An investigation for unintentional injuries has been opened after the intoxication of a 22-year-old young woman. An apple juice bought in the cafe at the RER station in Torcy would have been previously filled with detergent according to the investigators.
It was a simple, banal purchase for this 22-year-old young woman: an apple juice on the way to work, Saturday April 22 at the RER station in Torcy, in a store in the shopping mall. Yet, just one sip from that bottle was enough to land this lady in the hospital. The result: burning on the lips, on the tongue and on the trachea. The bottle did contain fruit juice, but mostly detergent.
The apple juice had a pH (Hydrogen potential) of 13.8 on a scale of 14, which is a pH equivalent to soda or bleach. The victim filed a complaint against the establishment. According to the Meaux prosecutor, reported by Le Figaro, an investigation for involuntary injuries by a legal person has been opened and entrusted to the Noisiel police station.
Investigators quickly found the source of the poisoning: that apple juice should never have been sold. An employee of the cafe in question said she poured detergent into this bottle before placing it in the back of the shop. Unfortunately, one of his colleagues was not aware of the presence of the cleaning product in the bottle and relisted it by mistake. After her brief consumption, the young woman went to the hospital in Jossigny, in Seine-et-Marne.
A Samu doctor then requested an analysis of the purchased bottle. This revealed the abnormally high pH level of the liquid. The Regional Health Agency (ARS) was contacted by hospital staff. Franceinfo indicates that the “stock of drinks was seized, but, a priori, the bottle in question differed from the stock by its apparent age”, according to the prosecutor of Meaux. The bottle in question showed a greatly exceeded expiration date. The victim is out of danger since after a night under observation, she was able to leave the hospital.
