 1-800 number connected Graber with a young woman who advised he courier the pill to them for analysis.  Instead, Graber is dropping off the box of cereal and its contents to the Food Inspection Agency in Prince George which will have the items sent to the Food Inspection Centre in Kelowna for analysis.

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Editor's note:

Food Inspection  agency in Prince George attended  the Superstore late this afternoon  and reports the product has been removed from the shelves. 

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